New to coco and wanting your thoughts...

[ganjasaur]

Hey there,

I'm curious about coco, I'm currently using 70/30 coco/perlite this is what the distributor says about the product:

pest and disease free, thoroughly rinsed, pH stabilised, pre-buffered with calcium, and has a very low salt index.

The thing is when I watered my clones in for the first time the runoff was very brown compared to the nutrient mix going in... Is this normal..? I felt like it should have been rinsed first till it ran clear than watered with nutrient mix...

Thoughts..?

Using fabric pots.

Have you checked the cf of the runoff? I would either rinse the Coco or switch brands because I have never got this problem.
I have found Coco to be amazing, the only downside is slightly more expensive but even that could be mitigated by recycling the Coco for the next grow. You can't keep all of it but about half and it's just as good provided you rinse it thoroughly first. Anyone who has issues with Coco (eg. Salt build up) is getting it wrong somewhere else. Or is using an inferior product. I have found Coco to be superior in every way . Potting mix is now banned from my house. I have been using it for about 10 years and I did read an article that basically said Coco used to have some problems( can't remember what) like 15+years ago but apparently there was some breakthrough improvements made to how it was being manufactured and that fixed everything. It's been smooth sailing for me from the start. I've used it with a bunch of different grow methods too I'm always trying different systems just for the fun of it but for me if it's not hydro or aero then it's Coco. Even some of my hydro systems I use Coco. I do my cuttings in it as well works perfect.

 

[ganjasaur]

Yes, watering replenishes the oxygen and removes gasses unlike soil which we wait to dry back in order to suck oxygen In to it.

You can't over water within reason.

Start once a day everyday at the same time generally near the lights on point.

You can run a constant drip feed or even constant flow and recirculate like a proper hydro system if you want. I have tried both, had no problems but no major benefits either

 

[SLYNINJA]

You can run a constant drip feed or even constant flow and recirculate like a proper hydro system if you want. I have tried both, had no problems but no major benefits either

Yeah sure so I using ec for my feed/runoff readings rather than e.c, straight out of the bag using 0.2 ec feed the runoff is coming out at 4.0ec so I'm pretty sure this brand of coco is not the best, however after thorough washing I can get it down to 0.2ec and I've had no issues but it's a pain so I'll most likely switch brands if I continue to use coco although I may switch to rock wool as I've just purchased a Growlink precision irrigation controller.

 

[SlingShot]

Yeah sure so I using ec for my feed/runoff readings rather than e.c, straight out of the bag using 0.2 ec feed the runoff is coming out at 4.0ec so I'm pretty sure this brand of coco is not the best, however after thorough washing I can get it down to 0.2ec and I've had no issues but it's a pain so I'll most likely switch brands if I continue to use coco although I may switch to rock wool as I've just purchased a Growlink precision irrigation controller.

I run coco, some hurdles, once sorted, love it, wouldn't consider another hydro medium until I go full chiller RWDC, I'm noob-ish for sure but I've watched and read great amounts of cannabis content and outside commercial ops I've seen very few growers choose rock-wool, my first grows decades ago I trialled both rock-wool and grow-wool to varying results. It isn't my place to say boo, but I'd really research the rock-wool approach before making the switch, either way, happy grows.

 

[ganjasaur]

Yeah sure so I using ec for my feed/runoff readings rather than e.c, straight out of the bag using 0.2 ec feed the runoff is coming out at 4.0ec so I'm pretty sure this brand of coco is not the best, however after thorough washing I can get it down to 0.2ec and I've had no issues but it's a pain so I'll most likely switch brands if I continue to use coco although I may switch to rock wool as I've just purchased a Growlink precision irrigation controller.

That is crazy high . If you are putting new Coco straight out of the bag in a bucket then put clean water in and test run off . If you do that and get an ec of 4.0 you should go get your money back and slap the face of whoever sold it to you.
I will add though i would always fill my buckets then rinse it through with clean water first thing anyways till i get about 500ml -1l runoff per bucket. Then put plant In and water in with a very light nutrient solution. But i would expect the ec of the initial runoff to rise by maybe .2 to 0.4 not 4.0 lol that will be near toxic. I sometimes buy my perlite separately and you definitely have to rinse that till the runoff is clear as it starts out like milk.
A friend of mine was having problems ( halfway through a grow) and asked me to have a look. I thought he'd been over feeding so I put in clean water and tested runoff and got a similar ec. to you 4. Something. I had to put about 40L of water through each bucket to bring it back to neutral.
If you are new to it I would suggest testing your runoff every 4-5 days just for peace of mind that you are getting the feed right. If your getting higher readings coming out then going in you are probably over feeding.
I avoid this with 3 steps. 1 .always use slightly less than whatever the bottle or feed chart says. 2. Every 4th feeding I make it pretty much just water with maybe 10% the nutrients of a full feed or less. 3. Feed to 10% runoff every time .

 

[ganjasaur]

I run coco, some hurdles, once sorted, love it, wouldn't consider another hydro medium until I go full chiller RWDC, I'm noob-ish for sure but I've watched and read great amounts of cannabis content and outside commercial ops I've seen very few growers choose rock-wool, my first grows decades ago I trialled both rock-wool and grow-wool to varying results. It isn't my place to say boo, but I'd really research the rock-wool approach before making the switch, either way, happy grows.

I agree, rockwool is OK for cuttings or if you run a NFT gully system otherwise in not a fan

I run coco, some hurdles, once sorted, love it, wouldn't consider another hydro medium until I go full chiller RWDC, I'm noob-ish for sure but I've watched and read great amounts of cannabis content and outside commercial ops I've seen very few growers choose rock-wool, my first grows decades ago I trialled both rock-wool and grow-wool to varying results. It isn't my place to say boo, but I'd really research the rock-wool approach before making the switch, either way, happy grows.

 

[SLYNINJA]

I run coco, some hurdles, once sorted, love it, wouldn't consider another hydro medium until I go full chiller RWDC, I'm noob-ish for sure but I've watched and read great amounts of cannabis content and outside commercial ops I've seen very few growers choose rock-wool, my first grows decades ago I trialled both rock-wool and grow-wool to varying results. It isn't my place to say boo, but I'd really research the rock-wool approach before making the switch, either way, happy grows.

Yeah sure I hear what your saying, prior to this hobbies I worked in a hydroponic farm growing vegetables, as the media we used rockwool so I do have some experience with it, I think alot of company's opt for using coco as rockwool is around 5x the cost of coco and they share similar properties as mediums, however rockwool does have it's benifits: rockwool is more ph stable, doesn't hold onto certain elements as coco does, has superior water retention and fantastic aeration, is consistent in its make up by nature and extremely sterile.

The thing for me is the cost, however I love the ease of dealing with rockwool, not having to have pots or bags, I love how clean it is my grow space is extremely clean and besides I still have three dozen 6x6x6 Hugo cubes left but I will not be writing coco off, in the future I'll spend some decent money and purchase some high quality coco and have another blast

 

[SLYNINJA]

I agree, rockwool is OK for cuttings or if you run a NFT gully system otherwise in not a fan

Have you tried doing a full run in rockwool..? Just out of curiosity.

 

[ganjasaur]

I agree, rockwool is OK for cuttings or if you run a NFT gully system otherwise in not a fan

Have you tried doing a full run in rockwool..? Just out of curiosity.

Only in an NFT gully system . What type of set up are you running?

 

[SLYNINJA]

Only in an NFT gully system . What type of set up are you running?

Run to waste using drippers

 

[Florida_Mike]

I run coco, some hurdles, once sorted, love it, wouldn't consider another hydro medium until I go full chiller RWDC, I'm noob-ish for sure but I've watched and read great amounts of cannabis content and outside commercial ops I've seen very few growers choose rock-wool, my first grows decades ago I trialled both rock-wool and grow-wool to varying results. It isn't my place to say boo, but I'd really research the rock-wool approach before making the switch, either way, happy grows.

I grow in rockwool. As an ex-professional, commercial/gorilla grower, I can assure you that rockwool when used properly; will outperform any other grow medium.

Couple pics of my last grow with 4x4x4" blocks on top of 4x8x12" uni-slabs (448 in³/1.9 USgal total) = 7,341.404672 cm³ (exact, since 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly) ≈ 7.341 L.

Two of the Hash Plants produced 1lb each. Tossed apx 1Lb of Northern Lights due to mold/bud rot.

This was my 1st grow in 22 years. Mistakes were made.

 

[KG1]

Why slabs not blocks or why vertical fibres not horizontal?

 

[Florida_Mike]

Why slabs not blocks or why vertical fibres not horizontal?

This grow was an experiment using the uni-slabs and LED's. Not sure what fibers you are talking about? The slab fibers are horizontal; the 4x4x4 blocks have vertical. In the old days I used 4x6x36" slabs with 3x3x2.5" blocks on top, w/ 3-4 plants ea (which I'll be using this upcoming winter grow, only w/ 2-3 plants ea).

As I said, I was a commercial/gorilla grower. They didn't have jumbo blocks back when I used to grow. I haven't seen many here that can match my indoor totals.

 

[KG1]

This grow was an experiment using the uni-slabs and LED's. Not sure what fibers you are talking about? The slab fibers are horizontal; the 4x4x4 blocks have vertical. In the old days I used 4x6x36" slabs with 3x3x2.5" blocks on top, w/ 3-4 plants ea (which I'll be using this upcoming winter grow, only w/ 2-3 plants ea).

As I said, I was a commercial/gorilla grower. They didn't have jumbo blocks back when I used to grow. I haven't seen many here that can match my indoor totals.

Sorry I got that the wrong way round.

And the slabs on an angle or just laid flat?

 

[SLYNINJA]

I grow in rockwool. As an ex-professional, commercial/gorilla grower, I can assure you that rockwool when used properly; will outperform any other grow medium.

Couple pics of my last grow with 4x4x4" blocks on top of 4x8x12" uni-slabs (448 in³/1.9 USgal total) = 7,341.404672 cm³ (exact, since 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly) ≈ 7.341 L.

Two of the Hash Plants produced 1lb each. Tossed apx 1Lb of Northern Lights due to mold/bud rot.

This was my 1st grow in 22 years. Mistakes were made.

We'll done, Stella job there.

Couple of questions:

What are you using to control your irrigation events..?

And

Can you tell me a little bit about your feed schedule in terms or brand and e.c during what periods..?
Cheers.

 

[Florida_Mike]

Sorry I got that the wrong way round.

And the slabs on an angle or just laid flat?

Slabs in the pic are flat in an ebb and flow tray that slants slightly towards the drain (back to reservoir). 36" slabs are in special individual trays that can be level or slightly tilted towards drain end.

 

[Florida_Mike]

We'll done, Stella job there.

Couple of questions:

What are you using to control your irrigation events..?

And

Can you tell me a little bit about your feed schedule in terms or brand and e.c during what periods..?
Cheers.

It's a recirculating system. Feed pumps run continuously during lights on. Two 1/4" tubes to each plant. 20gal reservoir is topped up daily with full strength nutes. US 500 scale: I use 300-400ppm at 7-10 days old. Then 5-7 days jump to 800-1000ppm for 7 days, then 1200-1400ppm for duration. One hour flush with plain water every 7 days

Greenleaf Mega Crop 1 part nutes and supplements. Simple to use with online calculator. It's dry nutes, so you're not paying for water; I'm guessing it's the most economical nutes available. Many converts here at the farm with extraordinary results. I switched from General Hydroponics and will never look back.

1st attempt attempt in 22 yrs

here is my 1st project after a 22yr hiatus. this plant was gifted to me @ appx 7 days old from seed. that was on 11/09/24, so she is 24 days old today11/26/24 (i think 🤓🤔 lol) . i haven't seen the dude since to ask any follow-up questions, all i know is he...

www.thcfarmer.com

Florida Mike's 25/26 Indoor Rockwool Grow 9-1-25

9-1-25 10:35 pm And so it begins. Seeds sewn directly in 1.5" Rockwool starter cubes, Pre-soaked with 5.6 ph, RO water, at 4:20 am, Sept 1, 2025 (Just deep enuf to be able to cover ~ 3/8") These will go into Solo Cups for a small pheno hunt, plus X-mas...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[SLYNINJA]

It's a recirculating system. Feed pumps run continuously during lights on. Two 1/4" tubes to each plant. 20gal reservoir is topped up daily with full strength nutes. US 500 scale: I use 300-400ppm at 7-10 days old. Then 5-7 days jump to 800-1000ppm for 7 days, then 1200-1400ppm for duration. One hour flush with plain water every 7 days

Greenleaf Mega Crop 1 part nutes and supplements. Simple to use with online calculator. It's dry nutes, so you're not paying for water; I'm guessing it's the most economical nutes available. Many converts here at the farm with extraordinary results. I switched from General Hydroponics and will never look back.

1st attempt attempt in 22 yrs

here is my 1st project after a 22yr hiatus. this plant was gifted to me @ appx 7 days old from seed. that was on 11/09/24, so she is 24 days old today11/26/24 (i think 🤓🤔 lol) . i haven't seen the dude since to ask any follow-up questions, all i know is he...

www.thcfarmer.com

Florida Mike's 25/26 Indoor Rockwool Grow 9-1-25

9-1-25 10:35 pm And so it begins. Seeds sewn directly in 1.5" Rockwool starter cubes, Pre-soaked with 5.6 ph, RO water, at 4:20 am, Sept 1, 2025 (Just deep enuf to be able to cover ~ 3/8") These will go into Solo Cups for a small pheno hunt, plus X-mas...

www.thcfarmer.com

Pretty awesome, lots of good content there to look through.

I've moved to dry nutes also much better value for money.

I'm in soil atm with some just starting to flower in coco, I have some solo cups in coco I'll be transplanting in two weeks then I'll be back into rockwool, I'll be sure to let you know how I get on.

Just watching the trichomes on these at the moment, should be ready within the next two weeks.

 

[SlingShot]

I grow in rockwool. As an ex-professional, commercial/gorilla grower, I can assure you that rockwool when used properly; will outperform any other grow medium.

Couple pics of my last grow with 4x4x4" blocks on top of 4x8x12" uni-slabs (448 in³/1.9 USgal total) = 7,341.404672 cm³ (exact, since 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly) ≈ 7.341 L.

Two of the Hash Plants produced 1lb each. Tossed apx 1Lb of Northern Lights due to mold/bud rot.

This was my 1st grow in 22 years. Mistakes were made.

there is little else I like than to have my eyes widened and my mind opened, thanks, and when you say "I assure you" I believe it, awesome grow