Rock Wool vs Air Pots and Smart Pots of Coco

[Thundurkel]

Alright hydro guys and gals I have a debate going on that I would like to see what other growers here at IC have to say about this...

Ok so the guy that started me out with my first clones and gave me a timer so I could get going has been at it a lot longer than me. BUT I feel I have done a WHOLE lot more reading and checked out more grows on here both Rock Wool based and Coco and everything in between. For a while now I've been trying to get him to switch over to coco from rw as I think he would see better results in Air Pots or Smart Pots of coco. I told him about "air pruning" and what the pots do and why they are so good and he swears he gets the same effect with rw cubes! So since the roots die off when they come outta the cubes and new ones pop out he's saying the same thing is going on that is happening in Air and Smart Pots! I've also seen NUMEROUS growers here who were rw die hards switch to coco and have better tasting meds and better yields . I'd like to know what you all think and would like to hear from Coco growers who started in Rock Wool and never looked back and what were the reasons ect..

I just have a hard time believing you get the same kind of root system in a rw cube in hydroton pebbles as you would in a Air Pot of coco or why would they have made them and same with Smart Pots. They both seem to be a huge improvement in hydroponic gardening when people are going down a pot size and growing plants twice the size as before and all they did was switch pots...

 

[Shcrews]

I have seen great things done with rockwool slabs and cubes

also with coco, smartpots or not.

but yah, coco + smartpots + Floranova = win

 

[krunchbubble]

i was a die hard rockwool fan till i went to coco. but, my next run, i am switching back to rockwool for a comparison, because it is a no brainer. water from the top till it comes out the bottom, cant get any simpler. the only problem i had was getting the weight that i get in coco, but im sure i can now. plus rockwool dosent like to lockout your p, like coco does.

i did a smart pot/regular pot comparison grow in the 10k 3 gallon pots grow in my signature. only difference was the price of the pots, it did not yield any better or anything that it claims.

 

[Shcrews]

i did a smart pot/regular pot comparison grow in the 10k 3 gallon pots grow in my signature. only difference was the price of the pots, it did not yield any better or anything that it claims.

Krunch and his epic grow pictures... killing it as always.

i think you are using smarpots wrong though..... , try growing a plant in a small smartpot for a long time, you will see that it takes much longer to get rootbound. an outdoor plant, started in april, will need to be transplanted a bit sooner from a 3gal plastic pot than a 3gal smartpot.

for indoor cycles, i think your right, makes nod ifference :
peace

 

[krunchbubble]

Krunch and his epic grow pictures... killing it as always.

i think you are using smarpots wrong though..... , try growing a plant in a small smartpot for a long time, you will see that it takes much longer to get rootbound. an outdoor plant, started in april, will need to be transplanted a bit sooner from a 3gal plastic pot than a 3gal smartpot.

for indoor cycles, i think your right, makes nod ifference :
peace

thank you.

and you may be right. i have a breeder friend who grows in 300 gallon smart pots outside(he makes his own), and get 10-15 lb's per plant.....

 

[B. Friendly]

I on the fence with smart pots. Since my veg cycle is only 4 weeks, how is a smart pot really gonna help. 3 gal pots are good enough for not getting root bound.

 

[one Q]

ive thought of going rockwool in the style as the DR stated. But I think Meduimless is going to be the next venture.

 

[Thundurkel]

i was a die hard rockwool fan till i went to coco. but, my next run, i am switching back to rockwool for a comparison, because it is a no brainer. water from the top till it comes out the bottom, cant get any simpler. the only problem i had was getting the weight that i get in coco, but im sure i can now. plus rockwool dosent like to lockout your p, like coco does.

i did a smart pot/regular pot comparison grow in the 10k 3 gallon pots grow in my signature. only difference was the price of the pots, it did not yield any better or anything that it claims.

Hot damn that's a hell of a grow! What is that like 10 4x8 trays and 24 600s?

Also the no brainer part are you saying it was a no brainer that it was better and yielded more than RW???

 

[krunchbubble]

Hot damn that's a hell of a grow! What is that like 10 4x8 trays and 24 600s?

Also the no brainer part are you saying it was a no brainer that it was better and yielded more than RW???

that was one of my 50k warehouse, all hand watered!

its a no brainer for watering. water from the top till it comes out the bottom, thats it. i was using a modified lucas formula using gh. best yield was 83 lb's off of 50k in rockwool.

but i know i can get better gpw in my verts with my nutrient regiment. . plus rockwool is a lot cleaner and easier to get rid off. we will see!

 

[Thundurkel]

hmmmmmm anyone else have much to say on Coco vs Rockwool? Not saying you don't know your shit crunch it's obvious you do but I'd like to have more than one grow to compare ya know? I've always heard coco is WAY easier to flush than rw is that not true? Also I look at breeders like Head and Rez who are exclusively coco and sure they've tried em all so what do you all have to say on flavor?? Better taste in coco grown or rw? Same? Don't matter ect?

 

[krunchbubble]

hmmmmmm anyone else have much to say on Coco vs Rockwool? Not saying you don't know your shit crunch it's obvious you do but I'd like to have more than one grow to compare ya know? I've always heard coco is WAY easier to flush than rw is that not true? Also I look at breeders like Head and Rez who are exclusively coco and sure they've tried em all so what do you all have to say on flavor?? Better taste in coco grown or rw? Same? Don't matter ect?

they both have there pros and cons. if you use drip clean from h@g, no need to flush, except for last 2 days of flowering.

as far as flavor, coco has it beat in my experiences. but, i only used gh in rockwool, no organics or flavor enhancers. im going back to rockwool for at least one run to see if i can beat my previous yields.

do a small side by side?

 

[Thundurkel]

Word that's kinda what I thought I'm just a semi organic kinda guy and my buddy that got me into this is hella meticulous with his shit. Dude's on point I'll give em that but like for example he uses sub culture inoculants from gh I know spelling is shit haha . But from what I've read and natures perspective wouldn't those extra biologicals thrive better in coco like the mychorizae or however it's spelt live in that environment better than rockwool?

 

[Thundurkel]

Funny shit was I told him I made this thread and we'll see what people say and I read him the comments earlier. Well I just talked to him and after spending 2hours at the hydro shop talking to dude working there he's SWITCHING hahaha .. Told me he's gonna go with 3gal smart pots with "the coco in camo bag or whatever" lol Finally saw the light I guess dude told him how much better his shit got when he switched to coco and Cutting Edge Solutions 3part with Uncle Johns Blend with Liquid Kool Bloom Floralicious Plus and Floralicious Bloom along with Vegan Tea and Diamond Nectar! Fuck me that's alot of shit but yea I'm stoked to hear Cutting Edge Solutions gave him WAAAAAAAYYYY better quality than the GH 3part so he's getting that too! It's just funny to me cuz I've been telling him bout coco and Air Pots and Smart Pots and CES with the Head and Rez mixes for a while now.

Yo Krunch right now I'm in Ready Gro moisture formula using CES with a modified Head Formula and their additives so should I use my Floralicious Plus?

 

[krunchbubble]

Funny shit was I told him I made this thread and we'll see what people say and I read him the comments earlier. Well I just talked to him and after spending 2hours at the hydro shop talking to dude working there he's SWITCHING hahaha .. Told me he's gonna go with 3gal smart pots with "the coco in camo bag or whatever" lol Finally saw the light I guess dude told him how much better his shit got when he switched to coco and Cutting Edge Solutions 3part with Uncle Johns Blend with Liquid Kool Bloom Floralicious Plus and Floralicious Bloom along with Vegan Tea and Diamond Nectar! Fuck me that's alot of shit but yea I'm stoked to hear Cutting Edge Solutions gave him WAAAAAAAYYYY better quality than the GH 3part so he's getting that too! It's just funny to me cuz I've been telling him bout coco and Air Pots and Smart Pots and CES with the Head and Rez mixes for a while now.

Yo Krunch right now I'm in Ready Gro moisture formula using CES with a modified Head Formula and their additives so should I use my Floralicious Plus?

sure, that stuff is supposed to be pretty good, many good growers that i know use it, haven't tried it myself, yet.....

 

[thefalsediviner]

I use 1 gal smart pots for my mothers and have found that they perform well for keeping my semi-bonsai moms happy and productive. They are a definite improvement over standard pots and dutch pots.

As far as air pruning goes you can air prune with rockwool cubes just as effectively as you can with smart pots. the caviot being that with rockwool cubes you have to have a air pruning tray set up and would be limited as to where in your system you can air prune. I use rockwool cubes for propagation and air prune on an air pruning tray prior to transplanting. My observation is that the air pruned starts transplant with reduced shock.

 

[Castelvetro]

i was a die hard rockwool fan till i went to coco. but, my next run, i am switching back to rockwool for a comparison, because it is a no brainer. water from the top till it comes out the bottom, cant get any simpler. the only problem i had was getting the weight that i get in coco, but im sure i can now. plus rockwool dosent like to lockout your p, like coco does.

i did a smart pot/regular pot comparison grow in the 10k 3 gallon pots grow in my signature. only difference was the price of the pots, it did not yield any better or anything that it claims.

ive said it before, smart pots are a waste of money for us, there meant for small to medium nusery shrubs/trees, plants that really need to grow yet be kept in a small container for shipping, not of any use for us growers unless were growing trees with a 3-4 month veg. like i said save your money.