Coco is killing me!

[Jnugg]

Been growing in FFOF for a looooong time and just recently switched over to coco coir and it's killing me!These bricks really need to be flushed the fuck out after hydrating!

Got a TDS meter (.5 conversion) and my latest brick of coco coir is coming out @ 1300ppm or 2.6 EC @ .5 conversion!

Anyone recommend a brand of coco that comes pre flushed and charged that I can use straight without having to rinse?

I hear good things about Canna Coco.

I'm using GH Floramicro and Florabloom @ 6ml Floramicro/9ml Florabloom per gallon of tapwater.Also my tap comes out @ 250 to 300ppm or .5/.6 EC @ .5 conversion.

Please help,or I'm going back to FFOF soil.

Btw,I'm growing in coco hempy's.

 

[StoneyK]

canna is bomb but id flush any coco you get,
it really should be part of your regimen no matter what.

 

[pseudostelariae]

i use dutchman. says it's triple washed. i haven't had any problems yet

 

[Coconutz]

Are you having any problems in the coco?
I havent measured the runoff of my bricks in a long time.
I just run 1/2 strength 6/9 through it and plant.
Just dont overfeed and keep it moist

 

[Jnugg]

Are you having any problems in the coco?
I havent measured the runoff of my bricks in a long time.
I just run 1/2 strength 6/9 through it and plant.
Just dont overfeed and keep it moist

Big time!Never had these problems in FFOF!

All clones of the same mom,rooted in rapid rooter plugs,then transplanted into 2 liter coco hempy's with perlite at the bottom.Due to being between jobs and paying off legal fees/fines I couldn't afford any coco to transplant.

Finally got some spare cash and bought two bricks of GH coco coir (was using Botanicare Cocogro bricks) and transplanted one 2 liter coco hempy (roots grew green algae so removed portion of roots that were in the perlite) into a 3 gallon coco hempy.

Been using 6/9 and trying to keep pH as close to 6.0 as I can using pH drops to measure water/nute solution pH(can't afford pH pen,or pH down right now and I'm sure that's a contributing factor to my problems).

Like I said,I'm using tap that comes out @ about 300ppm or .6 EC @ .5 conversion but the pH of the tap water is ridiculous!

I water/feed until I get about 20% runoff.

Here's some pics,sorry for lack of quality.Using my cell phone.

Last pic is of a clone in a small coco hempy (not rootbound.pH of nute solution again as close to 6.0 as possible.


Any and all help greatly appreciated.Want/need meds in April when I'm off probie.

 

[flat9]

Definitely go w/ Canna if you can. I'm sure there's other great out-of-the-bag products out there too, just check w/ people who have used them.

Your tap water is EC 0.6? That's rather ridiculously high ... I'd invest in an RO filter or at least something to bring that down. My tap is 0.08 EC and 8.0 pH, and I've been running Delta9nxs's Jack's formula (3 parts Jacks to 2 parts calcinit) w/ no problems in Canna coco. After adding D9's Jack's mix, it comes out a perfect 5.7 pH for me.

 

[farmari]

I always use Botanicare bricks. Put a brick in a tote in a bathtub, tote has a screened drain near the bottom. Let water run through to hydrate and rinse it until the drain water comes out clear. Doesn't take long at all. I tried a cheaper no-name coco before that took forever to rinse the salts out.

EDIT: sorry I forgot to mention, I ppm tested the first brick I had. If I recall right, the hydrated coir was slightly elevated in ppms. (below 500ppm, I don't remember) When rinsing to clear runoff it was no higher than my tap (50-100ppm)

 

[papaduc]

J, you've bought an unprepared brick. Not rinsed, not buffered. You'll have a nightmare prepping them properly. As you're finding out, it's back breaking work and a lot of water and mess doing that shit in your bathroom.

Where did you buy the block from?

Next time when you're shopping for it, look for buffered grade. There's usually:

untreated/organic/natural - which is the lowest grade and not suitable for indoor growing.

Rinsed - which is better but still not what you want

Buffered - this is basically the stuff which, when hydrated, makes up your bagged canna etc. That's what you want.

Use a 1.0ec strength of base veg feed and hot water to hydrate it, otherwise it will hold onto the first nutes you give it. No need to rinse at all. Just hydrate. Saves you a massive amount of work getting the right grade.

 

[FunkJungle]

Gotta get that ph pen. That's essential. Even a cheapie hanna is better than nothing.

 

[Jnugg]

Definitely go w/ Canna if you can. I'm sure there's other great out-of-the-bag products out there too, just check w/ people who have used them.

Your tap water is EC 0.6? That's rather ridiculously high ... I'd invest in an RO filter or at least something to bring that down. My tap is 0.08 EC and 8.0 pH, and I've been running Delta9nxs's Jack's formula (3 parts Jacks to 2 parts calcinit) w/ no problems in Canna coco. After adding D9's Jack's mix, it comes out a perfect 5.7 pH for me.

Yes,my tap waters EC is .6 @ a .5 conversion,so 300ppm.

 

[Jnugg]

J, you've bought an unprepared brick. Not rinsed, not buffered. You'll have a nightmare prepping them properly. As you're finding out, it's back breaking work and a lot of water and mess doing that shit in your bathroom.

Where did you buy the block from?

From my local hydro store...they are the General Hydroponics Coco Tek bricks and says Premium Grade and Low Sodium/salt content on the label.I was using Botanicare's Cocogro bricks @ first.

Next time when you're shopping for it, look for buffered grade. There's usually:

untreated/organic/natural - which is the lowest grade and not suitable for indoor growing.

Rinsed - which is better but still not what you want

Buffered - this is basically the stuff which, when hydrated, makes up your bagged canna etc. That's what you want.

Use a 1.0ec strength of base veg feed and hot water to hydrate it, otherwise it will hold onto the first nutes you give it. No need to rinse at all. Just hydrate. Saves you a massive amount of work getting the right grade.

1.0 EC @ what conversion?

And I use just 6ml Floramicro/9ml Florabloom per gallon of tap water throughout the life cycle...K.I.S.S. I was using standard lucal 8/16 @ first.

.

 

[Jnugg]

Gotta get that ph pen. That's essential. Even a cheapie hanna is better than nothing.

Cannot afford one this month but plan on getting one either late this month/beggining of next month.I do however need to get some pH down because @ 6/9 it only lowers my pH to about 6.5 at best,but using 8/16 it lowers pH to about 6.0/6.5


If I use R/O and 6/9 I believe the pH is 5.0 to 6.0 but can't remember...might of been 8/16.

 

[papaduc]

If it said premium grade, maybe it was pre-fertilised, in which case you probably shouldn't have totally flushed it. On the other hand it could have been a bad batch. It definitely should state if it contains nutrients though.

You definitely need to find out whether it's pre-fertilised, or if it needs rinsing. Maybe contact GH direct, or phone the hydro store.

Convert at 0.5

 

[Jnugg]

If it said premium grade, maybe it was pre-fertilised, in which case you probably shouldn't have totally flushed it. On the other hand it could have been a bad batch. It definitely should state if it contains nutrients though.

You definitely need to find out whether it's pre-fertilised, or if it needs rinsing. Maybe contact GH direct, or phone the hydro store.

Convert at 0.5

Package label says nothing about it being pre-fertilized but it must have because I only used my 300ppm @ .5 conversion tap water to hydrate it and the ppm/EC came out at an astonishing 1300ppm/2.6 EC @ .5 conversion.

That's waaaaaaaay to hot for anything!

I will contact GH and ask them,as well as lay into them about this crap...2.6 EC...what a joke!

 

[Coconutz]

I use the same blocks for $10.
You arent relying on your taps ph to be anywhere near the same each time are you?
That shit fluctuates so much day to day and especially when it sits out

 

[Jnugg]

Oh I know the pH of tap fluctuates after sitting a few days.It comes out around 8.0 or a bit higher.After adding nutes it drops,a few days later,check the jug and back up.

Like I said,I'm doing the best I can with the funds I can save,but the courts are taking just about everything I have other than rent,electric,and groceries/toiletries.

I'm going out today to buy 2 more bricks to transplant the other two 2 liter hempys which are severely root bound and some pH down (or maybe I should get pH up and use bottled R/O or distilled water,but can't afford calmag or a pH pen at this time so drops have to do for now).

Of course I'll hydrate and rinse the fuck out of the coco coir.What's an exceptable ppm for rinsed coco coir?

The last brick I just hydrated with my 300ppm tap @ .5 conversion and rinsed until my TDS pen read 350ppm @ .5 conversion.

My hydro store sucks,they always try to upsell you.Went and bought GH Floramicro and Floeabloom and they're all like "You need floralicious,this,that,blah blah blah",when infact you do not!Using simple lucas in my FFOF my buds were always full of resin glands,great terpene content and flavor,I don't need all the snake oils smgdh!

Asked for the 5kg block of Botanicare Cocogro and they point me to the measely 650g bricks of GH Coco Tek bricks.

Feeling like I should have gone with my gut instinct and stuck with FFOF and lucas.

Stayed away from hydro all these years because of all the expensive gear you need (pH/TDS/EC pens etc.) and all the problems that arise.

 

[flat9]

As an aside, I think EC is always the same scale, whereas PPM is the thing you have to worry about (500 ppm = 1 EC using some meters, 700 ppm = 1 EC using others). Best to state your feeds in terms of EC rather than PPM for this purpose.

 

[Jnugg]

As an aside, I think EC is always the same scale, whereas PPM is the thing you have to worry about (500 ppm = 1 EC using some meters, 700 ppm = 1 EC using others). Best to state your feeds in terms of EC rather than PPM for this purpose.

That's why I've been saying "@ .5 conversion" because my pen operates at a .5 conversion.

The three most widely used scales are .5 .64 and .7

 

[Hugh Midity]

ok j, the gh stuff is major salty even after a shitload of flushing, I love gh nutes but the coco sucks. canna is much better but its very fine. a guy I know that grows aaaa+ suggested botanicare cocogro bagged. been using t for a couple months and I love it. a good mix of fibers and pith and with a little perlite works great, I don't flush it I just water good with my veg nutes at transplant and go from there. I used to use the blocks cause I'm a cheap bastard but the bagged is a lot less work for just a couple dollars more. our tap water is around the same ppm. I'd get diff coco, transplant and flush them good and leave em be for a little bit and see what happens. I used to run 2gallon coco hempys watered every other day and it worked like a charm. once you get it together you'll never look back to soil. also, the 6:9 works good but I switched to gh's recirc schedule and it murders it, quality is just as good and yield is much better

 

[Jnugg]

So I've rinsed my latest brick until ppm/EC came bacj at 350ppm/.7 EC @ .5 conversion.

Should I just water with plain pH'd water for a while or start feeding with the 6/9 (H3ad/Rez formula) and see how things go?

And thanks a ton Hugh!