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^ this is exactly my impression from your other thread regarding using jobe's spikes in Coco. Also you can get bugs in Coco as well as soilI think you're fighting an uphill battle. Typically coco is run like hyrdo and it sounds like you're wanting to run it like soil. I think you should pick one or the other styles. I've seen some threads here where folks are trying similar things. Maybe someone else with more experience will chime in. Until then you might search the forums. I know there is information here that's relevant to your situation.
I want to run mainly only water in the autopot reservoir. I am trying to figure out a way to make coco coir work with organic dry nutrients like dr earth fertilizer that you mix in with the coco then top dress every few weeks. I have been told that coco would not work very well with dry amendments due to coco not holding the nutrients in very well. I do not want to add soil to the coco due to reading about people having problems with bugs in the peat. I have read that biochar helps retain nutrients. If I mix biochar in with the coco would that help it retain nutrients and help it work using the dry amendments in the coco on there?
I want to run mainly only water in the autopot reservoir. I am trying to figure out a way to make coco coir work with organic dry nutrients like dr earth fertilizer that you mix in with the coco then top dress every few weeks. I have been told that coco would not work very well with dry amendments due to coco not holding the nutrients in very well. I do not want to add soil to the coco due to reading about people having problems with bugs in the peat. I have read that biochar helps retain nutrients. If I mix biochar in with the coco would that help it retain nutrients and help it work using the dry amendments in the coco on there?
I would suggest following the information in this post, this guy knows what he is doing with substrates!!!!!!!!!!If you add organic material to COCO then it will change the composition of COCO. It will compost over time and become something more like soil, your plants will grow just fine, but you wont be able to use the COCO like true COCO should be used.
You wont be able to water all the time or keeping the coco moist when run into serious problems eventually.
3 years ago i switched to Organics in COCO and i tried multiple ways to amend COCO, organic material will just screw you in the end, stay with the liquid organics.
You can still amend COCO with mineral base amendments though and it works great! I use them as time release Cal-Mag and PH buffers.
Minerals like:
Dolomite Lime
Sulfur
Rock Phosphate
Gypsum
Oyster Shell
Diatomaceous Earth
All these work really good in COCO because they dont breakdown like normal organic material, they mostly just leach out nutrients over time.
If you add organic material to COCO then it will change the composition of COCO. It will compost over time and become something more like soil, your plants will grow just fine, but you wont be able to use the COCO like true COCO should be used.
You wont be able to water all the time or keeping the coco moist when run into serious problems eventually.
3 years ago i switched to Organics in COCO and i tried multiple ways to amend COCO, organic material will just screw you in the end, stay with the liquid organics.
You can still amend COCO with mineral base amendments though and it works great! I use them as time release Cal-Mag and PH buffers.
Minerals like:
Dolomite Lime
Sulfur
Rock Phosphate
Gypsum
Oyster Shell
Diatomaceous Earth
All these work really good in COCO because they dont breakdown like normal organic material, they mostly just leach out nutrients over time.
May i ask you why? cause you have coco or biochar layn around or what?I am trying to figure out a way to make coco coir work with organic dry nutrients like dr earth fertilizer that you mix in with the coco then top dress every few weeks.
The very obvious issue with what you are suggesting is that you are going to top dress with your nutrients and then water from the bottom. The organic inputs will never make their way into the medium if you are only watering from the bottom. I don't think you are too far off base with what you are thinking of doing, however you would need to set your system to water from the top to make it work.I want to run mainly only water in the autopot reservoir. I am trying to figure out a way to make coco coir work with organic dry nutrients like dr earth fertilizer that you mix in with the coco then top dress every few weeks. I have been told that coco would not work very well with dry amendments due to coco not holding the nutrients in very well. I do not want to add soil to the coco due to reading about people having problems with bugs in the peat. I have read that biochar helps retain nutrients. If I mix biochar in with the coco would that help it retain nutrients and help it work using the dry amendments in the coco on there?
Could you please share what organic liquid nutrients you are using with your coco grows? Thanks
I actually ferment my own organic nutrients, but if you're looking for a true organic nutrient line ROOTS ORGANICS is a really great one. They are CDFA certified which is the highest certification of organics there is (at least here in the U.S.).
I used R.O. (Roots Organics) when i first switched to organics, their line is extremely easy to use, you have a Grow bottle and a Bloom bottle, then you have all their additives. If you were to use any one their additives i would highly recommend the TRINITY because it has the seaweed and sea kelp extract inside it, those are really great for root development and as a flower enhancer.
Also DOWN TO EARTH actually makes a Micro Nutrient product, that sucker will give you some lush beautiful dark green leaves! It will make ur plant look amazing.
I'm currently running an organic grow in coco
Thanks. I am glad to hear that someone is doing something like what I am trying to figure out here. Would you mind telling me which dr earth you are using and what ratio you mix it with? When do you add more in with top dressings and what do you add when you do it? I plan to add the calmag with silicon into the water in the reservoir on there.
I'm in 95% coco with about 5% perlite. I'm using the Dr. Earth Premium Gold 4-4-4 and Dr. Earth Flower Girl 3-9-4. My original substrate I amended before transplant with recommended dosage. At 4 weeks I top dressed with 75/25, at 8 weeks (just before my flip), I top dressed with 50/50. When I top dress, I just scratch it in the top and then water with ph'd water switching up adding silica, cal/mag, and tea with each watering (so my plants only get a dose of each once per week approximately). I only water every other day, as I wait until the pots are fairly light before watering. I only water until medium is fully saturated, with little to no runoff.
Now that they are in flower, I will probably start tapering off silica, and do more of the Pure Blend Tea and add molasses. I will still be adding cal/mag at least once a week. I do notice that after the watering with PBT, the plants look really perked up, and I hope that adding the molasses will help with cal/mag.
I think overall the plants have been very healthy with this style grow; however, I am just starting 12/12 cycle this week, so I'll be carefully watching their progress to see if they are getting all they need to finish strong.
One thing I did notice with this grow compared to my DWC is that the size of the main stem is much smaller than DWC. My thought process in trying this method is that I wanted to go as organic as possible, and also that it would be easier to maintain by just adding the nutrients to the coco and watering.
However, the people doing the coco/hydro grows seem to be more in line with the rapid growth and large main stem you see in a DWC setup. I am curious to try using a full hydro style method with coco on my next run with high frequency fertigation with organic liquid nutes to compare it with the dry amendments (soil type grow).
There is also the possibility that my coco just doesn't yet have a good enough microbiology to support the plants as well. I've read that 2nd/3rd runs using the old coco just gets better and better - more like a living soil.
Here's my girls this morning - no watering today, but will water with the PBT and molasses starting tomorrow - wish me luck :)View attachment 955350View attachment 955351
I personal would continue the silica if I were you. Silica is one of the few products that actually adds density to your bud. Because silica strengthens the cell walls of your plants that means when you are forming bud it is strengthening the cell walls of those as well! If you are using a Potassium Silicate product it takes time to absorb into your plant, I would recommend for future grows try a Silicic Acid product.
Silicic Acid is highly available to the plant and will absorb more readily.
You have two forms Orthosilicic Acid (OSA 28) and Monosilicic Acid (Power Si, Fasilitor, MSA Stout).
I personal would continue the silica if I were you. Silica is one of the few products that actually adds density to your bud. Because silica strengthens the cell walls of your plants that means when you are forming bud it is strengthening the cell walls of those as well! If you are using a Potassium Silicate product it takes time to absorb into your plant, I would recommend for future grows try a Silicic Acid product.
Silicic Acid is highly available to the plant and will absorb more readily.
You have two forms Orthosilicic Acid (OSA 28) and Monosilicic Acid (Power Si, Fasilitor, MSA Stout).
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