new to coco need some pointers

ok boys i got my coco fromthe pet store just soaking it now now here where i need help what else do i mix with it how much what about ferts how much how offen ect ect basic newbee stuff here a list of what i got to work with

one brick coco
2 bags fine perlite from home depot cant find chunky perlite any where
cow manure
mushroom compost
GHflorav nova grow and bloom
GH flora sercies 3 part
lime
epson salt
flourliousi grow and bloom
protekit
GH ph up& down
i need just some basics here to get me going frist run wil be just some bag seeds to see how it works .hopefully i can use what i have lised and will be hand water them not shure about pot sizes i got 1/2 gallon to work with for now will thiswork or do i need bigger pot , and what about starting seeds can i germate right in the mix normaly use jiffy pellets to start then trans plant when i see roots , i have looked tru this fourmom and havent realy found the info i am looking for. ny good link to growing in this stuff would be a great help. i grow manly in hyrod and a lil soil but i want to try this if it work out i want to use this for my mouthers.

How coarse is the coco? Is it pith or fibre? You don't really wanna soak it, you want to rinse it.. how do you plan on watering them? If your going to use coco, just use coco. Do not add other bullshit to the mix, it is absolutely not needed.

Look at BlueHaze's thread for instructions with the GH 3 part.

well not sure about how coarse it is i know when i soaked it it turned to mud like stuff more like potting soil i squeeze the water out and it has some fiber in it but looks more like a soil to me. but to late on not soaking it thats been done. i was planning on hand watering them, waste to drain method using floranova or gh 3 parts as far as adding stuff. don't i need to add at lest perlite or hyrdon

stevr59 said:

well not sure about how coarse it is i know when i soaked it it turned to mud like stuff more like potting soil i squeeze the water out and it has some fiber in it but looks more like a soil to me. but to late on not soaking it thats been done. i was planning on hand watering them, waste to drain method using floranova or gh 3 parts as far as adding stuff. don't i need to add at lest perlite or hyrdon

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if it turned into a mud.. its FINE

peace

no need for perlit or hydro ton. coco works great just on it's own. by adding stuff you just make things complicated for yourself with no benefit to the plants.

use it to fill your pots and then flush some more water through the coco, to reduce the salt content. once you have flushed it real good, then you can get started with clones or seedlings.

gaiusmarius said:

no need for perlit or hydro ton. coco works great just on it's own. by adding stuff you just make things complicated for yourself with no benefit to the plants.

use it to fill your pots and then flush some more water through the coco, to reduce the salt content. once you have flushed it real good, then you can get started with clones or seedlings.

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thanks man got em flushing now , next question can you gemate in the coco and if so do i use just plain tab water or do i mix up a light nute mix?

stevr59 said:

thanks man got em flushing now , next question can you gemate in the coco and if so do i use just plain tab water or do i mix up a light nute mix?

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You CAN but I wouldn't... I have seedling right now in coco and in canna's organic mix.. the mix seedling are heads shoulders and round leaves above the cocos'... 4 sets of leaves vs. 2.... 1st time I have sprouted in the dirt but WON"T do it in coco AGAIN..

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=51388&page=1&pp=15

Get some small 8 or 10 oz cups put some dirt in there.... once they got say 3 sets of leaves THEN move them to there final pots in cooc..

Peace
BB
Oh.. if you choose to use coco...yeah plain water till the first pot leaves get fairly big.. but ya got to feed them.. or they kinda yellow and just don't do much compared to the dirt..

I'll throw my 2 cents in here. I used Botanicares CNS 17 for veg. I use 1/2 - 1 tsp. per gallon ( depends on which strain ) and 1 tsp hygrozyme per gallon per watering which is everyday. I like the CNS 17, no mixing multiple ingredients. It has cal/mag already in it and a hydrolyzing agent, the hygrozyme is like steroids for the roots and I've seen a noticeable improvement in my plants since I started using it. I continued to use it thru the first 3-4 weeks of flower until they stopped stretching.. Here's a pic of my garden a couple weeks ago.

I get better results with str8 promix for seedlings and rooting clones, haven't figured that out yet.

Steve first you soak and expand in hot water for half an hour or so and then flush the coco a couple times with cold water. Then ring out the excess water and let it dry. You can do this on a window screen over a rubbermaid container. You can also put it in a pizza box to really dry. Just keep stirring once in a while.

Now this is important. If you are going to germ and grow in straight coco you have to rehydrate the coco with a weak fertilizer solution. About 25% strength. See even though you don't fertilize fresh seedlings in a soil grow because they can't handle it, there is still some nutrients in any soil. So the seedlings have a little something to nurish them. In coco coir there is absolutely no nutrients available to a seedling. You have to add some.

You have to let the coco dry out completely and then rehydrate with the 25% fert solution.

Coco should be able to start as good or better seedling than soil. If coco is better for an adult it is better for a seedling. I have noticed that the people that have the problems don't pretreat the coco with ferts.

Soak the seeds for 12 hours or so and put right in the coco. Now you can't overwater. You can't bake the medium into a hard lump. The roots will explode.

That pet store tip was a good one. The coco used for pets is super quality. It has to be fine but not powder. It isn't pith. That is powdery. It is actually a very fine shread. It's beautiful. I have gotten about 6 different types. The 2 from the pet stores. Bed a Beast and Repti Bed and also several off the net from the hydro shops. The best texture in my opinion is Bed a Beast and Repti Bed.

It is very handy knowing about the pet stores. You can buy a brick or 2 whenever you are near and just stockpile them until needed. I am going to prepare a bunch over the summer where I can soak and flush outside. Then in the winter I just have to rehydrate it.

I haven't grown a thing in coco yet but I have been researching like a madman and I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night. I am a soil man but I already know coco is going to be like "falling off a log". It's hydro in soil basically. It's soil without the number one problem. You can't overwater. Handwatering like with soil. I like to do plant care. Just water until a 20% runoff. Once a week flush real good with plain water. Near the end be aware for Mg defiency and too much potassium that coco can have near the end of a grow as it breaks down. It gives up Potassium and holds Mg.

Hey guys thanks for the help. now i not sure if i will use gh floranova or the 3 parts but you say 25% strenght will 25% of what. i may go with the 3 part since i dont use it in hyrdo any more and got plenty left. is it 25% less than what the bottle say to use? and if i use the 3 parts do i still add epson salt to or any thing else? and one more thing i think they need to make a newbee tutor teaching us basic stuff so we dont have to keep asking the same stuff over and over just some basic stuff

with a coco specific nutrient you don't need extra mg, even if you do, epsom salts is not the way to solve it in coco. the correct ph will insure that you have enough mg, correct means 5.8, if you feel it needs more mg, then lower the ph to 5.7 and add some cal mag if you must add something.

if you look at the top of the forum you will find sticky threads, in amongst them is a thread with different guides to growing in coco. reading hrough that lot will turn you into a coco grower. once you apply it, that is.

ok i got a nouter question what can i use to keep the coco from washing out the dains hole each time i try to rise it off it come poring out the drain holes i got tons of hyrdon will this keep it from running out

Ok a few things here..
First if you use the bricked coco RINSE it.. I use canna coco, and no rinse is necessary AT ALL... I understand that a few other brands are the same way I think sun leaves and Royal King?? anyways unless u hear otherwise or are using CANNA coco... u do have to rinse it pretty good to lower the salt level..

The post about 25% fert strength to "condition" the coco for seeds... BRILLIANT actually!!... also something like Rizotonic... a root enhance microbal doesn't hurt... My mistake with seeds was "adding" the fert to the virgin coco after the seedlings had developed a bit.. that put them at a disadvantage to the soil based ones...

About the Cal/mag.... PH 5.8 is RIGHT ON... obviously gaius.. is a coco grower or plays one on the internet pretty darn good...LOL.. I concur with his post whole heartedly.. You shouldn't have to do the cal/mag until 4wks into bud... if you have to at all.. then only once or twice strain dependant of course. But a GOOD coco fert and PH 5.8-6.2 will make u a happy gardener!!

As for the coco falling out the holes in the bottom... as long as ur hydrotron doesn't fall out ur should be fine... put about 1/2-1 inch on bottom of bucket..
PEACE
bb

bergerbuddy said:

Ok a few things here..
First if you use the bricked coco RINSE it.. I use canna coco, and no rinse is necessary AT ALL... I understand that a few other brands are the same way I think sun leaves and Royal King?? anyways unless u hear otherwise or are using CANNA coco... u do have to rinse it pretty good to lower the salt level..

The post about 25% fert strength to "condition" the coco for seeds... BRILLIANT actually!!... also something like Rizotonic... a root enhance microbal doesn't hurt... My mistake with seeds was "adding" the fert to the virgin coco after the seedlings had developed a bit.. that put them at a disadvantage to the soil based ones...

About the Cal/mag.... PH 5.8 is RIGHT ON... obviously gaius.. is a coco grower or plays one on the internet pretty darn good...LOL.. I concur with his post whole heartedly.. You shouldn't have to do the cal/mag until 4wks into bud... if you have to at all.. then only once or twice strain dependant of course. But a GOOD coco fert and PH 5.8-6.2 will make u a happy gardener!!

As for the coco falling out the holes in the bottom... as long as ur hydrotron doesn't fall out ur should be fine... put about 1/2-1 inch on bottom of bucket..
PEACE
bb

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i am still rising it. the frist rinse the ppm of the run off was 295ppm and after running a few gallon tru i got it down to 90 ppp my tab water has a ppm of 10-30
is this good anought or should i keep rising it.

as for ferts i will be using flora nova grow and bloom in till i can get the funds to get ferts made for coco, so not to worrie if flora nova will do well since i will be using bag seeds to get my feet wet on using coco, only problem i will have is checking my ph i ran out of the liquid tester and my hanna ph tester is out of wack but normaly when i mix fn bloom at 1 1/2 tbs per gallon i get a ph of around 5.8 or so now the grow its over 6.0 to 7.0

for the coco coming out of the pots i fixed that yesterday by adding hyrdon to the bottom of the pots.

now does any one know how to keep plants small using coco i would love to use this to keep mother in but not sure how to go about it.

bergerbuddy said:

Ok a few things here..
I use canna coco, and no rinse is necessary AT ALL... I understand that a few other brands are the same way I think sun leaves and Royal King??

Click to expand...

sunleaves definitely does need to be rinsed thoroughly....use an ec meter to test your runoff. if you don't have a meter.....rinse it 'til you think it's clean, then rinse it a few more times i was surprised how salty the sunleaves blocks were.


lots of great info here, coco forum taking off

great advice, this section is becoming pretty darn active, with more and more skilled coco growers helping folks get into it.

i love it

stevr59 said:

i am still rising it. the frist rinse the ppm of the run off was 295ppm and after running a few gallon tru i got it down to 90 ppp my tab water has a ppm of 10-30
is this good anought or should i keep rising it.

as for ferts i will be using flora nova grow and bloom in till i can get the funds to get ferts made for coco, so not to worrie if flora nova will do well since i will be using bag seeds to get my feet wet on using coco, only problem i will have is checking my ph i ran out of the liquid tester and my hanna ph tester is out of wack but normaly when i mix fn bloom at 1 1/2 tbs per gallon i get a ph of around 5.8 or so now the grow its over 6.0 to 7.0

for the coco coming out of the pots i fixed that yesterday by adding hyrdon to the bottom of the pots.

now does any one know how to keep plants small using coco i would love to use this to keep mother in but not sure how to go about it.

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Your coco sounds ready to use.... GOOD!!

As for keeping plants small... I do LOTS of trimming... seems to work the best... as ur mom gets to big... cut her back...

Peace