What do YOU use to amend coco??

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GR33NL3AF

GR33NL3AF

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why'd you add perlite if you can't water every day? could pose a problem later in the cycle, esp. with 90 in a 4x8.
I added the perlite last run, roughly 3 months ago. I was able to estimate waterings last round. Shit holds Sooo much water without runoff.

What makes you prefer coco over peat??
 
caveman4.20

caveman4.20

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I added the perlite last run, roughly 3 months ago. I was able to estimate waterings last round. Shit holds Sooo much water without runoff.

What makes you prefer coco over peat??
when you first hydrate coco are you getting runoff? if so i say you have a nice rhizosphere going on.....are you organic its hard to remember everyones style and im plenty medicated....
 
GR33NL3AF

GR33NL3AF

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when you first hydrate coco are you getting runoff? if so i say you have a nice rhizosphere going on.....are you organic its hard to remember everyones style and im plenty medicated....
I'm speaking on behalf of my Sunshine #4 bed, haven't ran coco yet, I feel the sunshine mix outperforms it.

When I first filled my bed with the bale I did get run off, haven't sense.
 
We Solidarity

We Solidarity

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I added the perlite last run, roughly 3 months ago. I was able to estimate waterings last round. Shit holds Sooo much water without runoff.

What makes you prefer coco over peat??


peat's not renewable and will eventually run out - I like to grow responsibly and since I'm not recycling media coco is the way to grow. Plus I've never seen a cutting root a whole 1 gallon pot in two weeks until I started using coco.
 
We Solidarity

We Solidarity

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It's not going to run out any time soon - not in our lifetimes - but the environmental consequences far outweigh the benefits of peat IMO.

I used to know a scientist who would fly with the whooping cranes from canada to a brackish swamp on the west coast of Florida every year. He explained to me how peat mining was destroying their habitat and scientists were in a mad scramble researching other places they could nest other than peat bogs. There were less than 100 birds left in the wild at one point - and in the last 60 years they've barely been able to bring the population to 500 because there simply isn't enough of their habitat left to support them.

And when they drain swamps to collect the peat, they are releasing the carbon that has been building up for thousands of years, so not only is peat mining destroying more fragile, important, and irreplaceable ecosystems, it's also releasing over 1,000 megatons of CO2 per year. And that number grows EXPONENTIALLY when peat fires occur, which is sadly very common in SE Asia.

coco coir comes from coconuts, which are produced every year, and in such large quantities that it would be very difficult to drastically alter an ecosystem harvesting them. Since the nut is the only part of the whole seed used. the husk has been considered a waste item until people started amending it into their rice paddies. I personally prefer to use the pith of the husk as opposed to the coir (which is the stringy fiber) due to it's similarity to peat.
 
caveman4.20

caveman4.20

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I'm speaking on behalf of my Sunshine #4 bed, haven't ran coco yet, I feel the sunshine mix outperforms it.

When I first filled my bed with the bale I did get run off, haven't sense.
I bet it's got a bunch of microbeasties helping conserve water
 
GR33NL3AF

GR33NL3AF

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It's not going to run out any time soon - not in our lifetimes - but the environmental consequences far outweigh the benefits of peat IMO.

I used to know a scientist who would fly with the whooping cranes from canada to a brackish swamp on the west coast of Florida every year. He explained to me how peat mining was destroying their habitat and scientists were in a mad scramble researching other places they could nest other than peat bogs. There were less than 100 birds left in the wild at one point - and in the last 60 years they've barely been able to bring the population to 500 because there simply isn't enough of their habitat left to support them.

And when they drain swamps to collect the peat, they are releasing the carbon that has been building up for thousands of years, so not only is peat mining destroying more fragile, important, and irreplaceable ecosystems, it's also releasing over 1,000 megatons of CO2 per year. And that number grows EXPONENTIALLY when peat fires occur, which is sadly very common in SE Asia.

coco coir comes from coconuts, which are produced every year, and in such large quantities that it would be very difficult to drastically alter an ecosystem harvesting them. Since the nut is the only part of the whole seed used. the husk has been considered a waste item until people started amending it into their rice paddies. I personally prefer to use the pith of the husk as opposed to the coir (which is the stringy fiber) due to it's similarity to peat.
Interesting WS, thank you for the info. I guess with all that goes with growing I've never considered where my products actually come from.

Which brand of Coco do you generally use?

I bet it's got a bunch of microbeasties helping conserve water
I keep my beds loaded with Cap's products... : )
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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I don't think peat is better then coco, but I don't think coco is better then peat either. They are both soilless, they have different cation exchange properties, but IMO if you treat it correctly you can get the same growth from either media.
 
shoestring

shoestring

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Coco coir has too many advantages over peat based soilless mixes and rockwool slab gardens to even mention in my experience. Promix , Sunshine Mix, and Grodan Rockwool were par for the course back in the day but coco coir in my experience blows those mediums away by a country mile. There good. Real good. But nowhere near coir. And in my rooms mixing about 25 to 30% perlite to any standard coco coir (bagged or bricked - most major brands are equivalent these days and.very high quality) gives my plants a slight edge over straight coco coir as it provides additional aeration to the root zone. What i have been using for the last few years is Readygro Moisture formula coco coir from Botanicare. This has about 30% perlite premixed into it saving me the hassle. It also has a number of mostly organic goodies added in trace amoumts such as castings,compost, humics, and beneficials. These are washed out after a few runoff feeds. This allows me to run lower ppm's at first and allows rooted cuttings, seedlings and transplants quick root growth with minimal stress. This brand to me is WAY superior to canna, cyco and other straight cocos in side by sides i did a couple years ago. I feed starts, and transplants a heavy soaking in low ppm's (about 450 to 500) in 1 and 2 gallon growbags and let it almost dry until next feed (up to.a week). This gets roots growing mad for food and water. Once there established and hitting a stride they get one daily feed for 45 seconds to one minute (openfeed tubes no drip) depending on variety and room conditions. I bump this up to 2 even 3 feeds as the plants progress and mature. I find that adopting standard agricultural and greenhouse methods to a indoor hobby type situation has increased my yields considerably.Easy peezy japaneasy
 
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Welshwizzard

Welshwizzard

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Im a canna coco pro guy.

I use around 60/40 coco / perlite.

I always run a couple of 5l bottles of ph'd water through my perlite though cos its always knocked plants back a bit if I dont and also get all that shitty dust off.

I like to let my coco get almost dry before a feed. Some runs I feed to run off and others I feed smaller amounts with no run off and do a water only feed every 3rd.

Its all personal I suppose but I find coco very very forgiving. Cal mag and Epsom are a must around here with the combo of coco and shit water!
 
drknockbootz

drknockbootz

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First run in it I cut it with chunky perlite, nothing more, worked great.

Second and current run, I added All-purpose 5-5-5 organics, dolomite, EWC, and some compost. I vegged for 3 weeks and am 4 weeks into flower, no food needed so far.

How much all purpose are u using per bed? Ive been thinking about adding some organic ammendments too my coco/hydroton/perlite, since I dont plan on getting rid of my medium anytime soon. How are they performing compared to other runs with out it. I plan on adding gypsum and maybe some castings.
 
GR33NL3AF

GR33NL3AF

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How much all purpose are u using per bed? Ive been thinking about adding some organic ammendments too my coco/hydroton/perlite, since I dont plan on getting rid of my medium anytime soon. How are they performing compared to other runs with out it. I plan on adding gypsum and maybe some castings.
I haven't ran it in awhile, I went completely synthetic. However, when I did use it, I generally added 1 bag per 4x8. The plants seemed to love it..
 
drknockbootz

drknockbootz

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low yielding strains 1.5lb a light, medium to heavy yielders plus or minus 2lbs a light
 
W

WAkuntry

60
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Forest humus and porous rock...dosnt matter what kind thats my little dig had a nice young man kick my butt in the right direction with the coconut husk. I honestly reckon the key too amending anything is trial and error. Aint gunna learn a whole lot if ya dont stumble every now and then.
 
LexLuthor

LexLuthor

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Forest humus and porous rock...dosnt matter what kind thats my little dig had a nice young man kick my butt in the right direction with the coconut husk. I honestly reckon the key too amending anything is trial and error. Aint gunna learn a whole lot if ya dont stumble every now and then.


you use humus and porous rock with coco?? is that outdoors??
 
Savage Henry

Savage Henry

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Welshwizzard

Welshwizzard

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Hey man I use gypsum I make sure its fully diluted. I'm not sure on the amounts I use, start with a teaspoon per 10l and add from there
 
Savage Henry

Savage Henry

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By fully diluted I take it you are referring to liquid gypsum? Something like this:
Image


Edit: the quotation marks on this product left me suspicious, turns out this is diluted calcium chloride
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
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I use the dry gypsum that comes in 50lb bags.
Does anyone have experience amending their coir with gypsum? Apparently it adds to aeration as well. Got the idea here: https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/meeks-2013-dapper-grow-log.53463/page-14#post-1100572 (post #263)
@nMEEKS suggested 150g/50l (approx 1.75 cu ft, or a standard bag)

Maybe amending crab meal in the first pot for veg (for the calcium and chitin) and gypsum in the final pot for the end of veg and flower (for the calcium and sulfur).
I have, and I avoid using anything with carbonate in it like crab shell meal when growing in coir because 1) that means I'm growing inside and 2) that means that I have to use RO/DI water, my well water is WAY too hard. I've found that carbonates tend to build up and push pH up pretty hard and can be hard to fight.

If you want chitin, I suggest insect frass here.

The really great thing about CaSO4 is that it doesn't shift pH around.
 

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