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How do YOU rinse your coco?

Pig-Pen

Pig-Pen

Member
I hear everyone say to rinse or pre-wash coco to get the salts out, but I've not heard much mention on the best ways to actually do it, especially working with bales.

I've used coco in organic soil mixes for years and never washed it, and never had any real problems, but I never use salt ferts, either.

But...

How do you go about rinsing a load of coco without clogging drains, making big messes and being generally conspicuous?
 
S

stoned teacher

Good question an I learned the hard way because genius me caused a clog deep in my drain pipe, prolly very much from rinsing coco and just a little chunk here or there washing down each time. Luckily a 30 or 40 foot unclogger at home depot saved me from having to think about how/who to call to come in my basement and unclog it....

Since then, I got a big 5 gallon bucket, drill small holes in it, and slip pantyhose over it.....I fill it up with water (as it drains more slowly than fills up) and let it drain 3 times......
 
Pig-Pen

Pig-Pen

Member
And...

Do most folks just use tapwater?

Does anyone know what kind of salt levels, or EC readings are actually present before and after rinsing?
 
Pig-Pen

Pig-Pen

Member
stoned teacher said:
Good question an I learned the hard way because genius me caused a clog deep in my drain pipe, prolly very much from rinsing coco and just a little chunk here or there washing down each time. Luckily a 30 or 40 foot unclogger at home depot saved me from having to think about how/who to call to come in my basement and unclog it....

Since then, I got a big 5 gallon bucket, drill small holes in it, and slip pantyhose over it.....I fill it up with water (as it drains more slowly than fills up) and let it drain 3 times......
Click to expand...

That's basically what I had figured to do myself, but I didn't know if there were any advanced coco-nerd methods I was missing out on.
:rasta:
 
Goat

Goat

Member
I put my brick in a rubbermaid tub full of warm tap water to fill out and then squeeze it handful by handful squeezing to drain the first time. Then it goes into the sink with the disposal to get rinsed again. My whole process makes my kitchen smell like the ocean. For smaller amounts i just use a colander. Its a fairly messy process but i do it in one big batch.

My run-off ec levels were still really high after a few rinses but I didn't experience any lock out issues directly associated to the medium. This is my first time with coco btw.

- Goat!
 
S

Smoke68

Active member
Much of the Coir you find at your local hydro store is flushed long before it gets to the bag. I would think using RO'ed water would be your best bet in creating less buildup in the media.
Even without rinsing, I have yet to get nutrient lockouts or obvious buildups, even with the use of my ~230ppm tap water.
 
G

Guest 18340

This subject has been covered several times already, use the search button.
Like Smoke68 said, most of the coco out there is already flushed.
That said, i place a brick in a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with straight tap water, until its like soup. Then i scoop it out by hand and into whatever pot i'm gonna plant in.
Alittle messy, but no more so than scooping dirt out of a bag.
I've never fluashed my coco (i use botanicare) and ive never had any problems.
 
S

stoned teacher

I should have mentioned, when I used bcuzz coco I didn't flush, but now I've switched to compressed coco and got a higher ppm reading out of it....My method may be overkill, but it definitely works..... my runoff ppm was 700 ish (1.4 EC), a good bit over my hard water base ppm of 270. After 3 waterings runoff is only slightly higher than the 270 pm....

I use tapwater for the flushings, put the plant in, and begin regular ph'd , nuted watering the next day......
 
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bounty29

bounty29

Custom User Title
Veteran
I've never checked before and after runoffs of PPM, but I usually soak it in a bucket, and then somehow try to flush it without it all going down the drain.

We just had a serious clog in our apt last night, and I knew it was either coco or perlite, and I felt like an idiot. I got a snake but couldn't work the damn thing, luckily the "Main Line Cleaner" stuff I got worked well, which leads me to believe it was coco, and not perlite. This stuff breaks down organic matter, which is why I was a little worried. If it was perlite and I couldn't snake it there would be real problems.

I've tried a few different ways, none too successful. After the initial soaking, the runoff is a pretty dark red. I buy coco bricks, I really like how fine the consistency is, and bricks are much more subtle than bags of moist coco. I rinse tap water through it until it comes out clear, as stated before. This most recent time I did alright, I was using the coco for hempy buckets and jsut used them as a filter. The bottom few inches of 2 liter bottles were filled with perlite, and a hole was put in the side, just below the top of the perlite. I scooped handfuls of coco from the soaking tub to the 2 liters, and put them under the drain. It worked alright, some stuff did get out but I didn't think too much.

I'll definitely be trying something with pantyhose next time, I'm going to need to buy a few more bricks in the next couple of days for a few transplants.

evlme2, the topic of flushing coco is covered several times, but the actual action of flushing it is rarely discussed. This is good information for people that don't want to clog their plumbing with grow materials and have to have someone come fix it. This could be a serious security concern if done improperly, so I think it's a pretty good topic.
 
S

Shan Diego

This is a good topic. Your stealth can be compromised by a plummer having to poke around in your home. I had to unclog my own drain a while back...with 5 family members in my house who are not privy to the closet next to the clogged shower drain and confused about why I could not just call the landlord and get a pro plummer over here.

Do yourself a favor...buy the name-brand model at HD that is orange and you crank by hand. You can handle nearly every problem yourself. Buy the cheaper generic, and you will find yourself in the return line with a broken tip trading it in for the thicker-wired name brand...now that I did it myself, I will always have one of these on hand.
 
bounty29

bounty29

Custom User Title
Veteran
Shan Diego said:
Do yourself a favor...buy the name-brand model at HD that is orange and you crank by hand. You can handle nearly every problem yourself. Buy the cheaper generic, and you will find yourself in the return line with a broken tip trading it in for the thicker-wired name brand...now that I did it myself, I will always have one of these on hand.
Click to expand...

That's the one I got, Ridgid Kwik Spin. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I couldn't get that thing more than a foot down any drain.
 
Pig-Pen

Pig-Pen

Member
Sounds like clogged drains are an unspoken issue, haha. :bashhead:

I was actually thinking about some sort of press; use a 5 gal bucket either with holes and hoes or with a fixed screen in the bottom, then use another bucket or a wooden disc or something to press it and really squeeze all the water out.
 
Pig-Pen

Pig-Pen

Member
evlme2 said:
This subject has been covered several times already, use the search button.
Like Smoke68 said, most of the coco out there is already flushed.
That said, i place a brick in a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with straight tap water, until its like soup. Then i scoop it out by hand and into whatever pot i'm gonna plant in.
Alittle messy, but no more so than scooping dirt out of a bag.
I've never fluashed my coco (i use botanicare) and ive never had any problems.
Click to expand...

Your FACE has been covered several times already, but this particular subject has not. :spank:
 
G

Guest 18340

If i was gonna be a Dick i woulda left it at "use the search button". But no, i went on to explain how i "rinse" coco.
No need for insults 'pen, that gets us nowhere.
In any case, good luck with your coco adventure, the stuff is awesome! Evl...
 
G

guest5703

I'm gonna put a stop to this right now, I don't know who you are pig-pen personally I haven't seen you around on the site but I HAVE seen evlme2 on here MANY TIMES. For you to ask a question that has many threads already is a waste of space. The very start of this forum states clearly to USE THE SEARCH BUTTON and try to not make new threads if there already existing.

Well you failed to search apparently and were told by elvme that you should have searched although he did still try to put in some info for you you stated

Your FACE has been covered several times already, but this particular subject has not.
Click to expand...

I don't know how old you are dude but you sound like your 5. And very rude. Then elvme tells you to grow up and you call him a dick!?!?!? WTF get lost bro.

TO TOP IT ALL OFF, elvme starts a thread on his very own personal way he rinses his coco and you comment on it by saying

I thought there were several threads covering this topic already? Must not have used the search function.
Click to expand...

you are wasting our time and our help, you need to have some respect.
 
bounty29

bounty29

Custom User Title
Veteran
I agree with Pig Pen, this topic HASN'T been covered, people are way too trigger happy with the "use the search" bullshit response.

I've read more threads in these forums than you can imagine, and people have unique situations and questions. What did his the statement of "this has been covered several times" add to the discussion, when it was wrong. In the time it took for him to write his reply, he could've linked to several threads covering this topic.

And the fact that he created his own thread based on THE EXACT TOPIC OF THIS ONE THAT HE ALREADY REPLIED IN, instead of replying to this one so that people wouldn't have to "use the search" and sort through a hundred different threads, shows that he really doesn't care, and just wants to start shit.

That post would've been much more appropriate in this thread instead of on it's own, just look in the coco forum. How retarded is it to have this thread, "How do YOU rinse your coco?" followed by one directly below it called "How I rinse coco". Redundant much? A little more suitable for a reply than it's own thread.
 
G

Guest

caligreen- just becuase you frequent the same subforums as evlme2 and not pig pen, is no reason to doubt one's credibility. in fact, "seeing someone around" is like using post count to discredit someone. my 50 or so posts doesnt reflect the fact that ive been around since BEFORE overgrow when there was just alt.drugs.pot. the statement "I'm gonna put a stop to this right now" really makes you sound quite arrogant considering YOU AND EVLME2 WERE WRONG regarding the fact that the physical process of washing coco has seen very little discussion thus far. bounty29 hit the nail on the head.
 
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