Coconut coir should I ?

Cottoouth916

Cottoouth916

Member
Hello community I’m doing soil right now but I’m thinking of going with coconut coir for my next grow. If anybody has any tips or ideas on nutrient feeding with coconut coir Or anything that has to do with coconut coir I’ll be happy to take in !?!
 
Cottoouth916

Cottoouth916

Member
MickFoster said:
Coco basics:
Coco is drain to waste hydroponics and shouldn't be treated like soil.
Start in small containers.
Feed daily to substantial run off using a pH around 6.0.
Never use plain water.
Never let the coco get dry.

I suggest you do some homework before you start..........www.cocoforcannabis.com.
Good luck.
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I hear you should have cal mag in water if doing just water feed.!
 
HGCC

HGCC

Well-Known Member
Cottoouth916 said:
Damn feed everyday sheesh!. What are the main benefits of coco coir ?
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You get hydro-esque performance. It's incredibly quick to fix issues. Really easy to use. It's cheap and easy to feed.

You can go with bigger containers to feed/water less, but then you really lose the benefits. Some go with automation to get around it as well

Personally, I find it easy, 20 minutes a day sounds right if you aren't smoking joints and having fun during plant care. I like that I can adjust my ratios depending on where I am in flower.

Lots of ways to skin a cat. One big thing I like is plants respond faster if something is wrong. You just flush it out and start over, dirt makes that hard
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Go for it. Coco is great. Some people have a terrible time with it but that usually due to them not understanding the proper way to use it and treat it like soil when it's closer to hydro.

The daily watering can be addressed with automated systems. A lot of people have trouble with them in coco but those that don't swear by them and that's blumats. I'm one of the people that swear by them in coco. They're a gravity fed drip system that requires very little maintenance after an initial setup. Just keep a reservoir filled with nutrient solution and the rest is taken care of without any elaborate system. They keep the coco at the perfect moisture level and there's no runoff to worry about. But many people struggle with them so I wouldn't recommend starting out with them at first if you decide to do coco. Just something to think about once you get a successful coco grow under your belt and don't want to be tied to daily hand watering.

For nutrients you're best off going simple. You don't need anything fancy. Jacks or another dry nutrient like GH MaxiBloom gives great results and is inexpensive as well. @MickFoster uses MaxiBloom from start to finish I think and has excellent results.
 
Hook Daddy

Hook Daddy

Well-Known Member
I use coco and perlite about 50/50 mix, but I have a recirculating system that I change the res out weekly with new nutes. I feed 4 times a day for 15 min on a timer, using 2 2 gal/hr emitters and 1 valve controlled 1/4” tube per plant set to a slow dribble. The valve emitter doesn’t clog so no worries about no water if one or two emitters do clog. I use gh nutes but will switch to jacks next grow just to try it out. At first I was topping off the res with nutes and water, but now just use ro water, and got a bigger 30 gallon res so topping off only happens once a week if at all. I found topping off with nute mix during flower raised the nitrogen too high. I also use a bit of cal mag since I am using ro water.
 
R

RottyRzr

Well-Known Member
I really like using coco. As others have said, its easy to fix any problems if you encounter them. But.......I did get tired of constantly feeding so I bought a 17 gallon storage tote from Lowes. Less than $20. I also got a cheap pump, some tubing and some bato bucket. A few 2X4's and an old wire shelf for the stand. I put everything together with a timer for the pump and now its automated. I have the pump come on for 5 minutes 4 times per day. Its almost maintenance free until flower. I have two plants in week 4 flower since starting 12/12 and I have to add 2 to 4 gallons of water/nutes each day. I do monitor the ph and EC and have to tweak those every now and then.
I didnt have much luck growing in potting mix. (FFOF and CocoLoco) Had deficiencies that took a while to straighten out! If ph or ec start to get out of whack in my reservoir its easy to fix.
Here's a pic.IMG_3353.jpeg
 
Milky Weed

Milky Weed

Well-Known Member
RottyRzr said:
Heres a poor pic of the plants. The lights messed up the exposure. Both are candy store from Ethos Genetics. The plant on the left is over 4 feet diameter and just about 4 feet tall. The plant on the right has always been a runt but Ive kept it going. It'll have a few decent cola's when all is done.

View attachment 5029447
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If you wanted to add some decent mass in flower you could grab another light put it at an angle and give it some side lighting. Just a thought when I saw it. Good luck!
 
Cottoouth916

Cottoouth916

Member
HGCC said:
You get hydro-esque performance. It's incredibly quick to fix issues. Really easy to use. It's cheap and easy to feed.

You can go with bigger containers to feed/water less, but then you really lose the benefits. Some go with automation to get around it as well

Personally, I find it easy, 20 minutes a day sounds right if you aren't smoking joints and having fun during plant care. I like that I can adjust my ratios depending on where I am in flower.

Lots of ways to skin a cat. One big thing I like is plants respond faster if something is wrong. You just flush it out and start over, dirt makes that hard
Click to expand...
Will this coco coir increase my yield ?? Also will it shorten up my grow time ??? Curious
 
R

RottyRzr

Well-Known Member
Hook Daddy said:
I use coco and perlite about 50/50 mix, but I have a recirculating system that I change the res out weekly with new nutes. I feed 4 times a day for 15 min on a timer, using 2 2 gal/hr emitters and 1 valve controlled 1/4” tube per plant set to a slow dribble. The valve emitter doesn’t clog so no worries about no water if one or two emitters do clog. I use gh nutes but will switch to jacks next grow just to try it out. At first I was topping off the res with nutes and water, but now just use ro water, and got a bigger 30 gallon res so topping off only happens once a week if at all. I found topping off with nute mix during flower raised the nitrogen too high. I also use a bit of cal mag since I am using ro water.
Click to expand...
How do you know that the nitrogen is getting high? I sometimes see my ec rise but I wouldn't know which nutrient is causing it. Couldn't it be a combination of all of them? I just add ph adjusted water without nutes to lower it.
Also I think you'll like the Jacks nutes. Im using them in the grow I posted above and am really happy with them.
 
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