The Coco-Coir Experiment Thread

[-VT-]

High coco brothas...and sistas
I'm interested in hearing about any side by sides and experimentaion you guys have done in coir.
So many ways to irrigate, feed, etc....
Wondering what side by sides and experiments you guys have conducted...

C'mon...share your results, and post any pics to corroborate your findings if need be...

For those of you who never post pics for security...please do not be dissuaded from contributing

I implore folks stick to personal experiences and tests, as opposed to the "theoretical" growing....

Let's come together to make this thread informative!!!

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

good idea VT

We have already learnt that bat guano is the bomb in coco. See my sig for proof

I really wanna get my hands on some pine oil ferts for a side by side.

 

[-VT-]

Thanks SiverSurfer_OG
Yes, I tagged that one. One of my favorites :smile:

I experimented with pure coco side by side with coco/perlite (50/50), and concluded growth rates were better in pure coco. The coco I used was a fine grade coco....and the perlite was Fox Farm's chunky perlite.

Coco/perlite was less vulnerable to overfert. But my side by side was short-lived due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control I plan to revisit this side by side.....and have plans for many more....nothing like a hands on side by side. I have to see for myself to truly believe...

I need to google pine oile ferts Never heard of them....

Thanks again for your contribution

 

[Guest]

Who is going to do the experiment to see if frequent waterings out yield less watering under the same conditions...

 

[thc43]

Hey V-T,

ive been playing around with coco for a while and love a good test or experiment.

clone in 80% perlite 20% coco

have used perlite in the soil mix but means i need to water alot more often, probally a good thing alowing pots to dry out alittle more between feeds.

tried all sizes of pots from 1litre to 55litre per plant, one Bed grow in a ebb/ flo tray, handwatered, drip fed..


I havnt read the PDf from canna but am hearing the same thing from my local grow shop guy through the canna rep. I remember when i first started using canna recomended 2.6ec. rhizo all the time, Pk from week two at 1ml. Things have changed now i think the recomending 2.0ec as an absolute Max and less waterings.

Only comparison i have is drip fed vs hand water once a day, i normally have a few smaller plants. clones under canopy that are hand fed till they find a home the drip fed always has better looking rooties and yields better but there isnt nuch in it.. with drip fed from a res you can really push the plants beond there peak nute use if increased very slowly with regular flushes..


well indica sativa
im a slacker and hand watering more than a couple of pots per day sounds a bit too much like hard work .. I liike run2waste refilling the res every 10days and if i stick to one brand of nute and addys i dont get any sludge or res problems, If i add neem wax/oil, fulvic acid, bio bugs, canadian express zym or hygrozym i get issues.. Neem being the worst turns to cheese like consistancy over night if res temps get lower than 15c and basicliy isnt soluable.

IMo canna is being very safe with there recomendations now, growing from clone is far different to seed, and on the odd accasion ive burnt plants fast using too much PK or allowing res to go over 3.0ec burning seed plants.

 

[clowntown]

Wow great thread!

I've been doing a little bit of research here on coco and it seems I've run into several things that weren't quite clear, including the pure fine coco vs. fine coco + perlite and frequent vs. occasional waterings... like this recent thread...

 

[thc43]

hey clown town,

iuse any of the pre flushed pre buffed non compressed coco in bags, cogR boards have different size particals smaller at the top bigger towards the bottom apparently improving air exchange in these small cogR trays and slabs. Dont think the canna slabs are buffed and are nomally compressed but they preform well with 3 plants per tray 3 to 4 trays per light. Stay tuned to that watering thread i think the amount and how many feeds might be related to pot/ plant size and maby indica / sativa drinking more, more often. small pots will need smaller but more often maby 6x waterings(cogr boards) per light on. a 30 to 50 litre pot with one plant would do well with only one or two feeds more than that isnt needed unless the 1 plant is under many lights.

Last week the biggest siezed plant in OZ was found taking up a whole bed room. 6x lights over a 3m x 4m scrogged plant apparently police have seen nothing like it before and depending on the state could be elligable for a caution no charge being less that 2 plants, But im thinking they will rewrite the law just because of this case. wonder how long this guy vegged for.

 

[Neptune]

I have been to many hydro shops around my town and I cannot find the Coarse coco blocks: sunleaves coco, or Profit discs

So, It looks like I will be buying a few(5) 50L bags of Canna coco... unless someone can direct me to a good place to buy Sunleaves coco blocks.

Next crop I am rotating out of rockwool, and into 2 gallon Perfect Pots, 1 dripper per pot. I will drip 1x a day for 5-10 minutes to start, and will adjust as the plants tell me.

My question to some of you coco mofos, is... do you always put a mat under your coco pots/trays? I was thinking a mat on the bottom would help contain sediment and filter the res water... also allowing roots to hide down under.

 

[imnotcrazy]

I want to know when they are gonna make our boy -VT- the " Experimentation Guru"..

He's always comin up with new methods and side by side tests and this helps ALL OF US in a sense.. Good show as usual Brother V.

EDIT: If it got put to a vote, you can count on mine faster than I will run toi the Presidential polls. At least I know you're no slacker like the dufus candidates we're gonna have

 

[clowntown]

Neptune, I've had a similar experience as well; we probably go to the exact same stores (and maybe even bumped into each other in the past once without even realizing!) I'm currently set up similarly to what you describe, 2 gallon perfect pots (Bato square pots) on top of an E/F table to catch runoff.

There is a bit of coco sediment / etc that comes out, especially at the beginning, but it shouldn't be a problem particularly after you've settled in and the loose coco stops "leaking" out. I'm running drain to waste so it's really not an issue for me, but in recirculation a pump filter bag / sock would prevent any problems.

I don't really see the need for a mat (I'm assuming you mean one of those coco root mats) for this type of setup, since most of the root mass can/will fit in the container. The mat also doesn't allow you to move plants around, if you needed to.

But then again all of that's only from a few weeks of experience, so things may change...

 

[gaiusmarius]

Great thread VT, lets see what we can learn from this one, testing and experimenting is the only way to learn eh? peace out....

 

[-VT-]

We're off to a good start

We're off to a good start

Thanks for replies and interest guys I sense that water frequency is one area we (collectively) need to work with.
I have "pairs" of clones rooting for some side by sides I have planned. I'd much rather keep my observations and comments limited to personal garden experience, as many of you have in your threads (including this one) and posts in the forum ....thanks folks

You guys are bringing up great points and giving me some ideas....different grades of coco, water frequency, pot size (which I think is related to water frequency), pure vs. cut (still gonna revisit that one)....on and on.

clowntown, welcome to the coco forum and coco. I'm looking forward to you sharing your findings, as I have found your posts to be informative and detailed (perfect for this thread ) I'll be sure to tag your show and look for your observations, and I hope you post your findings here

Hey there thc43! Been thinking about a lot of this lately

Only comparison i have is drip fed vs hand water once a day, i normally have a few smaller plants. clones under canopy that are hand fed till they find a home the drip fed always has better looking rooties and yields better but there isnt nuch in it.. with drip fed from a res you can really push the plants beond there peak nute use if increased very slowly with regular flushes..

You cite a few observations illustrating my belief that hydro irrigation is superior. Thanks for sharing your experience...that is great feedback...

Thanks for stopping by Indica Sativa, Imnotcrazy, Neptune, and gaiusmarius

 

[bonecarver_OG]

hello nice thread

i dont use a mat either. my plants roots would just not benefit in anykind of way from this. further more - in my climate this would be asking for problems.

as for irigation experiments and etc - seems its not easy to make any decisions yet since there isnt any test yet. i urge for someone with time to make a side by side to see. it would be awesome

if no one has had time to do it before the coming winter - i volunteer to do it since i will have lots of space - but beeing an eager soul - itd be cool to see one sooner.

experiments are fun

i tried guano (and wormcastings) mixed in coco - + watering once a week with Canna Nute. results = huge nugs - but the biggest downfall was... it tasted more like soil nugs. but yep yep - it works. this is just flavour Q's. the problem might have been the fact it does take longer to flush the guano and wormcastings out than the canna nutes...

today i drove past miles of coco-based hydro-greenhouses for tomato culture (basicly they make enormous greenhouses - many many square miles, one after an other, all the way as far as u can see.) . it allways makes me drool thinking about filling those rows with clones

peace all and i hope there will come some experiments in here to check out

peace all

 

[-VT-]

Thanks for stoppin' in bonecarver_OG
I never knew you'd also tried guano in coco...cool...thanks for sharing

Yea water frequency needs to be explored....looks like I'll tackle it first lol....

I'm wondering how to go about it? Because in my view, handwatering once per day is basically hydro irrigation. I'd like to address the "water as needed" versus "watering daily".....so many of us have been divided on this issue.....

Lemme know what you guys think the side by side regarding water frequency should be, and how you wanna see it.....

Lemme know fast cause um goin' bloomin' soon

peace coco nuts

 

[Bubble~licious]

High! Super Thread!

I’d love to offer the results from my experiments, but unfortunately at this time they only involve vs. even more, and I’d like to keep positive vibes in your thread. I’d sure love to watch though, I love experiments and I love learning about growing in coco.

 

[Guest]

My question to some of you coco mofos, is... do you always put a mat under your coco pots/trays? I was thinking a mat on the bottom would help contain sediment and filter the res water... also allowing roots to hide down under.

I don't really see the need for a mat (I'm assuming you mean one of those coco root mats) for this type of setup, since most of the root mass can/will fit in the container. The mat also doesn't allow you to move plants around, if you needed to.

Cut off a square piece of the matting and place it underneath your pot. You can now move your plants around! Hooray! If you are using one gallons, and you know your roots are going to escape, I can't see how a piece of matting underneath would not benefit you.

Yea water frequency needs to be explored....looks like I'll tackle it first lol....

I'm wondering how to go about it? Because in my view, handwatering once per day is basically hydro irrigation. I'd like to address the "water as needed" versus "watering daily".....so many of us have been divided on this issue.....

Lemme know what you guys think the side by side regarding water frequency should be, and how you wanna see it.....

Heres my take on it..

Plant #1 - Water when the plant becomes borderline bone dry if not completely dry. This leads to another question/experiment.. less watering and more food, or less watering and less food? Which will provide the better plant?

****EDIT! This is not the way to go if you are new to coco! Even till this day this method is a pain in the ass unless you take a more organic approach! Until there is sufficient evidence to state otherwise, do not let your coco dry out!****

Plant #2 - Water 3-4 times a day, same time every day... whether hand watering or dripping, I think the amount of runoff should be equal between the two..

****EDIT! Equal amounts of runoff probably has nothing to do with anything. It is still not a good idea however, to keep the coco water logged.****

Someone else should be able to chime in, im a little braindead right now

 

[clowntown]

Cut off a square piece of the matting and place it underneath your pot. You can now move your plants around! Hooray! If you are using one gallons, and you know your roots are going to escape, I can't see how a piece of matting underneath would not benefit you.

Well, if you already know that your 1 gallon of medium isn't enough, then why not just use 2 gallons or maybe 1.5 gallons of medium instead of these fancy expensive mats that expose the roots to light? I think they're good for certain E/F and other uses but for pots it's a complete waste of money.

Man, I'm not good at analogies but that underneath pot thing is kinda like... you usually like 2 tsp of peanut butter in your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But instead of putting all that peanut butter in the center, you put 1 tsp in the center, 0.5 tsp around the crust, and 0.5 all over the other parts. Why??

Good lawd I'm high.

 

[Guest]

the roots are growing good, by the end of week 1 they had already started coming through the holes in the bottoms of the containers. Now there are some with over 4 inch roots coming through the holes.

You honestly think those poor roots would not have benefited from having a piece of matting underneath them...??? Those are two gallon pots he is using.. watering 5-6 times a day and your roots are going to come right outta your pot.. and what could be better then having a little haven for roots underneath the pot?

 

[pumpkin2006]

When I get my tables setup I'll post a pic of what I do with coco mats in 2 4'x4' ebb n' flo tables with net pots on top of the mats. Can you guess?

 

[Neptune]

based on the above pictures, I am gong out and buying a coco mat.

I like more roots, even if it costs $100.00