Sometimes the store around me changes coco which kinda sucks. In the Flower tent I am using Atami Bcuzz coco as that is all they had at the time. It's working well. It was $19 for 50l. Before I had that I used a hydrated block of Botanicare brick coco. Good stuff and way cheaper than pre fluffed coco, but it's more work. Most of the known brands are good. The only brand I would not recommend is Roots Organics Coco Palms. The batch I got was terribly high in salt content.
Indeed fruits are the end game brotha. I think you are talking about the rootbound solo cup girls? Like incogneato said I'm doing it on purpose to keep them small. They are my Bonsai moms/Experimental plants. I don't really have a purpose for them per say. I just want to see how far I can take it until they run into nutrient problems but so far they are healthy.
I completely agree that one needs a higher volume of soil to roots when growing for the exact reasons you stated, but I'm growing in coco with straight hydro nutrients(veg+bloom 1 part powder). In my experience I've been able to grow the same size plants in almost half the amount of coco compared to soil because of the control I have over nutrition. The plants in my flower tent are only in 2gallon fabric pots except the DeadHead is in a coco hempy for kicks.
Here's that DeadHead OG seedling before I transplanted her into a half gal container:D. Not bad for a solo cup but it's gotta be coco haha.
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