what makes coco so great, is it the ammount of air that gets to the roots, minerals in the stuff what? I'm curious I don't know much about coco but I like sphagnum moss, I would think its kinda the same but I've never used coco, can someone or a bunch of you coco growers please explain why its great?

Air to water is higher, even though it holds more water than peat. Peat breaks down acidic over time and is therefore troublesome to reuse. Coco is 100% renewable, peat is not. Roots grow faster through it than peat. The list goes on.

I tell you what, do like I did, just try it. Just once. Coco in place of the peat moss you normally use. You don't even have to use 100% coco to try it. Just split the difference once to see how your babies do. Trust me.

[Ono Nadagin]

Originally Posted by I.M. Boggled

The following is digested from the book
"Integral Hydroponics".
.............................. .............................. ..

COCO COIR
is a product derived from the husks of the coconut.
Visually it looks like peat.

It's air capacity is about 30%.

Coir is most suited as a run to waste medium.

Coir can become saturated and it is not truly inert medium.
This means that the nutrient will change over a short period (due to the nutrient collecting micro and macro elements as it passes through the coir.

Coir tends to release potassium and to withold calcium.
For this reason it is desirable to use a nutrient that is blended specifically for coir.

Coir has a remarkable capacity to protect the plants root system in times of heat.

It also tends to promote vigorous and healthy root development.

Plant growth tends to be very consistant with coir.
Coir is very tolerant of over and under watering, which makes it a very forgiving growing medium.

Coir has a very strong cation exchange ability, which means it can hold and release nutrient elements based on the plants needs.

Coir tends to retain nutrient salts. because of this, less nutrient (lower ec) is required.

On a less positive note, coir can also contain high levels of sodium (salt).
...
If your growing in coir be aware that this can be a potential problem.

Either purchase a pre-flushed coir product or flush ph (5.5-6.0) stabilised water through the coir prior to use.
Measure the ec of the water and then measure the ec of the run off.
When they are the same, it is ready for use.

Large amounts of potassium are naturally present in coir.

Potassium competes with calcium and magnesium... buffering and plant nutrition needs to compensate for this!!

For this reason there are several nutrients that are specifically formulated with the coco coir's unique characteristics in mind.

By using a nutrient specifically formulated for the coir based system, you are ensuring that your plants are receiving the best possible nutritient package.


[As coco gets old it breaks down and releases P and K.
That's why the coco nutrients are lower in P and K, to allow for the additional nutrients released by the medium.
In the early stages the coco is inert and therefore a "standard" grow formula works well.
As you enter flower that is why It is usually strongly suggested that one purchase and use a Coco specific nutrient formula. (for best possible results.)

A run to waste "runoff" of 10-20% of the volume watered each watering is the most common and usual type recommendation to avoid the possibility with salt(s) build-up in the coco media.

I couldnt have said it better... I think that hits the highlights

[jojajico]

Originally Posted by Ono Nadagin

I couldnt have said it better... I think that hits the highlights

awesome post. how long does it take for cooc to start realasing its p and K? i dont want to use chem coco nutes but to grow organic with amendments (worm casting guano). then tailor my feeding to compensate for the mediums charecterisitcs. im thinking that because ill be using organics it doesnt have to be exact as its hard to nutreint burn with organics.

[gaiusmarius]

typical I.M. Boggled post. right to the point. thanks for that Ono Nadagin.

in the end it's not that coco is better in every way, it's more an all round combination of atributes that make it ideal for our purposes.

you can get higher yields with aeroponics, but not over the whole year. aeroponic systems are failliur prone and make getting the yield dependant on a perfect run. coco on the other hand is the opposite, very forgiving of human error and natural climatic changes.

for me one of the main advantages is the simplicity, the coco does all the work for you. just keep the coco fed with the coco petrol A+B and the coco does the rest, making sure your plants are always provided with what they need, as long as you don't get it too far wrong the coco will forgive, lol. in fact it's easy to do damage to your plants by adding too much other stuff and causing an imbalance in the coco.

your question can't be answered fully by me off the bat in this one post. to really find out about all aspects of coco you should read through all the sticky threads. the guide thread has some great links to articles on coco too.

but the simple answer is that its the best of both worlds, hydroponic growth rates and yields, while maintaining basic grow setup simplicity and achieving superb tasteing product due to the way the coco is highly alive and involved in changing the nutrients to the right form for the plants health. the way the beneficial bacteria prosper in coco is another strong point, which adds to the quality of the end product.

the only real disadvantage is the salt build up, but that is easy to deal with if one is aware of it.

Thanks for explaining it a little guys, its much appreciated.

Gaius, to me coco growing sounds alot like growing in sphagnum moss you get lots of air, you can run a hydro steup in pots as if it were dirt, the salt buildup, ect.

I'm not totally sold on the coco idea yet, for a few reasons, the coco is kinda pircy isnt it? The sphagnum moss is cheap at like $5.00 for a square yard compresses, that will probably fill 15-20, one gallon pots if not more.

I will do more reading about coco though but to me they sound one in the same, seems like the only difference in the two is the size of the matter, sphagnum moss releases some type of nutrients also, I forget what though.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Ono Nadagin]

coco is not that cheap unfortunatly 50 litre bags of loose coco cost about $25 ... thats what about 13 1gallon pots worth.. but it can be used several times

[baryl89]

In Poland(In Europe) 70l bags(ceres international)=8$

I really don't see the difference in coco vs. sphagnum moss, it seems one i the same, one of the coco growers should do a coco vs sphagnum moss grow if they come out even I would dump the expensive coco and go to the sphagnum moss,

Sphagnum is the type of moss that peat is formed from, sphagnum is unbroken down peat when you buy the moss there is usually a little peat in with the moss and I also grind down some of the sphagnum moss to help it retain water.

Does anyone have problems keeping the roots warm with coco? the problem with growing this way to me is that the roots get colder than they would like and in turn slows down the growth and over all production.

[Burt]

i got on a coco kick last week and bought some Botanicare brand coco-it's flushed already but i flushed it just to be on the safe side-the plants are diggin it so far and i'll probably do a whole hybrid DWC-wick/coir organic grow this spring under the 600
i haven't noticed any cal/mag deficiencies yet but have been adding a 1/2 TSP of cal mag per gallon as a precaution my treasured bubble gum which i transplanted after 2 weeks of 12/12 is going real strong in the coco right now