how much cal/mag to charge coco with

blackcat · Feb 8, 2012

Hi I use both GH cocotek and soon to be using botanicare coco bricks (shops don't carry gh anymore). This is what I planned to do to prepare the bales:

Expand in hot water
Rinse with hot water to flush salts
Charge with calmag (how much?)

Integral hydro says use 700 ppm calmag solution to charge. Reading on this board some ppl charge with combo of very mild veg solution (200ppm) and lots of calmag, like 20-30ml per gallon (that's gotta be like 1200 ppm).

I was gonna just follow integral hydro method and do 700ppm. How's that sound? Also his calmag is a self mix, I use bottled calmag I am assuming its similar.

His formula is

Calcium Nitrate********************** 290 g/l
Magnesium Nitrate***************** 280 g/l
Magnesium Sulphate************* 10 g/l
Ferric EDTA*************** ************** 2 g/l

And I used botanicare calmag or similar. What is the point of adding mild veg nutes to the charge? Also, do u flush after charge? Integral hydroponics doesn't mention it but I've read here some do. I don't plan to unless someone explains to me the point of doing so

Dirty White Boy · Feb 8, 2012

Man don't bother with all that crap.....just flush your coco well, make sure its really flushed well then transplant your plants or seedlings whatever to the coco and water with your normal nutes. You'll do far more harm then good by doing all that stuff.....keep it simple bro. Any solid one part nutrient will have all the cal/mag it'll need.

Ever after · Feb 13, 2012

no thats not true ive noticed most 1 part nutrients do not have cal mag in them for coco.
canna coco a+b still needs a cal mag supplement

some plants might eat more cal mag than others though..... your variety changes everything.

th3b12ain · Feb 13, 2012

Coco

This is what I do first... I flush the coco really well to make sure you remove all the salt that is left over then I add 1 mil of vitimin b, 2 mails of calmag

Dirty White Boy · Feb 13, 2012

It's actually becoming widely known that cal/mag supplements are over used in most cases. I've used canna on and off for years, and have friends who use canna none of us supplement the line. But still use it if you like too, I'm just passing on a growing concensis.

tokinupon1 · Feb 13, 2012

I just flush it good and water them in with a 1/4 strength veg. No calmag charge all that did for me was cause problems.

El Cerebro · Feb 13, 2012

I'd be more concerned about the Ca. You can get plenty of Mg from MGSO4, and the S in da SO4 makes da flowers smell nice.

Okay, actually took the time to read your whole post. So what's up with that iron source? I've been meaning to read more on EDTA.

true grit · Feb 14, 2012

How bout don't bother charging or washing...never have and never will. just saying... (though i only use canna and 1 or two other brands of bagged coco)....

QCweedisbetter · Feb 16, 2012

i go along with ever after if your base nuts is not made for coco you need to give it calmag cuz the coco will absorb it not your plant

Dirty White Boy · Feb 16, 2012

I should have specified you only need to flush compressed bricks or croutons whatever ive never flushed bagged coco either.

Some of yall need to read your bottles closer its all there. You don't need cal/mag with canna,h&g,ionic,supernatural,floranova,cns17,dutchmasters,puravida,roots organic,soul synthetics,fox farm,teas,maxim series nutes......I can go on.......some of the cal/mag will bond with the coco if you ph swings out of range it stays dry to long etc etc.......you can always use a Humic acid if your worried. And this really only happens with fresher coir.....

This has all been gone over 10000 times........

S_D · Feb 22, 2012

I use the 5kg brick of Botanicare coco as it's easy to store before needed. But I have to rinse this type but if I get the bagged Botanicare I do not need to rinse. Just noticed with what is available to me.

In the 5kg bricks of coco after using r/o water with a starting pH of about 7.4 and use 3.5gal to in a rubbermaid and it completly absorbs all water and all becomes loose and turns into a large cube (2.5cu.ft.) if left alone. Then on the first rinse with the same r/o water at same pH the runoff comes out near 4.2 or slightly higher. After one or two rinses it is fine and the pH will be into a more acceptable range of about 6.5.

As far as charging with Cal Mag depends on which strain and what base nutes you use and what strength as mentioned. When running low doses of Ionic's Mother Plant A+B (which has Cal Mag) I have to supplement Cal Mag with my Cheese x Romulan but other plants seem to not need as much. I have never charged my coco with Cal Mag.

From there I use as needed either with pearlite only or used for Subcool's supersoil mix.

Here's a pic of the Exodus Cheese bx3 x Romulan at week 6 of 8-9.

Cannanugget · Mar 24, 2012

I'd just stick with something like Canna or B'cuzz, something you're not going to need to worry about flushing... As for pre-charging the medium; don't bother it's not necessary.. I don't normally start feeding calmag for the first week or so anyway. Like everyone else has already said, just keep it simple. You'll be happy you did and so will your plants :)

Lowman · Mar 24, 2012

I stopped testing my new coco awhile back cause the canna and B'cuzz that I was using was perfect outta the bag. The last couple of runs have been subpar. Buds stopped putting on girth around week 5. I haven't changed my feed regime in years. I usually feed from 1.2ec to 1.8( mid flower) at most. I decided to check my runoff for shits and giggles. The lowest EC runoff I got was 4.5. The highest was 8.7. That's not a typo. 8.7EC. I almost shit my pants. The plant with 8.7 was in veg and looked great. I decided to go check my unused B'cuzz coco...4.2EC! Always check new coco before planting.

As far as charging..yes..it is a must after a flush. I use 10 - 15m/G of cal/mag with 1/4 strength nutes for the charge. Never flush coco...without adding back nutes back afterwards.

Chemfather · Mar 28, 2012

well said,

Even bcuzz and canna sometime come hot out of the bag. I will flush with r/o water then charge with a light base nute with 10ml gall of cal/mag and I add root ecel. I like to know that the coco is 100% ready. Also alawys blend in white shark or plant sucess powder michroryze into my pure coco. No perlite. I have done a ton off dtw feeding and some of my best runs were when I recycled. I top feed drip recycle and flush and change my tanks every ten days. by then tenth day my rez is about done and I flush my coco empty and remix. my ph stays super stable and my ppm in and ppm out are really close. saves a lot of nutz going down the drain.

so many people never test there run off and compare it to the rez. if you can keep you runoff ppm about the same or slightly lower then your rez ppm your plants will be perfect everytime.

Not sure why people use the compressed bricks stuff just seems like a headache and crappy compared to a nice bag of fluffy coco.

Kdenhayn808 · Jun 22, 2018

Dirty White Boy said:
It's actually becoming widely known that cal/mag supplements are over used in most cases. I've used canna on and off for years, and have friends who use canna none of us supplement the line. But still use it if you like too, I'm just passing on a growing concensis.

Sup bro just scored some canna nutes a,b along with the boost(shit was more expensive than a,b)lol,just wanted to know if I'm missing anything for a successful grow and how'd the overall grow go for u and fam? Much mahalo (thank you) from hawaii

G gnome · Jun 22, 2018

Kdenhayn808 said:
Sup bro just scored some canna nutes a,b along with the boost(shit was more expensive than a,b)lol,just wanted to know if I'm missing anything for a successful grow and how'd the overall grow go for u and fam? Much mahalo (thank you) from hawaii

Ur askin a guy who hasnt logged on in over a year

Kdenhayn808 · Jun 22, 2018

G gnome said:
Ur askin a guy who hasnt logged on in over a year

Didn't see that lol, thanks

Dungeongangsta · Jan 30, 2021

Kdenhayn808 said:
Sup bro just scored some canna nutes a,b along with the boost(shit was more expensive than a,b)lol,just wanted to know if I'm missing anything for a successful grow and how'd the overall grow go for u and fam? Much mahalo (thank you) from hawaii

i would introduce humic acid, it helps to allow for nutrients to be unlocked and the nutes be available and be taken up

TheBadChoice · Jan 30, 2021

Y’all know this is from like 10 years ago and the last post was 2018 lol

how much cal/mag to charge coco with

how much cal/mag to charge coco with

blackcat

Dirty White Boy

Ever after

th3b12ain

Dirty White Boy

tokinupon1

El Cerebro

true grit

QCweedisbetter

Dirty White Boy

S_D

Attachments

Cannanugget

Lowman

Chemfather

Breeder

Kdenhayn808

G gnome

Kdenhayn808

Dungeongangsta

TheBadChoice

how much cal/mag to charge coco with

how much cal/mag to charge coco with

blackcat

Dirty White Boy

Ever after

th3b12ain

Dirty White Boy

tokinupon1

El Cerebro

true grit

QCweedisbetter

Dirty White Boy

S_D

Attachments

Cannanugget

Lowman

Chemfather

Breeder

Kdenhayn808

G gnome

Kdenhayn808

Dungeongangsta

TheBadChoice

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