sunshine#4 or COCO advice please

[dachieftan]

I am in the process of considering switching mediums from organic soil. I am thinking of going with a soiless mix such as peat based sunshine #4 or coco coir. The purpose of this thread is to discuss the pros and cons on soiless mediums. Any tips based on experience would be greatly appreciated and discussions, pictures, and questions are more than welcome. A few questions I have off the top of my head are as follows...
- between a peat based medium vs. coco, which medium is more time consuming? A K.I.S.S friendly medium is what I'm looking for
-Do you need a ppm meter for coco?
-Since sunshine #4 is considered "soiless" does that mean it requires PH levels more similar to hydro at 5.8 or is it like soil where the ph should be 6.5? Same question applies for coco.
-Which one will have faster growth/nutrient uptake out of a peat based medium like sunshine#4 or coco?
-I realize coco has to be watered with regularity. If the medium dries, the remaining nutes (if syntheticly derived containing Na) will build up salts and cause all sorts of lockout. Are peat based mediums this thirsty?

Thanks in advance,
DCN

 

[250wscrogger]

I keep the ph at 6.0-6.2 for soilless and I feed every other watering...

 

[dachieftan]

I didn't realize posting PM's violates TOU. sorry about that bro

 

[SneakySneaky]

some of the best plants ive ever seen grown used a combination of these 2 medias. My buddy veg's in coco (gets bigger plants vs sunshine in veg) and then transplants from 100% coco into sunshine, keeping the ph at 6. It grows some massive plants, 100% coco will work fine as well if your not looking to add an additional step. i personally use a 1 to 1 mixture of coco and sunshine in my flower and pure coco in my veg and get great plants with amazing quality and amazing growth/yeilds. for watering i use an ART-DNe timer controller that allows me to set the pumps time on and off to seconds and minutes (on 15 seconds and off for 8 hours) i ran my tubeing to the tables and put 6 drip stakes into the line for the plants, using a bit of math and trial and error, my 1200 gph pump delivers about 1.4 liters of water to each of the 6 sites in 15 seconds. since i need to water about a gallon a day per plant this saves me so much time!!!

 

[mrktwiz]

I keep the ph at 6.0-6.2 for soilless and I feed every other watering...

Exactly what I do...so far excellent results!

Grow on....

 

[SkunkyDemon]

I use the Sunshine mix #4 and add 1/3 med perelite and use a drip feed system for veg and flower. I have had no problems with it . I use House and Gardens Aqua Flakes and a few of their other stuff and have great results. Im not saying Coco isnt good its that Iv never used it. I do know from reading the forums that if you go with coco you want to use nutes that are for coco, and some say to rinse it out good. I guess some brands have a high salt content. Good luck on what ever you do!
Peace