plantsbest Beats Peat

[the gnome]

Ive been wanting to get into coco and down at my local garden store the strated carrying it.
brand name is plantbest and its called Beats Peat.
its 10.95 ans the equivilent of a 3cu ft bag o peat.

has anyone used this brand or is it not what I wnat to use for canabis?

 

[Buddler]

YEs I've used it .After you expand it i would reccomend flushing it with hot water to get salts out once the ppms are down add perlite and precharge its good to go.The price is right thats for sure. Or buy canna and use right out of the bag.

 

[the gnome]

thanks buddler...
of course i'm a coco n00b so what does precharge mean?

and i thought it was pretty neutral, it has salts?
or just cheaper brands?
how much to flush to get salts out .. etc etc

thanks!!
Gnome

 

[Buddler]

I use a ppm pen and check run off once its down then add calmag and mild nutes before planting cheap brands tend to have salt content.... Afive gallon bucket with holes drilled in bottom works good for the flushing and hot water seems to get salt out faster IMHO thanks B.

 

[the gnome]

ok then!
BUT
lol
1 mo Q, when you say get the ppms down, down to what range.... ?

once again much thnaks!

 

[Buddler]

Check run off after first rinse ,see where its at if high repeat till you get it down to at least the EC your tap water reads.

 

[the gnome]

ok.. my tap is at 70ppm and water it sat in overnite and crumpled up is at 160ppm so it doesn't seem to be too bad.

and thanks for the tip on drainingthe 5g bucket and using hot water to rinse it out salts,
its pretty messy to work with.

what sized holes did you drill in the bucket?
I don't want them too big and leaking the coco out or too small and take forever to drain?
maybey use a 1" paddle bit and lay screen on the bottom?

 

[BCMaster]

I have about 12 bales of it in a coco bed. Dont use it. It is shit. It will have a low ec out of the package but even after a good pre-rince it will release more salts about 2 weeks into your grow and your plants will start to burn up. It will buffer itself to 6.5 ph and it will take countless gallons of a low ph solution like ph4.5 to get it to drop. Once it does it will stay around 5.2 and you will need to compensate with ph up to keep your plants from locking up. In 7 weeks my ph has dropped and raised a total of 5 times now. It is a fuckin nighmare. Dont use the stuff man, its ok to spead this stuff around grandmas lillies but keep it away from your mj.

Get yourself some proper ph buffered stuff like Botanicare, Bcuzz, Canna, or gold label.

So there you have it. You have been warned

lol

 

[the gnome]

thanks for the heads up BC,
your the 1st person that has actual hands on use with this brand thats said anything.
it was pretty cheap, $11 for 3 cu ft
I was just about to mix it 50/50 with FF OF and see how it does in a soil mix before going straight coco.


grandma's lillies...here we come!

 

[Buddler]

I know its cheap but i used it on MJ had no problems after flushing it out good . The hot water really breaks down the salt how ever i agree spend the extra money and buy canna and use directly out of the bag..

 

[the gnome]

well I don't have to use it right away, I'll let it soak for a week and flused a few times a day with hit water and see where its at then.
but next time i'll probably buy the ready to go stuff and not have to worry about possible salts and Ph flucuations that BC has encountered.

 

[OliverKlozoff]

I know this is an old thread, but how'd the beats peat work out for you? I've been thinking about that and their mega/miracle mulch products but have heard mixed reviews. Did you have any sodium issues or bugs?

 

[Jhhnn]

Eights'nAces came over & helped me put together a new soil mix, part of which is Sunleaves piece coir block. I soaked half a block in a tubfull of water overnight, then stuck the hose in it, let the water run just a little bit all day, overflowing the tub, keeping the coco in. I poked at the stuff with a rake a few times, drained it, mixed it in with the rest of the ingredients. The chunky texture def opens up the soil, gives it better tilth.

Meh. Didn't realize this thread was quite so necro.

 

[the gnome]

haha...this is a blast from the past!
oliver, i never did use it,
a few others told me go with a name brand and you better off
actually the name brand was cheaper

hey john, that's what i ended up doing with the coco,
decided to mix it with soil and i liked it a lot.
but perlite was still cheaper and easier.
even the botanicare coco pushed 450-500ppms so for flushing i used a 5gal bucket
with a 1/4 drill bit perforated the entire bottom and here-n-there on the sides.
i let the hose dribble over it for the afternoon and check runoff occasionally.
very easy

 

[stevewinthrop]

Just to add something, I use this coco, this or botanical stuff, whichever is cheaper. I just flush it with a hose for until I the runoff is pretty clear. Works good, no complaints.

 

[CHEFfy]

Bagged for convenience. Try for bcuzz if they have it, if not- Canna.

 

[OliverKlozoff]

So i've been using this BeatsPeat for a while now without issue, great results. I just toss one block in a rubbermaid and pour hot water over it and let it soak till its all expanded. Then I drop the expanded coco into another empty rubbermaid with drainage holes in the bottom. When its done dripping I pour another 6-8 gallons thru gradually. I do this where all the runoff goes into a veg garden out back and hasn't shown any i'll effects on those plants either. I've been mixing one 5kg brick with a bag of Napa#8822 and a cubic foot of compost as my drain to waste medium. The bricks cost about 13$ to my door and are roughly 2.8 cubic feet expanded.