How clean does my coco need to be?

[bigtopsfinn]

I bought some coco today. Came in a big sack and was quite fine in structure (kinda powdery).

Took it home, filled up a 5 gal bucket about half way, filled it with water, stirred. Then started taking handfuls off the top, squeezed the water out and put in another 5 gal bucket until I had most of the coco from the top.

I then emptied the bucket full of water. It had a lot of sandy coco, some strands, and some very dark dirt.

Decided to repeat the process two more times, but the color of the water didn't really get much lighter. Still seems like I got a lot of crap out, but not sure if its just the tiny particles of coco making the water so dirty looking or what.

I guess the only way to know for sure is to put it up to the ultimate test...

Anyone else have a similar experience?

(btw- I'm living in SE Asia and don't have access to any hydro shops, brand name products, etc...)

 

[edgey]

i use the canna coco and flush it with ph'd water before i use it , you don't have to flush it first if you don't want to though

 

[rick shaw]

To test if coco coir has been washed properly is to flush and check ph of the runoff.

 

[gaiusmarius]

all the pwder and dirt is coco. when people say wash they mean rinse. fill your plant pots with coco as you would earth, then run phed water through the pots and measure the ec of the run off. if its not higher then 1.3 you can use it as is, if the ec is higher just pour water through till the return ec is bellow 1.3.

 

[bigtopsfinn]

To test if coco coir has been washed properly is to flush and check ph of the runoff.

So it should be the same going in and coming out, or thereabouts?

I'll check it tomorrow and report back, thanks!

 

[bigtopsfinn]

all the pwder and dirt is coco. when people say wash they mean rinse. fill your plant pots with coco as you would earth, then run phed water through the pots and measure the ec of the run off. if its not higher then 1.3 you can use it as is, if the ec is higher just pour water through till the return ec is bellow 1.3.

Yeah I figured most of it was coco, but there was some sediment that was much darker and had almost a manure-like smell to it on the first wash.

Need to go get an EC meter... been on the shopping list but none in stock. Hopefully I'll have it sometime this week though, thanks for your help!

 

[partcleguy]

if its not higher then 1.3 you can use it as is, if the ec is higher just pour water through till the return ec is bellow 1.3.

Not sure I agree with that figure- 1.3 EC is really high! I've read numerous threads on preparing coco and have flushed it myself and I always make sure it doesn't raise the ppm of my water I'm flushing with more than 100-200 ppm. In other words, if you start with water with 200 ppm, and flush it/run it through the coco, you don't want the runoff to be more than 400 ppm preferably. That's definitely waaay below 1.3 EC which is closer to 900+ ppm (depending on the conversion factor but thats a rough estimate).

No offense to Gaiusmarius but I'm pretty sure 1.3 EC would burn your plants due to too much dissolved salts in the coco.

 

[partcleguy]

Btw 250 ppm is about 0.5 EC, just looked it up after I saw you don't have an EC meter... Good luck!

 

[gaiusmarius]

canna coco after many years has now gotten to the point where their coco is at around ec 1.0 when you buy it, give or take 0.1 this stuff is ready for use out of the bag. this is not a matter of thinking it is, i know 100% that it is totally perfect for plants when you use it the way it is.

back in the old days many years ago when coco was just starting to be used by a few growers in Switzerland, the coco slabs used to arrive with different ec level on differnt pallets, further more, some pallets of coco slabs would have ec levels of 3.0 and higher, now that stuff did a lot better with a good initial flush. but basically anything under 1.5 will allow your clones to get a great start when you plant them in it. any more flushing then 1.0 at the beginning is a waste of time, water and energy. save that up for the end game flush. believe me i don't post info from anything other then personal experience over a long history of coco growing. those numbers are not theoretical, they are researched, tried and tested and 100% proved.

 

[partcleguy]

Wow, as in your run-off is 1.0 EC during the first flush after taking into account your starting water? I'm definitely not disputing your experience is greater than mine. I just started my first Coco grow after all (and I'm lovin' it). Anyway I used Canna Coco as well and I added a starting ppm of about 200 and got a run-off of about 300-400. All I added was pH adjusted water. Regardless of the levels it was definitely ready out of the bag!

 

[sm0k4]

What about pH out of the bag? I get Botanicare 1.5 cu. ft. bags locally and the runoff EC is 0.4 but the pH is 6.2.

I didn't realize this until after I already planted seedlings. I've been watering with 5.4pH every time and its very slowly going down.

When I transplanted I soaked the fresh coco in water with 5.2pH twice. This got it to 5.8-5.9. Runoff still went to 6.1 after a couple waterings. Probably due to the coco I transplanted with the plant. I wish I had had a meter when I started. Haha. I def. know for next time to get pH at 5.8 1st thing.

One plant don't care about 6.2 pH but the Blackberry plants don't seem to like it. The AK-48 isn't minding it either. So some strains can handle a 6.2pH it seems, but under 6 might be better.

Does everyone buffer their coco to 5.8? Does Canna come at 5.8?

 

[partcleguy]

I found after flushing with pH 5.8 water that my Canna coco run-off was also right about at 5.8 so no problems with that for me. If you do have a pH issue with others I would definitely check before using it and flush until it regularly gives what you need (5.8 ish)

 

[rick shaw]

To test if coco coir has been washed properly is to flush and check ph of the runoff.

I misspoke I meant to say check the ppm of your runoff.D'oh

 

[libby]

Just done my canna coco, nothing on the E.C.meter,6 on the P.H. but i'm having a shit time with it. Seedlings are going nowhere, only tried them with about 250 ppms, maybe i should go higher,? they're about 3 weeks into the world. is 250ppms seriously too low?

 

[gaiusmarius]

yeah the point i'm trying to make is that the return ec is not so important for the health of the plants as whats going in. but it does help to start out quite low, but it's not needed to go lower then 1.0 or so with new coco.

never find it easy to pop seeds in coco, normally use rw cubes to start the seeds then plant them on coco when they are well established. but basically you don't want to start feeding till the seedling looks like it has used up whats around, if the leaves are dark green you don't need to feed yet if they are getting lighter then start with ec 0.6, important not to use pots that are too big until you have a good root network. slowly up the ec as the plant shows you it needs it.

 

[reddy1]

i got a sample bag decompressed, that was as you described, dark, almost black and sandy too WTF?. runoff was HOT, 2800ppm. from CAP(hyrdofarm), black bag, they may have discontinued it because it isn't online anymore. stay away though. finest particles i've seen yet too.

best coco is a coarser cut IMO. particles are bottom of the barrel stuff and i try to drain most out when if flush my bails. i take the runoff down to about 500 ppm, i know what that looks like by the color of the runoff. i use hot water and h2o2.



250 ppm is plenty for little guys if you're under clfs or floros. bigger lights more feeding is necessary. anyways seedlings are slow, just be patient and try not to burn them.

 

[bigtopsfinn]

Thanks for all the replies!

This is my first time using coco, so I'm being careful and starting with only a couple of seeds. I'm a little worried because I don't have rockwool and have read elsewhere also that seedlings can be tough to start in coco. Got them germing in paper towels now.

I figure most of the coco I can get here retail will be the crap of the batch that doesn't make the cut for export. I can get compressed bricks, but those are priced per pallet... There's a ton of coco in this country, but the selection in the city here seems to be either the fine, powdery, non-compressed coco, or large pieces of coco husk.

Even thought about contacting Canna to see if they have any distributors/suppliers/partners here.

I'll let everyone know how it goes once I get my EC meter and my seedlings planted. Thanks again!

 

[slowandeasy]

yeah the point i'm trying to make is that the return ec is not so important for the health of the plants as whats going in. but it does help to start out quite low, but it's not needed to go lower then 1.0 or so with new coco.

never find it easy to pop seeds in coco, normally use rw cubes to start the seeds then plant them on coco when they are well established. but basically you don't want to start feeding till the seedling looks like it has used up whats around, if the leaves are dark green you don't need to feed yet if they are getting lighter then start with ec 0.6, important not to use pots that are too big until you have a good root network. slowly up the ec as the plant shows you it needs it.

Now, if you are not using Canna Coco...I HIGHLY suggest rinsing your Coco really well...then pre-charging. Bricks and other brand are not nearly as clean. Good luck

I disagree with your statement. First off, starting seeds in Coco is very easy! Just use very small cups cut down and keep the Coco damp, not soaked. Having too large of a cup can lead to over-watering. I pre-charge my Canna Coco with half strength nutes. All of my seedlings get fed full strength nutes within a week. I use a modified 6/9 recipe, and full strength is 1.4 EC.

You can baby your plants if you like, but I know 100 percent that ALL of my clones and seedlings grow much faster and healthier at 1.4 EC within one week, half strength is weak sauce! I never get burn, and feeding half strength causes yellowing because they want more.

 

[Dank D]

Like slowandeasy said. Keeps the cups small to start. I use the disposable red 16 oz plastic beer cups to start all my seeds in coco, with no problems. I also use canna coco without rinsing and no problems.

 

[buddin_904]

canna coco after many years has now gotten to the point where their coco is at around ec 1.0 when you buy it, give or take 0.1 this stuff is ready for use out of the bag. this is not a matter of thinking it is, i know 100% that it is totally perfect for plants when you use it the way it is.

back in the old days many years ago when coco was just starting to be used by a few growers in Switzerland, the coco slabs used to arrive with different ec level on differnt pallets, further more, some pallets of coco slabs would have ec levels of 3.0 and higher, now that stuff did a lot better with a good initial flush. but basically anything under 1.5 will allow your clones to get a great start when you plant them in it. any more flushing then 1.0 at the beginning is a waste of time, water and energy. save that up for the end game flush. believe me i don't post info from anything other then personal experience over a long history of coco growing. those numbers are not theoretical, they are researched, tried and tested and 100% proved.

thank god someone agrees with my viewpoint on coco....ive never used canna, but im firmiliar with other brands such as sunleaves, GH, and my new favorite botanicare.

you absolutely dont need to do any FLUSHING!! to brick or bagged coco.....you just need to hydrate or water in a nutrient solution. something at the strength of what youll be feeding them with. 1st couple of waters give ample run off and your smooth sailing. no ill effects...no yellow nor burnt leaves.

flushing brick or bag coco is a HUUUUGE misconception on here.....