Implementing Coco in an Organic Based Grow

[swampdank]

Hey fellow fanatics. I am sitting here planning my next grow and made the decision to try coco for a shot. I want to replace the sunshine mix that has been my base medium for some time. I can no longer get the mix here so here I go.

Are there any bits of knowledge that I need to posess about this medium or should I treat it like soil.

Will mixing my normal ammendments into the coco work? I usually add guano, and the blood/bone meal, plus compost. Will this system work with coco? Better maybe?

 

[sophisto]

I wish you well on the switch.. I have been really happy with my switch to coco.

My mix looks somethin like this:

4 parts coco, ( canna or botanicaire )
1 part soil/compost ( I have been liking Eb stone organics planting compost)
1/2 part perlite
added ferts are a 1/2 dose of a mix between Dr earths 4-10-7 and 5-7-3.

I feed FME's and EM's every third watering, I give half dose liquid nutes from time to time if certain strains need it. other than that I give the plants teas in late veg and mid flower.... I will be sticking with this mix and feeding schedule for quite a while I really like it, and the results.

 

[swampdank]

sweet! it looks like my 'planned' mix will be somewhat similar.

should i keep it wet? i heard plants like their coco to stay wet. is this true for ammended coco?

 

[uninformed]

I'm experimenting with coco as well. And yes they need to be watered more often if running straight Coco. If you're mixing it (I mixed 3/5 coco 2/5 soil) with soil it will hold water longer. It's a medium that breathes well so it will dry quicker. It's one of those things you're going to have to estimate for yourself when you start doing it.

 

[sophisto]

Ive found so far, that when the pots are about 40-50% dry they are ready for water.... CoCo can hold alot of water and apparently on it's own it is pretty hard to over water..... However I have found that daily waterings with the mix above suffers if it is watered too often.... Every two to three days has been perfect thus far in 3 gallons.

Suby and Dignan tried a mix similar to mine as well. I copycatted what they were trying in my own way. Hopefully they will chime in at some point to give you their experiences....

You'll be happy with it brother give it a go...

 

[Mr Celsius]

Coco is great, can't beat the stuff. Nothing needs to change... it will dry out a little quicker, thats about it.

 

[BurnOne]

swampdank-
I've used this medium with success. Use it with any nute recipe from the beginners sticky.

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Coir
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.

Burn1

 

[swampdank]

swampdank-
I've used this medium with success. Use it with any nute recipe from the beginners sticky.

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Coir
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.

Burn1

o.k. this mix is perfect for me. the materials are all readily available in this area. should i omit the guano and bone/blood meal from the mixture? i have the whole earth juice line sitting, doing nothing. maybe i can clean up some of those bottles. im going to do some more reading on L.C.s methods. i think this mixture feels more comfortable for my routine. thanks B1.

 

[BurnOne]

swampdank-
If you want to use blood/bone/kelp in your mix, that will work just like a peat based mix. In fact, the nutes don't care if it's coir or peat at all. It's just food to the plant.
Guano can be mixed into the mix or poured in as a tea. Earth Juice is another fine choice. I have never used it personally but I always suggest following the directions on the label. You may want to try a search for Three Little Birds Earth Juice methods.
Let me know if I can help.
Burn1

 

[swampdank]

thanks burn one. you have been helping me for a long time.

 

[BurnOne]

thanks burn one. you have been helping me for a long time.

You're very welcome. Guys like you are why I do this.
Grow on.
Burn1

 

[swampdank]

well, i am having trouble finding dolemite lime. i cant find it antwhere and my usual source is not going to be stocked till february.

are there ant substitutes?

i know oyster shells work but i think they are too slow acting to work with this run.

might i be able to omit the lime all together? will the microbes handle the ph issie for me?

 

[Ulysses]

Hey, Swamp!

There are no substitutes for Pulverized Dolomite Lime! I had to pay the price for using pelletized this season and yeild suffered on certain plants...

Oyster shells provide calcium, but no magnesium

I get mine from an old time hardware store- in the lawn section 20lbs for 5 bucks or so... The hydrostore ain't gonna have it... It's a seasonal item, snag a big bag when you can...

 

[Suby]

Ive found so far, that when the pots are about 40-50% dry they are ready for water.... CoCo can hold alot of water and apparently on it's own it is pretty hard to over water..... However I have found that daily waterings with the mix above suffers if it is watered too often.... Every two to three days has been perfect thus far in 3 gallons.

Suby and Dignan tried a mix similar to mine as well. I copycatted what they were trying in my own way. Hopefully they will chime in at some point to give you their experiences....

You'll be happy with it brother give it a go...

Great post dude, you don't need to be taking notes you've got your shit on lock

If you are using the lift method to gauge watering needs beware, I find coco stays heavier even if they are ready to water so every 2-3 days sounds right.
If it dries out too much you will see calcium and magnesium problems, that's why dolomite is crucial.
Oyster shells are fine but are alot longer to break down from what I have read, maybe someone with more experience with it can chime in.
You can add magnesium with epsom salts but they are not organic , it will get you by untill you can source dolomite.


I've got 20% coco blended into my current soil mix and I love the results, so this is the next step, full coco.

As of late I soil recycle so I'm anxious to see what a few rounds does to the coco in the mix.

SD good to see you posting again.

 

[Mr Celsius]

Use oyster shells for Ca+ and Epsom salts for the Mg+ as well as Sulfur. Or order D lime off the net.

 

[overgrow00]

Wait untill you find out what a bitch it is to get the salt out...

 

[Suby]

There is no salt problems with quality coco, look for Canna brand, any uncompressed coco from a know company will have almost all the salt leached out already.

 

[HeadyPete]

I switched from cocosoil to straight coco. The last batch of soil I made was way too hot and almost fried my whole garden. That is a potential problem with homemade recipes. If it's too hot, you have to transplant everything, you can't just flush it.

If you have a full line of nutes there, I would just use straight coco and feed with liquid nutes until you get more comfortable.

Make sure to supplement your watering with 5ml/4L of calmag or similar. When new, coco will latch onto and bind up cal and mag and at the same time release sodium and potassium salts. When the media is full of cal and mag it will begin to release it. You may see those defs in your plant at the beginning if you aren't giving enough calmag.

Coco can be watered endlessly. It is perfectly suited with it's air retention and drainage properties, plus it's natural ph is between 6-7, so I don't see a need for lime. Lime is usually used to counteract the acidity of peat in a peat mix. I think the problem one poster may have had with "overwatering" is it was dissolving the dry added nutes in the soil too much and making the soil hot. Pure coco is a hydro medium technically and can be watered as such.

I handwater every 2nd day with a ph of 5.8 and my plants are loving it. They bounced back so well after the soil fiasco and I am never gonna look back.

I also like the fact that straight coco is cheaper than making cocosoil. The less I need to spend, the better.

 

[Lollypop Man]

Make sure to supplement your watering with 5ml/4L of calmag or similar. When new, coco will latch onto and bind up cal and mag and at the same time release sodium and potassium salts. When the media is full of cal and mag it will begin to release it. You may see those defs in your plant at the beginning if you aren't giving enough calmag.

Here's a question that I can't find an answer to in the Beginner's sticky:

Is Dolomite lime an acceptable substitute for CalMag? Let's say my grow uses cocosoil and I'm stuck with using distilled or filtered water - would adding more lime (ie more lime than the 2 tbs / gal recommended in the recipes) offset the likely cal & mag deficiency, or is it safer to deal with it via a bottled supplement like CalMag?

 

[BurnOne]

Lollypop-
I've never had a def with that much dolomite. I'd use the dolomite as directed then supplement with CalMag+ if needed.
Burn1