Do You Re-use your Coco?

[Tony Danza]

I've recently worked through my first big brick and started mixing the old in with the new. Thinking I was just being frugal and eco-friendly, I was shocked to the most aggressive root production I've ever seen. Upon transplant from a stopgap half gallon pot to a full gallon, I saw not one peice of dirt through the mass of 1/8th inch furry roots that coated the rootball and this was after only two weeks in that pot! So If you havent given it a try, and don't mind breaking up some root balls, you should give it a shot. Just make sure the old plant was well flushed and get as much of the old root out as you can and proceed as usual. I wait until the balls are dried out and break them up over a 1/2" steel mesh, this gets most of the old roots.(thanks to H3ad for that tech)

 

[jocat]

hey T, i have a bunch of used coco in a pile out back and i don't see any thing about it that looks bad, i have reused some of it when fresh was difficult to obtain but for me and my fucked up back it's just to much work to seperate the root balls and pieces. so i buy bagged coco from a store, lately it's been atami, ive used canna and bio bizz brands in the past, imo no different. saves money to reuse, just gotta do the work to clean it up. so long story short, no, but......jc

 

[evilunclephil]

Happy to see that most seem to do the same as me, I feel a little safer reusing now. I usually just dump the used coco out of the pots into a rubbermade or something, mix in some hydroton if I need a little more volume, take out the main root balls and biggest chunks of roots that I can find, do a presoak in a 5ml/g calmag+ solution, then refill the pots and I'm good to go. I've got some plants on their 4th run through of some coco that is lookin pretty worked, and some on it's 2nd time through, both plants look healthy, and seem to grow at the same rate.

 

[charlesweedmore]

coco is very economic

 

[BobbleheadJed]

I'm not voting in the poll but I an interested in the results. I have not re-used coco, but I have used coco I saved that I could re-use. Was going to use it in the garden and yard this spring, but maybe not now.

How much of the roots can you leave in there? Seems like it would take days to get them all out.

 

[been]

I have problems finding cheap ways to store it all.

 

[guest5703]

looks like I should reuse....

 

[BobbleheadJed]

I have problems finding cheap ways to store it all.

Then I guess you aren't buying kitty litter in 4 gallon buckets. :kitty:
And an excuse to use that smiley.

A few big plastic rubbermaid like tubs will hold tens and tens of gallons for less than $20 I bet. One idea.

 

[Greyskull]

cocos cheap and I don't really feel like taking the time to pull out the root balls and other root mass & treat it with enzymes or whatever else.... even if nothing is needed to be mixed in I don't want to take the time. I have other things to do....

its so much easier for me to dump the old pots into the compost pile and open up a new bag when i need it.

time is money to me.

 

[The Slickster]

It's perfect for reuse as long as it gets a good rinsing, you don't have to get all the roots out. As long as the previous grow had no pests or related problems, it is actually teeming with a matured bio-culture even if you just grow semi-organically, and has potential to advance a young transplant even better than new coco as the substrate is already alive. Like to add sterilized and rinsed peat into the mix as well as rinsed perlite for aereation. Coco can be reused at least once if not twice to three times a lady, to save substrate.

 

[Blacksunempire]

420

 

[Blacksunempire]

woops, i always break it down to see what the root mass looks like, look for root rot, fungus, bugs! and just get a general idea of what the fuck the roots look like each run. I spend upto 3 months worrying about what the roots want every day, it's nice to catch up with them and see how they went on. Maybe they will thank me for all the bucketloads of rainwater I carry each couple of days. (i'm sure Run To Waste setups are not classified as waterwise!)

So to answer your question;

Yes I break the roots up out of the coco after each grow and do have a good look at the legs on it..

No I don't reuse the coco, I got better things to do... but if i was forced to i guess i'd flush it with heaps of rainwater and let it dry loose in the sun. rehydrate with a very weak soulution of grow nutes and rhizotonic ph'd and pop in a sealable lid container until your girls need it.. IMHO it would kill any bad bacteria that may build up in the pots and flush out any salts. I definately would look for root rot or even just a bad smell and discard the whole pot if there is any sign.

 

[bobblehead]

Used coco is already colonized with beneficial bacteria... why throw it out? I put all my used coco in rubbermaids to dry out, and when I need it, I break it up, and reuse...

 

[raygun]

how long do most of you let your coco sit before reuse? I remember someone on here that was using coco slabs and would just cut out the old plant and stick a new one in its place and go on that way. Re-used that 2-3 times before they changed I think.

I personally like to let the coco sit for at least 3 months before re-use but recently I have not been able to do that. I am actually using the same coco I purchased close to two years ago. I probably recycled it 2-3 times before I took a year hiatus and am now back to using it again but probably for its last couple of times. A total recycle use of probably 6+ times. I've had to add perlite to it for these last few plants as I needed more volume and finding coco where I live is a little difficult and I am wary of ordering online...

I probably would never throw out the coco if I had a supply to add to it. Some coco chips every now and then for more aeration and added volume. Those should also break down to coir after time. And once in a while use fresh coco for new plants to be added to your recycling bin when done along with removing some of the old coco every now and then as well. Much like keeping an active culture of anything, fish tank, yeast, sour dough bread, my reservoir.

 

[MrDank]

how do you guys keep your ph stable with your re-used coco? I am finding a run-off of 4-5 with my reused coco, and my plants are suffering calcium lock-out

any ideas how to keep the ph stable when you re-use coco?

 

[raygun]

^^^MrD this is a good subject. I actually run in to this as well. What I have done with my set up is since I have a separate rez I use to top off my flower rez, I just keep that pH'd to adjust for the fall. So my add back H2O is pH'd about 6.5. It will get added in every time my plants get watered as it is connected to an auto topper. All I ever need to do is keep the pre-rez dialed in for pH adjustments, top it off every now and then and away we go. Lucky me I have well water now and its 6.0-6.5pH and .2 ec out of the hose

I also use that pre-rez as a benifitial bacterica brewery. I am just experimenting with this now but in the past would put hygrozyme in the pre-rez to "season" the top off water.

 

[Tony Danza]

Thanks for the responses, on thing I forgot to mention, you want to keep your eye open for gnats, or add a little gnatrol to keep the coco unfriendly to gnat larva.

Greyskul,
You make a good point, I'm never running more than ten plants at a time and one 5k brick lasts me 6 months without reusing, so I took half an hour to break rootballs and I'm good for 6 more months. If I was running tables, I'd probably have a big ass compost pile myself. Someday the oppression will end and you'll be able to give your neighbors kid 10 bucks to do it for you.

Black sun,
you should try breaking up a root ball from used coco sometime, you might change your mind. No extra flushing needed, when you flush the plant, you are flushing the media.

Ray gun,
I don't have a set time for letting it sit, I just let it dry out completely, at which point it is easy to break up.

Bobble head,
You're right about that, used coco=free rhizotonic. Re-using coco as an economic/environmental issue is one thing, the fact that it can be a better medium than new stuff is a cherry on top (or the ice cream itself with the eco issues being the cherry).

I'm surprised so few people run a mix of both.

 

[Greyskull]

fuck dude i just realized i sound like a bitter old man fuck!
i apologize if i seemed crass folks....


keep up the great discussion!

 

[Tony Danza]

No apologies needed skull. I get not wanting one more thing on the garden to do list, I think the labor involved in even running a small grow is greatly underestimated. I did the math once and realized that at 400w if I just spent my garden time at work, I could just buy the weed. Of course, I have a good job, and good weed is cheap here. But work sucks and growing is awesome--so that's the end of that equation.

Tangent:

Have your tags always all been Tool lyrics? It's odd seeing something you have heard a thousand times in written form, It's a weird doubletake. They are, after all, god's gift to people with ears. The thinking mans metal, or Pink Floyd with and anger management issue, if you will. (Floyd being the other gift to the hearing public).

 

[the hollow]

I've gone through about 10 harvest with the same Coco. If you use bat guano, it seems to get better with every harvest. The used guano gets mixed in with the Coco.

The flavor just gets better with every harvest.