Reuse Your Coco

gwheels · Nov 6, 2017

I was wondering. Do people reuse coco and perlite mix ?

I fish out my hydroton pellets and reuse those but getting the roots out of the coco is a pain in the ass. The problem is i have 16 gallons of coco/perlite every 3 months or so. My outdoor garden would be a mountain if i keep churning it in there. I tend to recycle it in the green bin in dribs and drabs but is it reusable?

How do you do it so I have an idea how to prepare.

Ideally I would have 32 gallons of substrate. 16 gallons fresh and ready for next round every time. Is that even possible?

I am still a newb but not a super newb :D
Thanks for reading it and thanks for the advice.

Enforcer · Nov 7, 2017

I plan on reusing mine. I have read that soaking the coco in an enzyme solution will break down the little bits of roots left over.

Funkadelic · Nov 8, 2017

Enforcer said:
I plan on reusing mine. I have read that soaking the coco in an enzyme solution will break down the little bits of roots left over.

Yup

StandingRock · Nov 11, 2017

I reuse my pots and when I remove the root ball I gently shake off whatever is loose(not much, maybe 1/4) and toss the rest. I mix it with new stuff and haven’t had trouble yet.

ogweedman · Nov 17, 2017

I have done with and with out the enzymes and didn't notice a difference. Not saying they don't work but not something that will kill your crop if you don't have it. If I had a good round of flower then I reuse as much as possible. If I had problems especially root or mites, I would replace with new. It's cheap for me using 100% Coco from the bricks.

StandingRock · Nov 17, 2017

ogweedman said:
I have done with and with out the enzymes and didn't notice a difference. Not saying they don't work but not something that will kill your crop if you don't have it. If I had a good round of flower then I reuse as much as possible. If I had problems especially root or mites, I would replace with new. It's cheap for me using 100% Coco from the bricks.

My thoughts exactly.

Pimples · Nov 17, 2017

Ive reused a bunch. I have to leach flush after main rootball removal with 0.8 to 1.0 EC mild base fert to bring it down. Ive also went with and without enzyme. Either or. But I will say a cellulase enzyme like Cannazyme absolutely takes care of dead roots and after replant they take off faster. And Ive reused with a little fresh coco as a top off up to 5 times and it truly gets better and better. With the enzyme its almost like an organic loaded substrate after the 2nd or third run.

gwheels · Nov 18, 2017

With my autopots i have to use 50 50 mix. Coco and perlite or clay pellets. I will clean up the old stuff for the next run. For this run I will run hydroton with rockwell and coco 1/3 of each :D

GrowGod · Nov 18, 2017

Not worth the trouble. I use 2.5 bags of coco and a half bag of grow stones for a 4 x 1000 watt room. So for well under 100 bucks it’s just not worth it.

Dallas4lr · Nov 19, 2017

I've reused my Coco for years and have never had an issue, even though I hit my plants pretty hard with Dry KoolBloom during flowering.

TerpyTyrone · Dec 30, 2018

gwheels said:
With my autopots i have to use 50 50 mix. Coco and perlite or clay pellets. I will clean up the old stuff for the next run. For this run I will run hydroton with rockwell and coco 1/3 of each :D

How'd that ratio work for ya?

gwheels · Dec 31, 2018

The ratio is working so far so good flipping tomorrow

TerpyTyrone · Dec 31, 2018

So ya just cut up rockwool cubes and add it as a 1/3 ratio?
Thats the saturated medium,
Hydroton pellets for aeration,
And coco as a spot for the roots to adhere to?

gwheels · Dec 31, 2018

I just realized this was 2017 lol

I had a giant bag of 1 inch grodan cubes they were too wet by themselves but the trio worked well

Coco and hydroton or perlite work better

Burned Haze · Dec 31, 2018

* I reuse my coco since I started doing this medium (been 4 years on my batches), I must say besides the medium becoming sand and losing some, it’s the best and you k ow what your getting ( the “ soilless medium mixes” a lot of the time are really a mix of so many things and contaminates)

* 50% perlite / coco or 100% coco

1. Beat any previous roots/junk ( I always leave a stump that is a 10-24inches to hold and it will give me 90-95% back ) into a tout or large container so you can uppot the plants.even If the roots are a huge mass, you will see the coco will come out , just have to beat the fuck out of it,it’s worth it cause it’s a sterilized medium and you know where it’s been now )
2.sterlize pots/tools/trays with python 20 ( wait 15 minutes, then wash off )
3. 400 ppm bass nutes + EM1, Rootshield WP (every 10-12 week’s protections,I apply every 10 weeks to trustee efficienty) , liquid BTI 8%, MYKOS
4.rest of veg 500-700ppm with bennies combo given every once a week or every other Rez fill

Only issues is it does become a “ sand” and you loose your coco, but just more if you don;t have overstock ( I leave my overstock in trash cans cause I was doing 4x8 beds and it gave me a lot of extra stock)

gwheels · Jan 1, 2019

Burned Haze said:
* I reuse my coco since I started doing this medium (been 4 years on my batches), I must say besides the medium becoming sand and losing some, it’s the best and you k ow what your getting ( the “ soilless medium mixes” a lot of the time are really a mix of so many things and contaminates)

* 50% perlite / coco or 100% coco

1. Beat any previous roots/junk ( I always leave a stump that is a 10-24inches to hold and it will give me 90-95% back ) into a tout or large container so you can uppot the plants.even If the roots are a huge mass, you will see the coco will come out , just have to beat the fuck out of it,it’s worth it cause it’s a sterilized medium and you know where it’s been now )
2.sterlize pots/tools/trays with python 20 ( wait 15 minutes, then wash off )
3. 400 ppm bass nutes + EM1, Rootshield WP (every 10-12 week’s protections,I apply every 10 weeks to trustee efficienty) , liquid BTI 8%, MYKOS
4.rest of veg 500-700ppm with bennies combo given every once a week or every other Rez fill

Only issues is it does become a “ sand” and you loose your coco, but just more if you don;t have overstock ( I leave my overstock in trash cans cause I was doing 4x8 beds and it gave me a lot of extra stock)

Thanks that is great to know. After this run i am moving so i will toss this round of coco but on the next round i will sterlize and keep it and see how it goes.
It will really reduce the cost of a 4 plant grow. I use 80 litres (20 gallons) of medium per round now.

MidwestToker · Jan 1, 2019

My coco root balls go into the vegetable garden outdoors. No reuse indoors. I found it too much work to get enough usable coir out of a 4' tall plant grown in 2.2 gallon pots.

Pileit · Jul 19, 2019

I have tried to reuse coco on different runs. Seems like the second run can be better than new coco. My trouble has always arisen on round 3. Small buds and coco seems to stay wet and some will smell terrible. We run enzymes during grow. After harvesting we take out the root ball with a battery Sawzall. We then dump coco out of pots and take all visible roots out. The 3rd run we always get tiny buds. Thus will be last time reusing coco more than twice.

Enforcer · Jul 21, 2019

I am on my 6th run with this coco. At this point there is less coco than when I started. But it’s still quite usable. After harvest, I shake the coco loose from the root ball. I then soak the coco for a few days in RO water and about a half cup or so of 35% H2O2, and then a couple days after that soaking in Bio-Cozyme (enzymes). Then it’s drained and stored for the next use. I just harvested this Cinderella 99 bud about two weeks ago after run #5. If you’re getting small buds, it’s probably not from reusing the coco. You might try the H2O2 soak. It will sterilize the coco for the next run and eliminate the bad smell.

jumpincactus · Jul 21, 2019

gwheels said:
I was wondering. Do people reuse coco and perlite mix ?

I fish out my hydroton pellets and reuse those but getting the roots out of the coco is a pain in the ass. The problem is i have 16 gallons of coco/perlite every 3 months or so. My outdoor garden would be a mountain if i keep churning it in there. I tend to recycle it in the green bin in dribs and drabs but is it reusable?

How do you do it so I have an idea how to prepare.

Ideally I would have 32 gallons of substrate. 16 gallons fresh and ready for next round every time. Is that even possible?

I am still a newb but not a super newb :D
Thanks for reading it and thanks for the advice.

Re use would depend on 1 did you have a pest free run, no FG's or other critters that may mess with your next run. Things of that nature. Keep in mind tho coco is organic matter and does break down over time and starts to become more dense than when used for the 1st run so over runs you will limit the oxygenation properties that is what gives coco its claim to fame. My bro is a staunch purest and he only uses once then he tosses the used coco into him compost heap. So use it over if thats what you want to do. I would limit it to 2 runs. IMHO

Reuse Your Coco

Reuse Your Coco

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Reuse Your Coco

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