A sticky for Coco prep methods?

I was wondering, since I am currently in the same position I have seen many other Coco neophytes in, why not make up a sticky for the forum that has info on how to prep new coco before planting? I saw this question asked alot in the unnoficial coco growers thread before we got the forum. Depending on what brand of Coco people have, it seems that everyones prep routine is a little different. I have Canna bagged coco, perlite and hydroton, which I will mix in a 2 parts coco to 1 part perlite, .5 parts hydroton ratio, with hydroton lining the bottom of my pots. At this point though I am unsure of what kind of soultion to prep my starting mix with for planting seeds. Here are the questions I am looking for answers to:

-How wet does my initial mix need to be, slightly moist or wet until the point of run off? Somewhere in the middle?

-What kind of initial solution should I prep with? I am using the Canna Coco lineup. Just Rhizo? Add some Cannazym? Small amount of A + B?

I think a sticky for prep info could also cover different things like, prep'ing for clone planting, prep'ing for transplants, getting slabs ready for use, and how to prep old coco for re-use. This is just a thought, but I figured it could really help some people out as the issue I seem to see pop up most frequently with Coco is poor health in younger plants. I'm going to be germing and planting about 40 or so seeds this week to select 10-15 finishers from and I can't wait to give the coco a go! Please let me know what you think, thanks

There's many methods.

You can literally break it up dry, transplant dry, and watch it go with very little water initially on yer start-up.

But, for optimal results, pour a gallon or two on yer brick [or whatever, depending on size, can use up to 2+], break it up and fill a pot - transplant accordingly and you're done. The medium will usually be perfectly moist for a very killer transplant. You could "soak" with supps like Hygrozyme [and related active and non-active enzymatic products], Liquid Karma, SM-90, etc. No heavy nute soaking, IMVO, but it can can be done and gotten away with for sure. Be safe, though, because you don't want to flush and flush and flush, etc...it'll OWN you after a while.

I used to do some serious 'washing' and flushing due to tha main consensus [at that time] that coco was full of salts and may make my plants have toxic salt buildups later in life. But now, I just 'rinse' a bale/brick with a gallon or two and that's just really to break tha thing up, ya know. I've had great results doing what I do and I've only noticed toxic salt buildups with cheaper coco brands. Botanicare's never done me wrong, Profits are super badass and I'm about to check out these Coco Croutons. I'll see what kind'a "washings" they might or might not need.

Your initial mix could be soppin' wet [may slow growth, but it won't kill it by any means] to bone dry, as experienced, but like I said - for optimal results - give your coco [whether bale/brick, profits, coir, croutons, etc.] a good rinse and you're good. A gallon or two should be fine, depending on what you're working with.

You can start off with soaking and breaking up yer initial mix with a nutrient/water solution and get good results. Personally I transplant into a pure mix and start my feeds after a good root establishment. I've found transplants into coco to be extremely easy, forgiving and provides a BADASS start-up for yer seedlings and clones. I'm sure that soaking yer initial mix with a nutrient/water solution would be a bit 'hot' for seedlings. I've yet to burn a seedling in a pure coco mix. Be safe with little ones and soaking your coco with nutes.

In your case, I'd just soak with tha Rhizo and Cannazym. I'm sure you'd get away with that just fine! Good idea for your sticky(s).

This is all based on my personal experience, but I understand we all have our methods. Always open to hear further methods/suggestions.

Peace,
Nandro

VERY GOOD INFO^^^ keep em coming!!!!
also IN a ebb/flow flood/drain setup how do u prevent the coco from draining out of the pots and into the res??? Ive seen alot of pics of pots with coco on trays id think the soil would muck up the res and clog the pumps???

Im waiting for someone with a good solution to this and what exact medium do u use??

UNREGISTRD said:

VERY GOOD INFO^^^ keep em coming!!!!
also IN a ebb/flow flood/drain setup how do u prevent the coco from draining out of the pots and into the res??? Ive seen alot of pics of pots with coco on trays id think the soil would muck up the res and clog the pumps???

Im waiting for someone with a good solution to this and what exact medium do u use??

Click to expand...

These are your answer. Made by tha same cats that do our beloved rockwool, etc. Grodan's Coco Croutons! They're tha shit!

couldnt a little hydroton at the bottom do just as well, if all you have access to is coco brick?
if i can get those cubes, im on it.
ive had a lot of success with the same lil cubes of rockwool,,,,,but i think im sold on giving the coco a run next. thanks for all the good info nandro.

blue dog said:

couldnt a little hydroton at the bottom do just as well, if all you have access to is coco brick?
if i can get those cubes, im on it.
ive had a lot of success with the same lil cubes of rockwool,,,,,but i think im sold on giving the coco a run next. thanks for all the good info nandro.

Click to expand...

You can absolutely get away with hydroton at tha bottom to keep tha rez's clean, mah bro. Good call.

Those lil growcube rockwools are tha shit, yeah..Tha Croutons will ROCK. I just know it.

Give coco a try, my man. You won't regret it.
Peace,
Nandro

i got a block, im gonna run a lil no control dwc(just topped off as needed with 4 airstones to a rubbermaid, 2 plants....learn the medium,with a little help of course.)
will a block of botanicare coco be enough for 2 ladies?,,,,i imagine so......
ive heard coco can be knat prone???? any truth to that in your experience,,,?
i dig your zest for the coco.....

Sir, a block of Bot's coco will be plenty for 2. Hell, one profit disk breaks up to a gallon container.



Any media is prone to insect infestation, ya' know?.. Keep plenty of air moving around, keep a clean room and if you're paranoid - put a nice layer of perlite atop yer coco. And some bug strips. Coco isn't any more prone to critters and shit than tha other mediums..

Peace,
Nandro

great info nandro.

i personally will plant my well rooted rw cubes on the new coco slabs before giving any water. once the whole table is planted and the drippers are in, i fill my tank with plain water at ph 6.0, i then let the pump run, it can take half an hour with new coco. i let it run until every slab is so full of water that it comes gushing back out. once this has happened i will add some rhizotonic and A+B and program my timer to run the pump 4 times a day. i find this way my plants adjust to the coco without any transplant shock or any other problems. i also get a chance to check the salt levels, which are very good and low in these days with the better slabs. but there was a time when the canna slabs used to be so salty that you would get a run off ec of 2.8 or even 3.5 when you first fill it with water. that shit used to force us to flush it well first. but with time canna and others have learned much about producing coco which is ready to grow. nowadays your slabs will have a run off of approximately 1.0 and they are buffered to a ph of 6.0

I know what you mean about shit being really poor [tha coco, itself] back in tha day. So salty, you could probably fry and eat tha stuff with some ketchup.

Sounds like a good transplanting system you got. Nice way avoiding shock.

Peace, MR.G
Nandro

Thanks for the replies guys, I am going to wet my coco with some Rhizo and Cannazym and a small amount of A+B I guess. What kind of EC level do you start seedlings on usually? I am going to be hand watering once per day, with nutrients every watering. I'll be planting mostly heavier feeding indicas this time around and veg'ing for 3-4 weeks, 3-4 transplants up to 2 gallno pots for flowering.

cana coco

cana coco

I don't do anything to the coco prior to planting the rooted clones. Fill resivoir with RO water and add 10-15ml rhizo per gallon, 1/4 strength nutes, ph 6.0, drip or hand feed once or twice a day until you see roots pop throught th bottom of you pals or bags. Do not nee to use canazym until a root system has developed. then default to cana feeding regimine for a benchmark and adjust nutes to how your plant is responding to your feeding. No need for perlite and hydroton if done properly. I am speaking to canna coco users only. I have noe experience with other coco suppliers. I tried botanicares version of coco mixed with pearlite and it sucked in a side by side comparison.

og in cana





Wonderfuck in cana

VERY nice pictures, Resin. Good fade on that OG, man.

Yup, Canna's gear is great, too. Especially if you don't like breaking up disks, bricks, bales, etc. and dig bagged, loose gear.

It broke down a little slow and had some toxicitys, but maybe that was due to my old nute regimine [Fox Farm all tha way]. Then I gave it a try doing nothing but adding PBP nutes all tha way and that worked out great. I even ammended it for shits and giggles like an organix soil mix [I'm one of those types that HAS to try everything/anything/method upon method, etc.] and that fuckin' SUCKED. When used properly, tha whole Canna Coco program can be tha easiest regimine out there. Period. Makes GH's 3 parts and other's look like chinese math, LOL. I like Canna's nutrients, but can't seem to pull out tha dough EVERY TIME, especially when other, lesser expensive stuff works that's been out there for years+.

THEN I FOUND PROFIT DISKS.

Best coco out there, IMVHO. Cot damn..I'll tell you what.
Peace,
Nandro

SuperNuck said:

Thanks for the replies guys, I am going to wet my coco with some Rhizo and Cannazym and a small amount of A+B I guess. What kind of EC level do you start seedlings on usually? I am going to be hand watering once per day, with nutrients every watering. I'll be planting mostly heavier feeding indicas this time around and veg'ing for 3-4 weeks, 3-4 transplants up to 2 gallno pots for flowering.

Click to expand...

Start 'em off slow, just as you would in ANY medium. Go easy then ramp 'em up as roots become more established, my man.

I water with pure, PH'd, water with some Hygrozyme and a dash of SM-90 [wetting agent/pest repellant/resevoir cleanser] for however many days it takes 'til you start to see signs of "HEY WE NEED SOME FOOD NOW, DAMNIT". When they start telling you that, ramp 'em up. It's usually into 5+ days when they start doing this. Depends from strain to strain, but I've gotten away with pure water/no food solution for an entire run. Tha taste of tha nugs is tremendous, but yield is so heavily sacrificed, it's usually a bummer. But fuck it, we all wanna' try tha tastiest nugs one could grow, right? But seriously, give 'em some food when you feel is best or when they start giving you signs. You could even start off at like an 1/8th or even 1/4 feed if you'd feel safer giving 'em a little something to start off with.

Let us know, keep us informed,
Peace,
Nandro

My prep method is simple,,,,i dont have one.

I'm using the PLAGRON coco at the moment and take it straight out of the bag and into a pot ~ followed by a "normal" watering (nutes/rhizo/cannazym @ ph5.9)

No problems ~ to date

When I expand my coir from the bricks, I use only reverse osmosis water with about quarter strength maxicrop liquid seaweed. It works excellent. But I grow strictly 100% living organics in coir.

hey there nandro. i'm using the botanicare cocogro bricks and i just throw it in the trash can with about 4 galls ph'ed water, bust it up, and thats it. IMO i don't think nutes would be evenly spread and absorbed by the brick. and my tap water is so poor here i don't think it would help doing a big flush. i really want to try some of the profit disks. i grow in 2 gall bags how much do the disks run and you say one disk breaks down to a gall? i am just now startin to reuse but i "cut" that with some fresh coco and only use it for my first transplant from the bubble cloner.

gdawg said:

hey there nandro. i'm using the botanicare cocogro bricks and i just throw it in the trash can with about 4 galls ph'ed water, bust it up, and thats it. IMO i don't think nutes would be evenly spread and absorbed by the brick. and my tap water is so poor here i don't think it would help doing a big flush. i really want to try some of the profit disks. i grow in 2 gall bags how much do the disks run and you say one disk breaks down to a gall? i am just now startin to reuse but i "cut" that with some fresh coco and only use it for my first transplant from the bubble cloner.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wouldn't soak with nutes, either and if your tap is that bad - I wouldn't worry at all about a big flush, either as well.

Yup, each disk breaks up to fill a gallon container. Around $25-$35, depending on where you go/order from. They're from Holland and each disk is 5" diameter x 1½" thick. You'll luv 'em.

I've never reused but your method seems good. Do it to it, my bro out in tha hills.

Peace,
Nandro

i buy compressed coco slabs because its the most stealthy way to bring home 50 liters of it.

when i have many to soak up i first prepare water - 50 distilled water thee rest tap water that i leave allways standing for 24 hours before i put it in my res with 3 airpumps loading it with air.

i soak the coco in the amount of nutes the plants that are going to get transplanted will need - for example if im watering with 15/15 A+B i use the same for the water for soaking - also i ad 40 ml of rhizotonic forevery 10 liters of water. i PH adjust the water to 6.

well i break up the bricks in 4-5 pieces - put them in 100L industrial garbage bags - they are strong and wont break and leak water etc. i pour in 10 liters of water in each bag and the i twist the bag up and use a zip tie to close it really tight. then i just go every 15 minutes and roll the bags over a half turn - and later i just fluff it up inside by pressing the bag.

open up and ready to transplant.

peace

try reusing it nandro, you will be so surprised, it tends to work just as well second time round. my current set of coco slabs has just been harvested for the third time and i'm getting ready to plant a fourth batch on the same slabs. no bullshit, i cut the old cube off and plant a new one in its place, not even bothering to extract the roots. i make 4 holes in a slab, use each hole 2 times, then i make a new set of 4 holes in-between the first set of holes and i use these another 2 times. so that's 4 runs in the same slabs, never once opening the slabs up. reusing the coco the way i do makes the slabs very economical and very easy on your back, lol.