First Timer: 12 Light Coco Multi-feed

[stoned40yrs]

what do you mean by pure coco? You need to use coco croutons with coco coir - or else your plants will have wet feet and/or maybe a deficiency?

No, plenty of people use straight coco coir. Plenty of people also mix coir with perlite, or with coco chips (croutons) or with DE or with all 3. Some people mix coco with soil and everything else imaginable. There is no right way, there are personal preferences. The brand of coco coir you choose also plays a part in what works best for each person. For instance Canna coco might work great by itself right out of the bag while a 5kg block you have to hydrate might contain more too fine coir/ and sand (coffee ground appearence) that will accumulate at the bottom of your pot after many top feedings if you don't wash it away during hydrating.

 

[LyryC]

what do you mean by pure coco? You need to use coco croutons with coco coir - or else your plants will have wet feet and/or maybe a deficiency?

No, plenty of people use straight coco coir. Plenty of people also mix coir with perlite, or with coco chips (croutons) or with DE or with all 3. Some people mix coco with soil and everything else imaginable. There is no right way, there are personal preferences. The brand of coco coir you choose also plays a part in what works best for each person. For instance Canna coco might work great by itself right out of the bag while a 5kg block you have to hydrate might contain more too fine coir/ and sand (coffee ground appearence) that will accumulate at the bottom of your pot after many top feedings if you don't wash it away during hydrating.

Well im talking about pure coco coir - nothing else - that will be a hard medium to work - unless you treat it like soil - but then you have salt issues - it still does boast best air to water ratio of 22% air when saturated but as you described - its not used with just itself... unless you have croutons or chips in the mix so that its not just coir and fine fibers, otherwise it will be too wet.

Its for sure achievable but doesn't make sense I just tried to prep pure coco coir and realized its a terrible idea w/o adding soemthing to increase porosity.

 

[stoned40yrs]

Well im talking about pure coco coir - nothing else - that will be a hard medium to work - unless you treat it like soil - but then you have salt issues - it still does boast best air to water ratio of 22% air when saturated but as you described - its not used with just itself... unless you have croutons or chips in the mix so that its not just coir and fine fibers, otherwise it will be too wet.

Its for sure achievable but doesn't make sense I just tried to prep pure coco coir and realized its a terrible idea w/o adding soemthing to increase porosity.

No, there are just too many guys on here running straight coco with no problems for what you say to be true. Straight coco coir and treating it like growing in coco not soil.
I don't know what to tell you, myself not knowing crap about coco coir forced me to spend 4 months reading posts mostly in this forum. Too many guys doing what you say can't be done. Goodluck

 

[Caravaggio]

what do you mean by pure coco? You need to use coco croutons with coco coir - or else your plants will have wet feet and/or maybe a deficiency?

No. You don't.

Ive been running pure mother Earth Coir for about a year now with zero issues. I use smaller planters 6l and grow plants after about 3wks of veg. My average plant is about 2.5oz and i typically cram 9-12 per light.

 

[LyryC]

now what about growth rates?

 

[dansbuds]

I'm sorry LyryC ,but these guys are right . theres no need to add anything to straight coco in DTW pots . in hempys yes , you need the rez to be a lighter medium . but DTW pots of coco ..... no need for anything else in the pot . i've tried many combinations & i'm back to straight canna coco . cuz theres no difference in the growth rates or root mass at all . now if your reusing coco , i wouldn't reuse it more than 3x or it breaks down & becomes a mush ..... & that will hold alot more water & throw things out of whack . i use the same pot twice before i toss the whole thing .

 

[noyd666]

coco has been used twice 50/50.

straight coco, great growth and why not, dtw, no more perlite, coco is all you need.

 

[Caravaggio]

now what about growth rates?

Pretty much perfect and faster than when we used Sunshine mix

 

[RB26]

Sorry I've been absent lately, I've been developing some new THC infusion products with some associates and its been crazy busy!

As for the Coco/perlite argument, I've got my Glue moms in straight coco, but everything else is a 50/50 mix. Maybe its just personal preference, but I don't feel like the straight coco drains well enough for me. I like to water multiple times a day in heavy flower, and if the pots don't dry about 25-50% between feedings I feel like they get waterlogged a little. I don't see diminished growth rates per se, but I do see somewhat more vigorous root growth when the pots dry out quicker with a perlite/coco mixture.

 

[dansbuds]

As for the Coco/perlite argument, I've got my Glue moms in straight coco, but everything else is a 50/50 mix. Maybe its just personal preference, but I don't feel like the straight coco drains well enough for me. I like to water multiple times a day in heavy flower, and if the pots don't dry about 25-50% between feedings I feel like they get waterlogged a little. I don't see diminished growth rates per se, but I do see somewhat more vigorous root growth when the pots dry out quicker with a perlite/coco mixture.

A noticable difference ??? cuz i have to say i didn't experiance that & thats the only reason i even tried it . all i felt like i was doing was wasting alot of nutes having to feed so often .
but every environment is different so .....

 

[noyd666]

must be Chinese coco. will add I also feed two to three times when there feeding heavy, no problem at all but all grows are different.

 

[RB26]

Again, I have not done extensive experiments on straight coco vs. 50/50 mix. All I am basing my views off of are a couple GG4 in straight coco and a whole mess of other strains in a 50/50 mix. Its hardly a scientific experiment, so I'd lean on the advice from the people who have more experience than I.

 

[RetroGrow]

Sorry I've been absent lately, I've been developing some new THC infusion products with some associates and its been crazy busy!

As for the Coco/perlite argument, I've got my Glue moms in straight coco, but everything else is a 50/50 mix. Maybe its just personal preference, but I don't feel like the straight coco drains well enough for me. I like to water multiple times a day in heavy flower, and if the pots don't dry about 25-50% between feedings I feel like they get waterlogged a little. I don't see diminished growth rates per se, but I do see somewhat more vigorous root growth when the pots dry out quicker with a perlite/coco mixture.

A couple of points: both ways work, for sure, but straight coco works better for the simple reason that coco retains large quantities of oxygen, in the 20-25% range. Also you can't over water quality coco, namely Canna and it's equivalents, as long as it hasn't been re-used several times (I never re-use it). The other main point is, if you switch to Hempy buckets and ditch conventional pots, you will see a MASSIVE increase in yield, as Hempys are a passive hydro system, and coco is a hydro medium. Ideal to water frequently. The more you water/feed, the better the results, as each watering brings fresh oxygen to your roots. Hempy buckets & coco were made for each other. You will never need perlite again, except chunky perlite for the bottom 2 inches of the bucket for the rez, which can also be many other things besides perlite, such as hydroton balls, rocks, etc., etc. Once you've tried even a single Hempy bucket with straight coco, you will switch out any other type of pot, guaranteed.

 

[stoned40yrs]

A couple of points: both ways work, for sure, but straight coco works better for the simple reason that coco retains large quantities of oxygen, in the 20-25% range. Also you can't over water quality coco, namely Canna and it's equivalents, as long as it hasn't been re-used several times (I never re-use it). The other main point is, if you switch to Hempy buckets and ditch conventional pots, you will see a MASSIVE increase in yield, as Hempys are a passive hydro system, and coco is a hydro medium. Ideal to water frequently. The more you water/feed, the better the results, as each watering brings fresh oxygen to your roots. Hempy buckets & coco were made for each other. You will never need perlite again, except chunky perlite for the bottom 2 inches of the bucket for the rez, which can also be many other things besides perlite, such as hydroton balls, rocks, etc., etc. Once you've tried even a single Hempy bucket with straight coco, you will switch out any other type of pot, guaranteed.

That's why I switched from soil to coco and Hempys Only thing is I hate perlite. I'm staying 100% coco and using coco coir chips for the bottom two inches in my hempy buckets.

 

[noyd666]

that's why I ditched 80 hempy buckets, hate perlite cost's, never drained bugger all out so =dtw and still don't drain fuck all out, no problems, freight cost's over here are a bitch. my plants are no different in growth or anything else hempys or dtw. hempys are simple and good so is dtw no perlite costs.ITS A BIT LIKE DELEAFING =WHAT EVER WORKS FOR YOU.

 

[papaduc]

Well, I'm using hempys right now but I'm switching back to root pouches on the next run. I've got to say, they did tweak my gimmick radar at first, but the root development in them seems much thicker across the whole of he media than pots which encourage root circling. I think when you're running more than a feed a day you're not gonna see big differences in yield whether your pot's got a res in the bottom or not tbh.

 

[stoned40yrs]

Well, I'm using hempys right now but I'm switching back to root pouches on the next run. I've got to say, they did tweak my gimmick radar at first, but the root development in them seems much thicker across the whole of he media than pots which encourage root circling.

Do you smoke the roots?

 

[dansbuds]

, if you switch to Hempy buckets and ditch conventional pots, you will see a MASSIVE increase in yield, as Hempys are a passive hydro system, and coco is a hydro medium. Ideal to water frequently. The more you water/feed, the better the results, as each watering brings fresh oxygen to your roots. Hempy buckets & coco were made for each other.

I've been wondering about the yield differences .... i have 4 GG's in 3.5 gallon hempys & i have 4 GG's in 3 gallon pots of straight coco DTW . all fed with canna A & B & cannazyme & PK13/14 for the boost , veg food was V&B , lighting is 600 watt horti's .... they are about 2 weeks apart , i did this just to see if the yields were close or not . i have noticed before this little experiment , that hempys do veg faster .... so i was curious if they were better in flower . i'll find out in about 8 weeks or so .

i just set up a 2k watt tent at my buddys house with 8 GG's in 3.5 gallon Hempys 4 per light , my usual scenario .... its set up as extra income for him & I , but i can't wait to see if theres a big difference between 600's & 1000's

as a side note .... cuz you mention feeding multiple times a day .... i feed once a day till runoff , i only up the feed times when runoff stops , then i'll add 30 seconds to a minute to the timer to get runoff again . i may try the multiple feeds later on , but not right now . one thing at a time .


gonna be an interesting next couple months

 

[RetroGrow]

that's why I ditched 80 hempy buckets, hate perlite cost's, never drained bugger all out so =dtw and still don't drain fuck all out, no problems, freight cost's over here are a bitch. my plants are no different in growth or anything else hempys or dtw. hempys are simple and good so is dtw no perlite costs.ITS A BIT LIKE DELEAFING =WHAT EVER WORKS FOR YOU.

The problem is you were using the "old" Hempy system with perlite. I don't care for perlite either, but Hempy switched to straight coco for increased yield, and so did most of us Hempy users. The key to rapid growth in Hempys is frequent drenchings/waterings, which brings fresh oxygen to the roots. I drench daily to completely replace the rez, and got incredible growth on first run after making this simple change. Used to use bigger buckets and water less frequently, with nice results, but not nearly as big as watering frequently in smaller pots. That "small" change made a huge difference.
Hempy's thread:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=147954
More than one way to skin a cat, but I have never achieved results close to Hempy buckets with coco, watered daily, with vertical lighting and Triacontanol. Got 2 G/P/W using K.I.S.S. method. Never got close to that before. I am sold on it and won't be changing any time soon.

 

[RetroGrow]

Well, I'm using hempys right now but I'm switching back to root pouches on the next run. I've got to say, they did tweak my gimmick radar at first, but the root development in them seems much thicker across the whole of he media than pots which encourage root circling. I think when you're running more than a feed a day you're not gonna see big differences in yield whether your pot's got a res in the bottom or not tbh.

Nothing "gimmicky" about Hempy buckets, but of course you are going to contradict whatever I post. So go back to your root pouches or whatever. You obviously don't know how to use Hempys. Go back to your "root circling" gimmick. I'll stick with my Hempy buckets which are one massive bucket of roots, producing massive plants when watered/oxygenated daily. Good luck going around in circles! I know you can't help it.