papa canna
Well-Known Member
Im switching my medium to sunshine advanced #4, is there anything I should amend the medium with? I read a little bit about people adding dolomite but I'm pretty sure it already has some in it. Thoughts?
switching from soil to coco, amendments?
- Thread starter papa canna
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papa canna
Well-Known Member
Anyone?
a mongo frog
Well-Known Member
Some are adding extra pertalite. You can search for the percentage. Not sure what you mean by switching from soil to coco though?
papa canna
Well-Known Member
From soil to sunshine advance 4. If I recall it's a peat and coco mix that doesn't contain actual soil. Its also very light on mixed in nutrients
papa canna
Well-Known Member
What is the main purpose of perlite? Just aeration of the roots?
xmatox
Well-Known Member
One reason is that it helps the coco drain better. My buddy is currently in a straight coco setup (no perlite). His runoff EC if pretty high because his coco is clumping and not draining accordingly. Not saying it always can happen, but it can. This is super important because coco builds up salts pretty quickly in the medium. Secondly, because perlite is sterile and expands it can make an excellent neutral way of holding nutrients and water, making them available to plants roots.
I'm sure there is some other high speed scientific approach to this, but that is what I know. Hope it helps.
I'm sure there is some other high speed scientific approach to this, but that is what I know. Hope it helps.
papa canna
Well-Known Member
well luckily i have a great big bag of that stuff sitting in my room that I have yet to use. But when i said additives I meant more like, things of a nutritional value. like EWC and the like.
a mongo frog
Well-Known Member
Are you building a soil or going soilless?
papa canna
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soilless. a peat based mixture called sunshine advanced #4
papa canna
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Bump for help
papa canna
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I was actually mistaken when i put coco based. its actually mainly peat with some added coco. Will that still need calmag? I water with tap
a mongo frog
Well-Known Member
You don't add anything but pertalite if you want to. Maybe some lime. I haven't added any lime before and i use sunshine, however some on here have and have great results also. Might want to start thinking about your plant food and how important thats going to be now that your soilless. Good luck.
lawlrus
Well-Known Member
Just use quality fine coco (I like Canna in the tan bag but I've also used Sunshine coir and had similar results), you don't need any amendments. If you're transplanting, try running your nutrient solution (maybe 1/2 strength or less depending on age of the plants) through the coco and then squeeze thoroughly until damp but not wet. Then fluff it by hand and transplant as per usual.
Good luck, once you get it dialed in you'll never want to go back.
Good luck, once you get it dialed in you'll never want to go back.
papa canna
Well-Known Member
well i know im going to be putting in some perlite and a bit more lime just in case. But im still mulling over whether or not i want to add some EWC just for a bit of a nitrogen boost to start off with.
lawlrus
Well-Known Member
I think you're treating this too much like a soil grow and not a soilless setup. The perlite, lime, and castings are absolutely unnecessary if you are using a proper NPK formula for coco. Of course I encourage experimentation but just know that when taken care of properly plain fine coco is an incredible soilless medium.
papa canna
Well-Known Member
Im sure i could just try it out of the bag as is and probably end up ok. But i've read online about a lot of people saying they needed to add some lime. it comes with some out of the bag, but according to other folks it wasn't enough. I've had a lot of ph issues around week 4-5 of flower. The EWC might be unnecessary. but from what I've read i'll still at least need some added perlite to ensure good drainage. most people say drainage is fine, but occasionally a couple people said their medium has stayed wet for 5+ days. not good. EWC might be unnecessary, but I think I may need some cal/mag. I've never added calmag before and it probably hasn't been helping me too much.
edit: also, idk if im using a "proper" formula, i use maxigrow and maxibloom by general hydroponics
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rshackleferd
Well-Known Member
I use 80% coco coir and 20% perlite. They say perlite keeps the roots aerated, loosens up the soil for roots and keeps the water flowing. Never tried it with just coco coir heard it works just as great. I use homemade nutes "fatmans coco coir recipe" which cost pennys a gallon of concentrate, have enough nutes to last several lifetimes for just a $100. Soil i was getting about 2 to 2.5 onces per plant with coco coir my latest grow i got 10.6 ounces dry from one mama i called bertha, she was a think different from dutch passion. With soil i always had some type of infestation whether it was nats, roly polies, and etc. With coco coir hadnt had one root or foliage infestation yet "knocking on wood", its been an awesome three years using it. I tried dwc hydro and ended up with a big expensive mess, very high maintenance and a lot can go wrong and does go wrong especially when the power goes out your just screwed if your not home dealing with it... not worth imo, to each his own i guess.
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rshackleferd
Well-Known Member
Its impossible to over water coco coir/perlite, I tried it there is no way. Having to water it every 4 to 5 days in the beginning is normal but during flowering i had to water it almost everyday and i was using a five gallon bucket per lady. I kept the ph around 5.5 to 6.0, never tested the runoff..guess it was ok..lol. Nutes i kept real low because my last grow bertha was really touchy, around the height of flowering i went up to 700-800ppm, she was fine with that.