can i use soil nutrients in coco

[mouts]

i was wondering if i could grow in coco using Doff multi purpose plant food and B and Q tomato food. I have had good results previously using these products in a mix of 20% coco and 80% compost indoors.

 

[Guest]

Hey mouts,
I have no experience with coco coir, but am also thinking of maybe trying it out. I you don't get any response here, there is a forum specifically for coco on this page. You might want to try there.

KS

 

[DoubleDDsNuggs]

coco needs specific nutes that have more calcium or something like that because coco bind certain nutes up in the media. it was explained to me in the hydro store that this is for someone who is experienced in diagnosing plant issues involving nutes. i even tried telling them i have H&G coco nutes and they said they'd sell it to me but I would be back with frustration and questions. I'm a newbie that is still learning about all of this so I'm reserving coco for another time when i get bored with what I'm doing and want to change things up.

peat can give you similar growth if that's what you want. you just have to watch your soil ph and use lots of perlite for great drainage. Promix is highly popular and has mycos in it too.

 

[mouts]

thanks very much guys. I have grown in coco before using canna coco nutrients and there was actually too much calcium i think. I never flushed except for the last two weeks and when i harvested there were crystals of calcium which had built up in the coco. Im tryin it now with one of my plants and ill see how it compares to my soil grown plants i will post my results here

 

[Guest]

coco needs specific nutes that have more calcium or something like that because coco bind certain nutes up in the media. it was explained to me in the hydro store that this is for someone who is experienced in diagnosing plant issues involving nutes. i even tried telling them i have H&G coco nutes and they said they'd sell it to me but I would be back with frustration and questions. I'm a newbie that is still learning about all of this so I'm reserving coco for another time when i get bored with what I'm doing and want to change things up.

peat can give you similar growth if that's what you want. you just have to watch your soil ph and use lots of perlite for great drainage. Promix is highly popular and has mycos in it too.

Have been using Promix for the last several grows and has been working well. I run a small compost bin and mix 50/50 with promix, sometimes suppliment with Espoma plant tone in early flower. I don't set any records for yield, but plants always turn out nice with no problems.

 

[mouts]

if ur using soil i would reccomend tomato food as most brands contain cal-mag and some contain seaweed extract and also its a light feed and is easy to flush. I usually flush for 2 weeks before harvest and i have chopped a few buds without flushing and the difference in taste is minimal. It can be used in veg and flower and is a lot cheaper and more widely avilable than canna specicic feeds.

 

[outhereinthesun]

hi guys,

i dont wanna slop down a question i already did somewhere else, if you could check it out ?
comments and so forth? am looking for a schedule for the nutes i have.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=6443764#post6443764

Please check it out,

PEACE

 

[RonSmooth]

You don't need special nutrients. I use maxibloom now and don't even have to supplement cal mag. My tap water is 0.3EC

coco is simple don't make it difficult. The guys at the hydro store want to sell you stuff.

Get a bag of coco and a bag of maxibloom. Then say bye to whatever you were doing.

 

[mouts]

i have started 2 plants in coco, theyre about 1.5 and 3 weeks old now on 12/12 from seed. I have been feeding them a very light dose of tomato feed and misting them with the same. Theyre doing well with no problems so far. We will see in the next few weeks how they get on in flower.

 

[Granger2]

The guys at the grow store are insulting. If you are a clean slate, you can learn in coco just as easy as soil.

The main things in coco are:
pH of nute you pour on is more important than in soil. pH your water, then add nutes, check ph again. If it's outside of the best range [5.8-6.1], you'll know to use more or less pH up or down next batch.

Have Ca and Mg on hand, and use them at the first sign of yellow. There are 1000's of different tap waters depending on local. Some are better than others. You can go to your water company's website and check the report for pH, alkalinity, Ca, Mg, EC.

I usually mix RO water with my carbon filtered tap which is high alkalinity, pH, lime, EC.

If you have lots of lime, use Citric Acid for pH down [Earth Juice pH Down is one]. This will change a lot of the Ca and Mg in the lime to more plant available citrates.

Go to the Coco thread and read up. Good luck. -granger

 

[paper thorn]

mouts, go for it. coco's easy, way better than soil. I say go with what you got for nutes, but plan on getting hydro nutes. Go with maxibloom like RonSmooth said. 'bout a teaspoon to a gallon i think.

The reason you don't want to use soil nutes is coco is pretty much inert. Your soil nutes supply all the macro nutes and a few micros. The soil supplies the rest of the micros that your plants need. Hydro nutes supply all of the nutrients, macro and micro, that plants need.

Get some drops, keep your nutrient solution 5.8 to 6.2.

keep them moist, once they get going, water every day. Don't let them dry out like you would soil.

Read Head's thread in the coco stickies.


Hey DD, forget that dude in the hydro store he don't know shit about coco. And peat can't touch coco. I wish I could tour the country stopping in on guys who hear this coco is complicated stuff as a 'coco consultant.' H and G nutes rock, but i'd keep it simple and use maxibloom. Keep you nute's pH right, water daily and your golden.

 

[mouts]

good man paper thorn! That answered my question exactly. Im using tomato food (6-3-10) with added calmag and seaweed extract, and molasses which i understand provides some micronutrients as well as carbs. Do ye think ill need anything else? Ill mainly be able to go to garden centres or my local grow shop which is very basic, basically just a head shop.

 

[morningdewd]

due to the fact that coco stays wet similar to rockwool ,water borne pests like gnats can be an issue.prevenative measures such as safers soap spay and azamax drench every 7 to 10 days would also be prudent.i went from using all kinds of blends to a two part canna .a and b . actually works better than a mix of stuff.sounds like you got it.

 

[mouts]

cheers man, i had problems with fungus gnats in soil before so i let it dry out, then sprinkled a tspoonful of cinnamon on top of the soil and covered it with a layer of dry coco and they wer well gone. Do u think ciinamon would work in coco? I know i cant let it dry out too much.

 

[mouts]

thanks granger2, i will get soomething to check ph.i have checked the the local water service site and it says this is is is a soft water area as the population is not that big. Here are the 2 plants in coco

 

[RonSmooth]

i have started 2 plants in coco, theyre about 1.5 and 3 weeks old now on 12/12 from seed. I have been feeding them a very light dose of tomato feed and misting them with the same. Theyre doing well with no problems so far. We will see in the next few weeks how they get on in flower.

Sounds good. I'd consider feeding them full strength. Coco is void of nutrients so everything must be provided by you. I have lost seedlings due to underfeeding when I was new to coco.

When they get larger and in bloom theyll def need more nutrients. Keep doing what youre doing and let the plants tell you what they need.


I would advise against foliar feeding with an otherwise healthy plant. It is unnecessary and can lead to problems with burning and mold esp in bloom.

It may not be harmful per se, but eliminating unnecessary steps is part of becoming a better grower.

 

[mouts]

thanks ron, i only spray them in the seedling/cutting stage with a very light solution and never in direct sunlight, jusst under cfls about 6 inches away as it seems to help with root development. Ill top up the nutes as they get bigger. Check out my micro cab if u have time, its called `cheap diy micro cab 12/12` i dont know how to do links

 

[mouts]

both plants in coco turned out male so i threw them out but i have some cuttings now so i will put another 2 in coco n see what happens