COCO + PERLITE vs SOIL the question

[jondamon]

wheres youre water from tap or well?

Comes out of the tap at 0.2EC.


I don't even let chlorine evaporate these days.

Bubbling an air stone in theory does oxygenate the water if left to stand.

However air diffusers are a better way as they create micro bubbles.





J

 

[radicaldank42]

that's what im full of. I wouldn't give you information that would make you fail.also try tying them down with some plant tie or some string

 

[radicaldank42]

I have a six watt air pump that bubbles three 1 gal jugs. all with o2 cylinder stones. which those stones are better then any othjer airstone

 

[jondamon]

I have a six watt air pump that bubbles three 1 gal jugs. all with o2 cylinder stones. which those stones are better then any othjer airstone

IMO unless you're in hydro your soil/coco should have all the aeration they'll need even more so when adding things like perlite.

I use an. 80/20 coco to perlite mixture.

Depending upon the grade of coco being used will determine what % I use in perlite but these days I always use perlite in my coco.



J

 

[radicaldank42]

mine is a lil more I wanna say mines like 30% perlite rest in coc and other amendments

 

[jondamon]

mine is a lil more I wanna say mines like 30% perlite rest in coc and other amendments

I've been as high as a 50/50 but I didn't didn't like labour of it as it required twice daily watering once fully into flower.



J

 

[radicaldank42]

I only grow for me. So the laboris small.

 

[jondamon]

I only grow for me. So the laboris small.

I only grow for myself. Lol.

I generally grow 4 plants under 400w.

Last 3 harvest weights 379g, 427g, 439g.

I'm more about KISS these days than ever before.

I water every 2 days.


Twice a day was a PITA!



J

 

[Dr. Who]

first off! coco is bettern then soil, all these people are rite. they already covered everything I was gonna say.

That's a pretty closed minded statement!!!!
If it works for YOU then it's good.....for you!

I've done this a LONG time and I still like soil the best. If your a beginner,,, Then soil is going to be more forgiving and easier to master. Less work and less needed supplementation. BUT, as with ANY form of growing. Choosing the proper base material and treating it properly, with the proper feeding and monitoring along with gaining as much for knowledge as you can in the method you choose, will,,,in the long run,,,go a long way to reduce the chance of problems......There is always a learning curve, but learning about what your doing ahead of time makes that "curve" shorter.

I would never say that Coco is better then soil...Maybe in speed, maybe in overall yield weight.....But that's all and the difference is not enough to make me go back!

Jond knows coco! Follow his advice!

 

[Squidbilly]

coco/perlite needs to be fed everyday and watered untill a decent amount.of runoff is acheived. It would prefer to be watered with full strength multiple times per day. if your letting coco get dry at all your going to run into issues

 

[Squidbilly]

its preference but its comparing hydro to soil. hydro will always out perform soil as far as vigor and overall growth go.

 

[Sativied]

The most common causes of death for beginners are drowning and over-fertilizing the medium, in both cases coco is more 'forgiving' than soil (coco doesn't pack together as much, excessive nutrients can be leached much easier without drowning the plant/soil). Soil belongs outdoors with the worms, the fish, death matter and beneficial microbes and not in pots, unless you for whatever reason prefer organic. The typical comment of soil being easier, more forgiving etc for beginners is (no longer) true, a mere cliche left over from the early days of hydro.

I prefer medium-less over any soil-less though, even simpler, even more kiss. There's no need for a 'medium' when you provide nutrients 'directly' (as long as you take care of the mechanical support factor).

 

[jondamon]

coco/perlite needs to be fed everyday and watered untill a decent amount.of runoff is acheived. It would prefer to be watered with full strength multiple times per day. if your letting coco get dry at all your going to run into issues

Not strictly true.

Coco should be allowed a wet/dry cycle.

However I'm not saying that you should allow it to dry out completely.

Have a look around the canna website about growing in coco in their FAQ section.

They recommend a wet dry cycle and something that a lot of folks don't know is that the perfect rootzone EC for coco is 1.3.

This does not mean though that you should feed at 1.3.

The only way of knowing the rootzone EC is by using the 1:1.5 extraction test.



J

 

[jondamon]

Coco allowed to dry out excessively plays havock with pH and K uptake. Generally causing K to become toxic.



J

 

[*BUDS]

You have not fed the coco enough or the right nutes. Try canna terra pro and feed canna terra vega every watering full strength as says on the label. Not a fair comparison. The coco is much better than any soil.

 

[radicaldank42]

Coco allowed to dry out excessively plays havock with pH and K uptake. Generally causing K to become toxic.



J

I have never had that problem. I let my coir dry out and allow my thirsty light to tell me when to water which is about every three days. And no plants don't like to be fed every watering, to much food. They actually like it better in my opinion if you use 1/4 of the strength the label says to use.

 

[radicaldank42]

I only grow for myself. Lol.

I generally grow 4 plants under 400w.

Last 3 harvest weights 379g, 427g, 439g.

I'm more about KISS these days than ever before.

I grow four as well in a 5x5 gorilla tent. 400 watts in vegg 660 watts in flower. Gotta love switchable ballasts
I water every 2 days.


Twice a day was a PITA!



J

 

[Dr. Who]

its preference but its comparing hydro to soil. hydro will always out perform soil as far as vigor and overall growth go.

Dems book learn'en words!
Not exactly true. I can in my soil grows mimic almost exactly the same yield potential as hydro...Vigor? Not the right word as there IS no difference in "vigor" (health) between media's
Speed of start to finish IS something I can NOT mimic in soil.....soil flat out takes longer. An "8 week" plant takes almost those 8 weeks in hydro (a bit longer can increase overall quality). In soil, more like 10.
In soil, I find my finished product as more flavorful. I have tried for years to express the flavor potential of hydro to match soil....I can get "fairly" close, but alas, I can not copy it.

I still do a fair amount of hydro. I run DWC in the colder months for testing and for fun....I also run SOG ebb & flow's in rockwool ( I simply can't justify equipment, no matter how old , simply sitting around and not being employed).

This is not a post to derail your statement Squid.....Keep in mind that it took lots and lots of trial and error to achieve the "almost" equalibrity.....Sometimes "book words" or printed statements tend to change in reality,,,,but the print, doesn't.

 

[resinousflowers420]

first off! coco is bettern then soil, all these people are rite. they already covered everything I was gonna say.

gold label special mix soil,performs as good as coco,because of its structure,it very similiar to coco,but you treat it like soil.

 

[Dunbar Santiago]

I have never had that problem. I let my coir dry out and allow my thirsty light to tell me when to water which is about every three days. And no plants don't like to be fed every watering, to much food. They actually like it better in my opinion if you use 1/4 of the strength the label says to use.

Negative. Coco needs to stay moist, and you should feed every watering like it has already been said. In fact one or two waterings a day is ideal. Unless you're using a big container. If so, you're doing it wrong. And you can't give fertilizer dosage recommendations when you don't know what fertilizer anyone is using. It's not all equal buddy. You can't say 1/4 strength if you don't know what ppm it comes out as.