Coco coir vs soil with JACK THE RIPPER

Just transplanted into coco coir with all but one of my plants. Ive decided to put coco coir and soil head on. I know this wont be an accurate test of comparing the two but it should tell us something. Attached is three pictures. First is jack the ripper in coco coir, second jack the ripper in soil, and third a picture of my other strains just for shits and giggles (bubba kush, super silver haze, and a bagseed).

As you can see both JTRs are real close to the same size. The JTR in the coco coir is already showing signs of stress. Tips are a little discolored, not quite burnt yet. Been talking to a couple people and it is suggested that coco coir is grown and harvested near the ocean. Harvesters will use the salt water to rinse the coco coir before shipping it out and this may cause a salt buildup in the coco coir which then leads to a nutrient lockout. This may also be a PH fluctuation from one substrate to another. All plants have a small amount of soil which was left around the roots during transplanting.

Hope to have a couple subscribers I know lots are curious on this. Please post links if this has been done before. Feel free to post about your grow....ask any questions...or suggest what i should or shouldnt be doing.
Happy growing.

sounds like youve got your shit together,for sure.Just kkep an eye on the Coco for the salt residue,and you'll be fine,those girls look great.

Yea, I am still not sure what to do about the salt buildup...Ive asked on another thread but no response yet. Possibly you would know? Should i flush and remove excess runoff...or just continue as normal?

Once a week,flush the soil completely,then resume you're feedings as usual.The soil will help to break down some of the salt residue around the base of the plant,so you'll be fine,just do what the plant needs,like watering,or feeding on schedule.

I just watered even tho it wasnt needed but ppm goin in was 250 and ppm of runoff was 260. Is this 10 ppm difference a sign of salt buildup? Or would a salt buildup show a higher ppm comming out?

aeviaanah said:

Yea, I am still not sure what to do about the salt buildup...Ive asked on another thread but no response yet. Possibly you would know? Should i flush and remove excess runoff...or just continue as normal?

Click to expand...

i use clearex by botanicare really a good product for flushing.

aeviaanah said:

I just watered even tho it wasnt needed but ppm goin in was 250 and ppm of runoff was 260. Is this 10 ppm difference a sign of salt buildup? Or would a salt buildup show a higher ppm comming out?

Click to expand...

it would be higher. also, i've actually seen salt crystals in my own coco. but, i think it's probably just shock. i say pick up some cal mag because, most hydro and even coco formulated nutrients lack in that particular area. but, everything looks good to me from the pics, probably just shock.

My GH Maxigrow 10-5-14...which is meant for veg has both calcium 6.0% and magnesium 2.0%. Do these levels seem sufficient during vegetative growth?
For flower i use GH Maxibloom...5-15-14 It has 5.0 % Calcium and 4.0% Magnesium. Do these levels seem sufficient for flower?

For my organics I use Pura vida organics grow. 6-4-3. Magnesium is .02% which I can supplement using Epson salt. I see no sign of calcium in this product.
For flower i use Age old grow organics 2-10-20 with 1% calcium again i can supplement magnesium with epson salt.

Am i thinking straight? I appreciate your help as I am new to coco and just waiting for my first mistake.

yeah, as i look at your plants again the bottom leaves on the jtr(soil looks like cal mag deficiencies). but, soils not my forte` but, that calmag. remember, strains react to nutrients differently so, you should tailor your feeds toward each of the strains specically. other than that everything looks good. good job what's that crazy looking mutant in the coco?

Cool idea. Subscribed.

You definately should rinse the hell out of your coir BEFORE you plant in it.

Make sure to ph the water for hydro growing in the coir. 5.8 should be perfect.


If I were doing this comparison I'd use a coco specific fert like the one from canna etc. and use the same companies non coco specific nutes on the soil plant. This way eachplant/medium is getting similar nutes but tailored to each plant so they both can get exactly what they need.

Just my thoughts. I'm really interested in coco right now and am probably going to switch over to it.

Hey warlord thanks for stopping by. I just LST'd all plants with tie wires. BTW they are free at most grocery stores with produce. Great for training. Yes i shouldve rinsed the coco coir. The mutant...lol i had 5 plants that were getting pretty big. I decided to use a permethrin bomb to get rid of some spider mites. These work great but i didnt pay attention to the percent permethrin. The ones ive used in the past are .04 percent. The one i used that killed most of my plants had 12 percent! One of my bubba kush clones and a bag seedling (mutant) were the only survivers. I basically have like 4-5 main stems all comming out of the main stock at the same time and same pace..to take care of the spidermites i use a 30-70 ratio of 70-100 percent isopropyl alcohol to water with a couple drops of dish soap. This mixture works great. I also spray with neem oil as a extra protection.

dirtyshawa, dont you think this is enough cal mag in the nutes i wrote about above?

warlord, this is a great idea but dont you think this will add another variable to the comparison? i am trying to keep variables to a minimum...I am using hydro nutrients which are good for both soil and coco. what you think?

maybe.... but, most nutrients need a cal mag boost here and there. i'd flush the ones with brown tips, cut off the brown, wait til coco is dry, feed some micros, then nutrient feed. yup, i'd keep that mutant tho.

keep the mutant, thats if it is a female

im starting to get light green on all of my plants except for the one that is in soil. this sounds like nitrogen deficiency... maybe a ph fluctuation is causing nute lockout? does this sound about right?

pics..............are you ph your solution and i can't stress it enough, coco specific nutes cns17 $25gal no deficiencies.

i thought hydro nutes are ok? can you further explain why coco nutes only? ive spent so much money on nutrients already. i got to use these up...

I just bought some of that coco coir. I am interested. SUbcool is always goood......

aeviaanah said:

My GH Maxigrow 10-5-14...which is meant for veg has both calcium 6.0% and magnesium 2.0%. Do these levels seem sufficient during vegetative growth?
For flower i use GH Maxibloom...5-15-14 It has 5.0 % Calcium and 4.0% Magnesium. Do these levels seem sufficient for flower?

For my organics I use Pura vida organics grow. 6-4-3. Magnesium is .02% which I can supplement using Epson salt. I see no sign of calcium in this product.
For flower i use Age old grow organics 2-10-20 with 1% calcium again i can supplement magnesium with epson salt.

Am i thinking straight? I appreciate your help as I am new to coco and just waiting for my first mistake.

Click to expand...

I think you are overcomplicating it. You will need a cal-mag supplement unless you are using coco specific nutes. I found that the extra nitrogen in my cal-mag supplement is good to offset the extra potassium in the coco. Also a Humic acid concentrate allows plants to absorb nutrients much better in coco.

I also let the coco dry out a bit between waterings and pH my nutrient solution a little lower (5.5) because the coco seems to raise the pH slightly.

Ok so lots of people are saying to have coco coir dry out before re watering? it has already been over a week and it is still damp. with the coco being wet so long i cant feed as much as i would like to. how do you guys get about doing this? i just picked up grandma enggys h-2....humic acid. i also picked up botanicare's cal-mag. do you use as directed on back of bottle?
i cant really do the water nute water nute....or water water nute water water nute...how do i get them the required amounts of nutrients? so much time goes by before i need to water again.

read this http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=46490

aeviaanah said:

Ok so lots of people are saying to have coco coir dry out before re watering? it has already been over a week and it is still damp. with the coco being wet so long i cant feed as much as i would like to. how do you guys get about doing this? i just picked up grandma enggys h-2....humic acid. i also picked up botanicare's cal-mag. do you use as directed on back of bottle?
i cant really do the water nute water nute....or water water nute water water nute...how do i get them the required amounts of nutrients? so much time goes by before i need to water again.

Click to expand...

What I would do is use nutes at every watering. Remember it's hydro not dirt. The res on a regular hydro system has nutes in it all the time right? As to how dry to let it get, I havent decided...lol