[OrientalSplash]

I have access to plenty of cheap coconuts. Is it hard to shred the coir off yourself? Does it have to be done by machine? I will find out myself in the morning but was just curious if any of you had gave making your own coir a try.

I read about the hempy bucket and it seems to be a logical choice for my first indoor grow. Has anyone tried combining it with coco coir yet?

[PistilPete]

I have absolutely no idea how difficult it would be to make your own coir, but it seems like alot of effort. They would need to be flushed of the natural salts and broken down into useable chunks.
However, i do run coco hempys, and i can say that i love them. The growth rates and overall health of the plants are amazing. I just put a few inches of perlite on the bottom of the container, punch my drain hole, then fill the rest of the container with a mix of coir and about 25% perlite. I feed full strength nutes with every watering. At first they need to be watered almost every day, then when they get their roots established they go 2-4 days between waterings.
Try out a hempy or 2 on your next run and see if you like them. Good luck.

[The End Is Near]

I'd imagine you'd need some kind of shredder or machine specifically designed to make coco(they make and sell these apparently). As for coco hempys, I've used them with good results. I added perlite not just to the reservoir but cut the coco with it since Mr Bongjangles I think did a comparison and found cut coco to yield a bit better. Problem is they don't seem to be doing any differently from the non coco hempys (I water everyday for both hempys and normal pots until a bit of runoff). There IS salt buildup, but only a little as my hempys never even got burnt tips. Runoff ppm would come out at over 700 when it came in 350-550(mid flower and veg-flower strengths, respectively.

[Stond_Face]

I tried coco in my hempys. It did not work out for me. It was just too wet. I thing it need alot of perlite

[Lowman]

Originally Posted by Stond_Face

I tried coco in my hempys. It did not work out for me. It was just too wet. I thing it need alot of perlite

There are different grades of coco as well. Some of the coir's out there are like dust. They do tend to get waterlogged. Try mixing yours with coco chips or croutons. You can also try mixing with perlite which will help as well.

[motaloca]

all i can tell you that cutting it by hand is a pain in the ass. i did it for 3 hours and had almost nothing after.
good luck

[ScrubNinja]

I'm trying a variation of hempy that I came up with spontaneously while looking for something to level my pot. I used perlite. Then I realised I had a hempy thing going on and thought up the hole/hose.



I haven't attached the drainage hose yet, just been using a turkey baster to suck it all out at this stage (right to the bottom) until the root mass is developed down there. It's a Smart pot (breathable fabric air-pruning pot, roots can penetrate fine) with straight coco. Hope it works.

[Lowman]

Originally Posted by ScrubNinja

I'm trying a variation of hempy that I came up with spontaneously while looking for something to level my pot. I used perlite. Then I realised I had a hempy thing going on and thought up the hole/hose.



I haven't attached the drainage hose yet, just been using a turkey baster to suck it all out at this stage (right to the bottom) until the root mass is developed down there. It's a Smart pot (breathable fabric air-pruning pot, roots can penetrate fine) with straight coco. Hope it works.

I'm a little confused...but intrigued. Maybe I need to research smart pots.

[OrientalSplash]

Scrub I like your concept. A breathable pot sounds like a novel idea. Did you think it up? It seems it wouldn't complicate the grow any and perhaps could add benefits.

The coco coir may be out of the picture for me though. I seriously doubt I'd be able to find it in these parts unless it has functional uses that are common and cutting it up seems quite unrealistic. I'll have to look around and see what's to find.

[ScrubNinja]

Thanks dude. Well, originally I was going to just have the smart pot sitting on the floor of the basin thing. Then I decided to tilt the basin so I could collect the runoff easily. Then I had to prop the pot back to level and couldn't find a single suitable thing so I used perlite. Then I stood back and realised it was a pretty cool passive hydro system I've never grown hempy or passive and don't have a clue what to do

Man, once you experience coco, you become adept at sniffing it out like a junky. I found some in the regular old gardening section of a major hardware store, some more in an agricultural store, and also saw some kickass pics of a grow using reptile bedding coco (pet store). It's always risky using those types though. Me personally I would order some good stuff online and get it shipped if I couldn't get to a hydro store. Canna is the best I've used and worth whatever you have to pay, remembering that you can reuse it. I've been using Cocotek for a while now though. Best of luck.

Lowman, there is a new thread on the main Grower's forum at the moment for smart pots and air pots. Well worth a try because canna will always prefer an aerobic environment over an anaerobic environment. This is the first time using a full blown smart pot but I don't use regular pots at all anymore for a while now. I start in jiffies (basically a mini smart pot), and then use regular pots with holes poked in them, or net pots. It really helps fix a common problem of soggy anaerobic coco.