First grow, want to grow in coco.

[DrBagseed]

So people have been advicing me to use soil but i really want to try coco for my first grow.

If i decide to go coco i will use canna coco and there full nutrients line for coco, and i think i might need drip clean.
I will also use smart pots.
What more do i need? Ph up and down, can i use ph drops or do i need a meter?
If anyone could explain this and how hard it is vs soil it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dropped Cat]

I tried smart pots, but had better grows in hempy, plastic pots
with only one drain hole about 2" up from the bottom.

I've read very good results from the canna line. Good luck
with the methods you choose.

Oh, I use a simple ph kit, drops in a vial with a color gauge.

 

[Jnugg]

Being a soil grower for over 15 years I'll tell you like I did in your other thread...

Soil is a more forgiving growing media.This isn't to say that first time growers that choose coco coir don't have success,it's just not as forgiving as soil.

 

[DrBagseed]

I tried smart pots, but had better grows in hempy, plastic pots
with only one drain hole about 2" up from the bottom.

I've read very good results from the canna line. Good luck
with the methods you choose.

Oh, I use a simple ph kit, drops in a vial with a color gauge.

Were the results bad or just not as good when using smart pots? Its either them or normal square ones. :/

I've been told about the Lucas method but I think I will have more control with canna but I might be over thinking, i'm buying tomorrow so I really need to decide soon.

Sounds comforting that you only use a simple ph kit, do they read EC? I'm not quite sure what EC is but I see it mentioned along ph all the time.

Have a good night

 

[DrBagseed]

Being a soil grower for over 15 years I'll tell you like I did in your other thread...

Soil is a more forgiving growing media.This isn't to say that first time growers that choose coco coir don't have success,it's just not as forgiving as soil.

Yeah, it's probably true about soil being more forgiving, but with nutes on hand and help from icmag would you go for it?

I dont know man, I feel like I could pull it off but it would be a tragedy if everything got screwed up.

 

[wantaknow]

get the prepped coco ,or don't grow in coco at all ,go with super soil ,

 

[bushed]

So people have been advicing me to use soil but i really want to try coco for my first grow.

If i decide to go coco i will use canna coco and there full nutrients line for coco, and i think i might need drip clean.
I will also use smart pots.
What more do i need? Ph up and down, can i use ph drops or do i need a meter?
If anyone could explain this and how hard it is vs soil it would be greatly appreciated.

I use canna coco line and would recommend highly over a cheap alternative. Hand water so don't no about drip clean but have certainly read a a lot of people on here think its great for flush.

Don't no anything about smart pots.

I bought both but have never needed Ph up, down is essential. Dont need a fancy meter you can buy one for real cheap from you countries version of ebay.

​

I read that these were unreliable, Im guessing by people who spent $$$ on an expensive meter.

Keep the end in water at all times.

I only did my first grow in soil but I actually found coco more forgiving. Don't let it dry out, keep your ph in range and follow the guide on the canna website and you cant go to far wrong.

 

[Jnugg]

Check it out OP.

All various random bagseed from good dank grown in FFOF soil and lucas formula...

Thread is in my sig below titled "Jnugg Converts and Goes Vertical" read the whole thread and...pics don't lie!

 

[stoned40yrs]

So people have been advicing me to use soil but i really want to try coco for my first grow.

If i decide to go coco i will use canna coco and there full nutrients line for coco, and i think i might need drip clean.
I will also use smart pots.
What more do i need? Ph up and down, can i use ph drops or do i need a meter?
If anyone could explain this and how hard it is vs soil it would be greatly appreciated.

Too funny, the soil growers followed you over here and are trying to drag you back.
Resistance is futile
I did 50 grows in soil and I'm making the move to coco. Go with your gut feeling. After reading for months all the pages in this coco forum I see no way in hell that soil is more forgiving or easier than coco. You can't over water coco like you can in soil. You won't have to find a place to dump soil after a grow. I got sooo tired of nute lockouts in soil is the main reason I'm changing. Coco is hydro growing, soil is soil. Read read read in the coco forum. All the answers are in these pages.
Get a ph meter and also a drop tester so you can double check all feeds. Get a ppm meter also. PH up and down. I was going to use canna products until I read all the good reviews with just using GH Micro and Bloom 6-9 from rooted plant to finish. I'm also going to use blumats- check them out. I'm still a month away from my mother being big enough to get clones. No frikken way I'm going back to soil. I WILL learn coco Good luck!

 

[nukklehead]

Too funny, the soil growers followed you over here and are trying to drag you back.
Resistance is futile
I did 50 grows in soil and I'm making the move to coco. Go with your gut feeling. After reading for months all the pages in this coco forum I see no way in hell that soil is more forgiving or easier than coco. You can't over water coco like you can in soil. You won't have to find a place to dump soil after a grow. I got sooo tired of nute lockouts in soil is the main reason I'm changing. Coco is hydro growing, soil is soil. Read read read in the coco forum. All the answers are in these pages.
Get a ph meter and also a drop tester so you can double check all feeds. Get a ppm meter also. PH up and down. I was going to use canna products until I read all the good reviews with just using GH Micro and Bloom 6-9 from rooted plant to finish. I'm also going to use blumats- check them out. I'm still a month away from my mother being big enough to get clones. No frikken way I'm going back to soil. I WILL learn coco Good luck!

Im in the same boat with ya brother.. ran into same probs. as you..
dumping, over water, tired of lugging bags of soil up and down stairs, nute lockout, pests... getting too old for that..

so far so good with the above gh 6/9 profile..

have 6 babies in cups ready to hit the big sun in the ceiling
in hempys....

wish both of us luck on out new venture...

gonna do the 6/9 till i get more experience..

not using the blu mats though.. gonna be labor intensive
with hand watering 1st time around..

you sure you wanna throw in that variable ( blu mats)
1s time around???

good vibes and karma your way...


Nukklehead

 

[BlackBuds]

After starting over in Coco I am convinced that Coco in Hempy buckets and the K.I.S.S. formula is the best for any beginner in Coco or any medium period. IMO Veg + Bloom (Hydropinic Research) in RO and youre good to go. Way too simple and results are outstanding you will never want to change.

 

[RetroGrow]

After starting over in Coco I am convinced that Coco in Hempy buckets and the K.I.S.S. formula is the best for any beginner in Coco or any medium period. IMO Veg + Bloom (Hydropinic Research) in RO and youre good to go. Way too simple and results are outstanding you will never want to change.

I was just about to post almost the exact same thing. You cannot beat Canna coco in Hempy buckets and the K.I.S.S. method for foolproof simplicity and huge yields. Ditch the smart pots and get Hempy buckets. 2 gallons is all you will need, and they are cheap @ Home Depot.
Canna nutes are fine, but expensive and are 2 part. Maxibloom is cheap, one part, and gives me better results. Don't listen to the naysayers. Coco in Hempys is as simple as it gets, and blows away soil for yield. Read the K.I.S.S. thread, and the coco in hempy bucket thread. All you need:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=191645

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=147954

Oh yeah, tap water is fine with coco. RO water not necessary.
Almost forgot, do get Rhizotonic (Canna), or Roots Excelurator for explosive root growth, and add some silica to your solution.
In Hempy buckets, if you water/feed daily, growth will be more explosive, as this brings fresh oxygen to the roots. Water to runoff every day, and you will be amazed @ the results.

 

[Jnugg]

I am doing coco hempy's for the first time myself and having major nute lockout issues.

Soil is and always will be more forgiving.I can even pull in the older and most trusted heads on this site to tell you the same...hell a simple google search will tell you the same.

Nute lockout in soil?

Plain and simple...good soil like FFOF is ammended with everything you need for the plants first 30 days of lifd,and is ammended with lime as a pH buffer (pHing your plain water or nute solution is not needed thanks to the natural pH buffering of the lime).

Of course as I've said before,it's not like new first time growers haven't had success starting with coco,but soil is more forgiving.

Either way you go (soil or coco) I could care less...I'd just hate to see your first grow have lots of problems and possibly fail...especially after spending all the money you already have spent.

With coco you must pH any.plain water or nute solution to 5.8 to 6.2 (best to aim for 5.8 because as the plant feeds,EC drops and pH rises,making sure the plants get all the macro's and Micro's available that are best taken up in certain pH ranges.

You can listen to people that have been here for years with no post count,or people who don'tshow their grows.

I'll get DHF and others in here for ya's OP.

They'll agree that for a beginner,soil would be the preffered growing media because of it's ease and forgiveness.

While I'm getting them,just check my pics in my vert grow below.

Cough bud...my buds were smooth as can be.

 

[DabOnDabs]

I was just about to post almost the exact same thing. You cannot beat Canna coco in Hempy buckets and the K.I.S.S. method for foolproof simplicity and huge yields. Ditch the smart pots and get Hempy buckets. 2 gallons is all you will need, and they are cheap @ Home Depot.
Canna nutes are fine, but expensive and are 2 part. Maxibloom is cheap, one part, and gives me better results. Don't listen to the naysayers. Coco in Hempys is as simple as it gets, and blows away soil for yield. Read the K.I.S.S. thread, and the coco in hempy bucket thread. All you need:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=191645

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=147954

Oh yeah, tap water is fine with coco. RO water not necessary.
Almost forgot, do get Rhizotonic (Canna), or Roots Excelurator for explosive root growth, and add some silica to your solution.
In Hempy buckets, if you water/feed daily, growth will be more explosive, as this brings fresh oxygen to the roots. Water to runoff every day, and you will be amazed @ the results.

The New roots excel is horrible. go with another product

 

[DabOnDabs]

I am doing coco hempy's for the first time myself and having major nute lockout issues.

Soil is and always will be more forgiving.I can even pull in the older and most trusted heads on this site to tell you the same...hell a simple google search will tell you the same.

Nute lockout in soil?

Plain and simple...good soil like FFOF is ammended with everything you need for the plants first 30 days of lifd,and is ammended with lime as a pH buffer (pHing your plain water or nute solution is not needed thanks to the natural pH buffering of the lime).

Of course as I've said before,it's not like new first time growers haven't had success starting with coco,but soil is more forgiving.

Either way you go (soil or coco) I could care less...I'd just hate to see your first grow have lots of problems and possibly fail...especially after spending all the money you already have spent.

With coco you must pH any.plain water or nute solution to 5.8 to 6.2 (best to aim for 5.8 because as the plant feeds,EC drops and pH rises,making sure the plants get all the macro's and Micro's available that are best taken up in certain pH ranges.

You can listen to people that have been here for years with no post count,or people who don'tshow their grows.

I'll get DHF and others in here for ya's OP.

They'll agree that for a beginner,soil would be the preffered growing media because of it's ease and forgiveness.

While I'm getting them,just check my pics in my vert grow below.

Cough bud...my buds were smooth as can be.

If you can follow directions, there is no reason why you cant be rocking coco for your first grow. Soil has its own problems also, and must be used right in order to have anything i would consider organic....And if i werent growing organic, I wouldnt use soil

 

[papaduc]

Yeah, it's probably true about soil being more forgiving, but with nutes on hand and help from icmag would you go for it?

I dont know man, I feel like I could pull it off but it would be a tragedy if everything got screwed up.

Listen, I'll give you one guarantee: Follow the basic steps I lay down and you won't have a problem growing in coco from the very start.

Provided you follow the right practice, growing in coco is no more difficult than growing in soil. Soil can be overfed, over watered, under watered.. vary batch to batch..

It's very rare people have problems in coco that aren't of their own making, whether it be because they chose a bad/cheap coco, over or under fed it, etc

1. Buy a good quality coco like canna.
That's your 1st and most important rule. Just like buying a good quality compost, everything else is secondary.

2. Buy an EC and Ph pen. The yellow Ph one that the fella posted on the first page is good and costs in the region of 10$. You can get 2 for that price.

3. Find out if your tap water is soft or hard.

4. Forget nutrient lines. If you really want to avoid problems and have great results in coco from the get go, use one bottle of base veg feed for the growth stage. Maxigrow is a good one, so is floranova grow. That's all you ever need. If you want to add anything in future, do it then.

5. Feed from the beginning at 0.8ec on top of your tap water ec.
Use plain water to pop the seeds, then when they've shed their shell and put out two little leaves, start feeding.

6. start a thread or post in this one so people can see how you're getting on.

 

[DrBagseed]

I would like to thank everyone for they're replies, it has been a lot of help for me when choosing medium.

My shopping list: (please tell me if I need to add anything)

*Canna coco
*GH floramicro & florabloom.
*Ph down
*Ph drop tester (Ph-meter will be bought as soon as I can afford, or I might order one from ebay in the next couple of days)
*
* Smart pots (hempy bucket not available for me)

I have everything in my cart now, so I will wait 20-30 min to see if anyone chimes in before I confirm the order.

Listen, I'll give you one guarantee: Follow the basic steps I lay down and you won't have a problem growing in coco from the very start.

Provided you follow the right practice, growing in coco is no more difficult than growing in soil. Soil can be overfed, over watered, under watered.. vary batch to batch..

It's very rare people have problems in coco that aren't of their own making, whether it be because they chose a bad/cheap coco, over or under fed it, etc

1. Buy a good quality coco like canna.
That's your 1st and most important rule. Just like buying a good quality compost, everything else is secondary.

2. Buy an EC and Ph pen. The yellow Ph one that the fella posted on the first page is good and costs in the region of 10$. You can get 2 for that price.

3. Find out if your tap water is soft or hard.

4. Forget nutrient lines. If you really want to avoid problems and have great results in coco from the get go, use one bottle of base veg feed for the growth stage. Maxigrow is a good one, so is floranova grow. That's all you ever need. If you want to add anything in future, do it then.

5. Feed from the beginning at 0.8ec on top of your tap water ec.
Use plain water to pop the seeds, then when they've shed their shell and put out two little leaves, start feeding.

6. start a thread or post in this one so people can see how you're getting on.

Thanks for easy to follow guidelines. I am able to get the floranova grow but cant seem to find much personal experiences with it, should I just go for the GH floramicro/florabloom? I'm about to confirm my order.

 

[DrBagseed]

I am doing coco hempy's for the first time myself and having major nute lockout issues.

Soil is and always will be more forgiving.I can even pull in the older and most trusted heads on this site to tell you the same...hell a simple google search will tell you the same.

Nute lockout in soil?

Plain and simple...good soil like FFOF is ammended with everything you need for the plants first 30 days of lifd,and is ammended with lime as a pH buffer (pHing your plain water or nute solution is not needed thanks to the natural pH buffering of the lime).

Of course as I've said before,it's not like new first time growers haven't had success starting with coco,but soil is more forgiving.

Either way you go (soil or coco) I could care less...I'd just hate to see your first grow have lots of problems and possibly fail...especially after spending all the money you already have spent.

With coco you must pH any.plain water or nute solution to 5.8 to 6.2 (best to aim for 5.8 because as the plant feeds,EC drops and pH rises,making sure the plants get all the macro's and Micro's available that are best taken up in certain pH ranges.

You can listen to people that have been here for years with no post count,or people who don'tshow their grows.

I'll get DHF and others in here for ya's OP.

They'll agree that for a beginner,soil would be the preffered growing media because of it's ease and forgiveness.

While I'm getting them,just check my pics in my vert grow below.

Cough bud...my buds were smooth as can be.

Your grow looks good, I would be happy with the results, I can imagine they would be even fatter in coco.

As for your coco grow, do you have any idea as to why you are having problems right now with nute lockout? Seems to me after reading a bit that with coco, if you know what the problem is you can easily fix it.

I feel like im getting mixed answers, you kinda make me want to go for soil, but others make me want to go coco. I think im just gonna go for coco as that is what I want the most right now.

Have you heard about drip clean? Would that maybe help against nute lockout if used with every watering? Watering by hand.

 

[stoned40yrs]

I feel like im getting mixed answers, you kinda make me want to go for soil, but others make me want to go coco. I think im just gonna go for coco as that is what I want the most right now.

The mixed answers aren't going to stop, Marijuana is the cockroach of the plant world. It grows and survives under millions of different conditions Thousands of mentors on here that can lead you down the path to a successful grow using their methods and recipes. I'm no mentor and I'm starting out new in coco also. Have fun and good luck!

 

[DHF]

Your grow looks good, I would be happy with the results, I can imagine they would be even fatter in coco.

As for your coco grow, do you have any idea as to why you are having problems right now with nute lockout? Seems to me after reading a bit that with coco, if you know what the problem is you can easily fix it.

I feel like im getting mixed answers, you kinda make me want to go for soil, but others make me want to go coco. I think im just gonna go for coco as that is what I want the most right now.

Have you heard about drip clean? Would that maybe help against nute lockout if used with every watering? Watering by hand.

If you`re determined to start out with coco , then filter my posts in HGO/Hundred Gram Oz`s thread here , and the post I made in Jnugg`s thread plus the 1 I made in 5th`s thread(coir or husk) couple days ago....and then....since it`s your first run ....

Forget about all the cheap shit or compressed bales and buy the pre-charged/washed and buffered expensive ass Canna fluffed and bagged PLUS their nutrient line , and keep ppm`s/ec low across the board...and yes....

Dripclean @ 1ml per gal from beginning to end of grow is excellent insurance against residual salt buildup , plus no additives just the base nutes till you have couple successful runs , and then down the road....

SM-90 as an innoculant in the medium to prevent rootborn larvae IF there is any from hatching , as well as Botanicare`s "silicablast" @ 5ml per gal for overall plant health and stemwall strength with bigger plants.....and lastly....

I assure you Jnugg`s only trying to help since coco IS a finicky bitch till dialed , but if yas use the expensive shit and learn what to look for as you get used to said medium , you should be good to go....

Trying coco for the first time using ANY product other than as stated above , most likely will put yas in the same boat as Jnugg and 5th with deficiencies , toxicities , PH lockouts and imbalances with crop death right around the corner unless figured out and remedied , and you`ll be wishin you listened to him and went with promix or other soil setups to get a few runs finished......and for the record...

Coco is a "soiless" medium with hydro-like results once yas get environment , watts per sq ft , and strains dialed in , but it ain`t gonna drop in your lap....takes time and runs under yer belt guaranteed....anyways....

Good luck....DHF........