It's cheap. Try a brick to start. ~2 gallons @ ~$2. At least where I'm at.
Not to mention, with brick coco you can get it shipped.
Not to mention, with brick coco you can get it shipped.
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L
lysol
You have to cut the coco tek with perlite if you want to water it daily like the other cocos. This is just what ive found. It is true coco, but it is ground so fine it doesn't drain freely like coco should.
Dont you use the Red Label? Marquis Black, do you find it does not drain right? Do you pre-wash it before using?
L
lysol
Green label is pith, like I said earlier, so its going to drain worse.
I guess they make a purple label which is the chips. I'll trade anyone my greens for their purps. the chipped coco blows the pith away.
green = The Natural “Coir” Brick and Block contain only coconut pith and fibers. Great for water holding capacity these materials also provide plenty of aeration and drainage.
red = The Natural “Mixed” Brick contains pith, fibers and coconut chips. This blend creates a more diverse and less compact growing medium for increased aeration and drainage.
purp = The Natural “Chip” Brick contains only large coconut fiber chips and can be used as a drainage amendment or for plants that require a highly aerated root zone such as Orchids. (OR MARIJUANA!1!)
If you get the red and cut it with perlite, you are getting the same effect or close to as the chips.
If you get the green you're going to need to cut it with grow rocks to not be a dirt farmer, just my opinion. The red needs water 1 or 2x a week only. I've never expanded a green brick but I can only imagine the issue is exacerbated.
I actually just cut the stuff with per-lite and grow rocks and it works fine, it should drain freely like h3ad says, not feel heavy. You want to water it daily. Making a lighter mix and watering more often gets more oxygen to the roots, and after all coco is supposed to be hydro, isnt it? Otherwise you might as well just use dirt so you can leave your plants unattended. My 2 cents.
I guess they make a purple label which is the chips. I'll trade anyone my greens for their purps. the chipped coco blows the pith away.
green = The Natural “Coir” Brick and Block contain only coconut pith and fibers. Great for water holding capacity these materials also provide plenty of aeration and drainage.
red = The Natural “Mixed” Brick contains pith, fibers and coconut chips. This blend creates a more diverse and less compact growing medium for increased aeration and drainage.
purp = The Natural “Chip” Brick contains only large coconut fiber chips and can be used as a drainage amendment or for plants that require a highly aerated root zone such as Orchids. (OR MARIJUANA!1!)
If you get the red and cut it with perlite, you are getting the same effect or close to as the chips.
If you get the green you're going to need to cut it with grow rocks to not be a dirt farmer, just my opinion. The red needs water 1 or 2x a week only. I've never expanded a green brick but I can only imagine the issue is exacerbated.
I actually just cut the stuff with per-lite and grow rocks and it works fine, it should drain freely like h3ad says, not feel heavy. You want to water it daily. Making a lighter mix and watering more often gets more oxygen to the roots, and after all coco is supposed to be hydro, isnt it? Otherwise you might as well just use dirt so you can leave your plants unattended. My 2 cents.
I use small containers of nothing but green label. (Or B'cuzz, which is an even finer pith, in my experience)
Usually .6 gallon pots. Once the roots fill the pot, you can water once or twice per day. In order to get hydro results, you have to treat it like hydro. You want just enough medium to hold up your plant. 2 gallon pots are the biggest I really use in coco. (Though I do multipot in five gallon buckets sometimes.
) You can grow as big of a plant as most indoor growers need in 3 gallon pots..
If you use large pots of pith-type coco (3-5 gallons) with freshly rooted/potted plants, you're only going to be able to water maybe once or twice a week.
Air pots of coco would be nice, preventing the root ball from locking up due to spiraling.. Then you could really take advantage of the pot's full volume.
I've stopped using perlite recently. I find it's better to downsize your pots instead of amending the coco, personally. To quote Dongle69 "Perlite is a crutch".
Usually .6 gallon pots. Once the roots fill the pot, you can water once or twice per day. In order to get hydro results, you have to treat it like hydro. You want just enough medium to hold up your plant. 2 gallon pots are the biggest I really use in coco. (Though I do multipot in five gallon buckets sometimes.
) You can grow as big of a plant as most indoor growers need in 3 gallon pots..If you use large pots of pith-type coco (3-5 gallons) with freshly rooted/potted plants, you're only going to be able to water maybe once or twice a week.
Air pots of coco would be nice, preventing the root ball from locking up due to spiraling.. Then you could really take advantage of the pot's full volume.
I've stopped using perlite recently. I find it's better to downsize your pots instead of amending the coco, personally. To quote Dongle69 "Perlite is a crutch".
L
lysol
I could see that logic (when using pith and not coco chips), makes sense... but why wouldn't it be even better to just use coco chips in your opinion? Just cost reasons?
The only benefit I see to the pith is its great for rooting clones (as long as the container is kept small), keeps the newly forming roots nice and snug.
I would imagine the chips would be better if trying to grow the largest plants because more room for roots? Plus less drainage issues
I personally haven't had much experience with chips, and haven't had an occasion where I felt it necessary to add them. Though I would imagine chips would be superior to perlite, if only because roots cannot grow into perlite, therefore more perlite = less space for roots, also with no perlite you can dump your rootmasses outside in good conscience.
I just got some Green Coco Tek, and I think Marquis Black is right. The BCuzz looks more fine to me. I took the ppm of it right off the brick was 400ppm. Rinsed it a few times and got it to zero. Now I am pre charging with nutes. I think that it drains pretty fast with no perlite in it. I am going to transplant tomorrow from Beer Cups, any transplanting tips using the Green Bricks? They are just going into either .6 or 1 gal. Thanks.
C
Carl Carlson
My take is that the green brick is very similar to Botanicare Cocogro.
Using the red brick for the first time and I much prefer it for cuttings or seedlings. Not sure what I'm going to do when it comes time to transplant. Perhaps a comparison.
Using the red brick for the first time and I much prefer it for cuttings or seedlings. Not sure what I'm going to do when it comes time to transplant. Perhaps a comparison.
I use CocoTek and used to mix perlite with the red label (Mixed). It resulted in having to water at least once a day—very high maintenance. I have now switched to mixing 2 green label CocoTek blocks with 1 red label Cocotek block and a little bit of perlite, and water every other day. Though I noticed that green label alone works very well also, and use it alone in some of my plants, especially in small containers.
I'm not sure if the 400ppm figure is correct for CocoTek.. ? my friend measured the ppm out to 100ppm which is perfectly usable out of the box. What I do now is moisten the coco, transplant, and then put 3x as much water as the container holds, to wash out any excess salts—just in case.
Due to the cost (I use 5 gal buckets) I'm going to be trying another brand which comes in much bigger blocks.
I'm not sure if the 400ppm figure is correct for CocoTek.. ? my friend measured the ppm out to 100ppm which is perfectly usable out of the box. What I do now is moisten the coco, transplant, and then put 3x as much water as the container holds, to wash out any excess salts—just in case.
Due to the cost (I use 5 gal buckets) I'm going to be trying another brand which comes in much bigger blocks.
[
I'm not sure if the 400ppm figure is correct for CocoTek.. ? my friend measured the ppm out to 100ppm which is perfectly usable out of the box. What I do now is moisten the coco, transplant, and then put 3x as much water as the container holds, to wash out any excess salts—just in case.
Due to the cost (I use 5 gal buckets) I'm going to be trying another brand which comes in much bigger blocks.[/quote]
Well your friends could be 100, but mine was 400. Even 400 is not horrible, but I prefer rinsing to zero and ammending with nutes. I just picked up some BCuzz and it is strong! I was told you can use it right out of the bag...and you can for some plants...but I am going to rinse the piss out of it. For small plants my bag could be deadly. Worked good on bigger transplants right out of the bag and watered heavily 1st use. It is expensive, but soaking bricks gets old sometimes.
I'm not sure if the 400ppm figure is correct for CocoTek.. ? my friend measured the ppm out to 100ppm which is perfectly usable out of the box. What I do now is moisten the coco, transplant, and then put 3x as much water as the container holds, to wash out any excess salts—just in case.
Due to the cost (I use 5 gal buckets) I'm going to be trying another brand which comes in much bigger blocks.[/quote]
Well your friends could be 100, but mine was 400. Even 400 is not horrible, but I prefer rinsing to zero and ammending with nutes. I just picked up some BCuzz and it is strong! I was told you can use it right out of the bag...and you can for some plants...but I am going to rinse the piss out of it. For small plants my bag could be deadly. Worked good on bigger transplants right out of the bag and watered heavily 1st use. It is expensive, but soaking bricks gets old sometimes.
C
Carl Carlson
the first bricks I used were also at 400 ppm (Hanna) out of the packaging.
buddin_904
Member
using GH green bricks now....in the past ive only used sunleaves coir and chips, which i did really like. the green bricks are a little different for my experiences....my seedlings, which i let dry out multiple times now have established a hell of a root system i imagine and now requires watering x2 daily....it went from everyother day to x2 a day overnight.....it does seem courser than my sunleaves coir bricks ill admit. consistency of ground up bark? not like the dusty/coffee grind consistency of sunleaves.
