Coco perlite Hydro combination - Drain to waste with recycling nutes. How long before draining ?

kingromano

Well-Known Member
yeah so it's perfectly normal
no buffer in RO water

i always use soft water nutrients with RO
they are formulated less acididic

canna aqua is made to work with medium hard water in recirculating, so it's more acidic to counteract the constant increase of ph of the solution, because of bicarbonates
reverse osmosis remove all the bicarbonates from the water

i would also be worried to use canna aqua with RO water because of calcium or magnesium deficiencies
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Thanks. That makes sense. I was adding cal/mag, so there were no issues there. The plants were healthy, I was just having to dump tons of PH up into the res, which was time consuming and kind of expensive.
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
I was thinking about this a little, and wouldn't the cal/mag harden up the water? It was the first thing I add, then some NPK Raw thises and thats, then the A and the B. Not that it even matters, I don't use it anymore. I just find it odd.
 

2com

Well-Known Member
I was thinking about this a little, and wouldn't the cal/mag harden up the water? It was the first thing I add, then some NPK Raw thises and thats, then the A and the B. Not that it even matters, I don't use it anymore. I just find it odd.
Yup, you would think so.
 

CBS2020

Active Member
Thanks for everyones input, i will increase watering to 4x day making it harder for coco to take up salts. I will add Cal/Mag each day.
I will take water sample at the start and each day and after 7 days get it tested for all the Nutrients so i can see how much the NPK changes.
The following week i will start with new batch and do the same thing but add 10% new water with nutes every 2nd day and collect samples each day then send away to get tested by a lab. No more speculation, i will have some actual idea if its worth it.

Why am i doing this? If i want to go away and cant be there to water i will know it is safe for X amount of time to run like this, better for $ and environment.
 

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Thanks for everyones input, i will increase watering to 4x day making it harder for coco to take up salts. I will add Cal/Mag each day.
I will take water sample at the start and each day and after 7 days get it tested for all the Nutrients so i can see how much the NPK changes.
The following week i will start with new batch and do the same thing but add 10% new water with nutes every 2nd day and collect samples each day then send away to get tested by a lab. No more speculation, i will have some actual idea if its worth it.

Why am i doing this? If i want to go away and cant be there to water i will know it is safe for X amount of time to run like this, better for $ and environment.
Is this very expensive? I'll toss you a few bucks to help finance this experiment if so.
 

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
I don't understand why anybody uses coco to be honest because of these problems with it drying out. Peatmoss is just such an easier choice with the same yields. I only have to hand water every 3 days. I use a pump of course, but if I had to water/feed something like 3 or 4 times a day I would want 3 to 4 times the yield and since the yield isn't any better I don't get it.
 

Blunoser

Active Member
DaFreak i hear ya. I tried Coco for 2 years and said enough. I have been using peat for the last four grows and i will never go back to Coco. It took all the fun out of growing. I spent more time schlepping water and waste and dealing with issues. It factored too much into other things in the daily life. Peat water every 2-4 days and no cal problems and no "mysterious issues arising. I just wished i had switched earlier. As for the plants just the same as Coco except i am enjoying growing again
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
growth rate in coco is nothin compared to soil

coco is hydroponic media, the ph/ec in the medium must be kept in check or it go wrong
soil do not allow you to multifeed everyday, while coco yes

as for coco if your tap water conductvity is less than 0.3mS you need to add calmag
some strains (og) need even more calmag
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
growth rate in coco is nothin compared to soil

coco is hydroponic media, the ph/ec in the medium must be kept in check or it go wrong
soil do not allow you to multifeed everyday, while coco yes

as for coco if your tap water conductvity is less than 0.3mS you need to add calmag
some strains (og) need even more calmag
That’s simply not true, you don't absolutely need calmag because your water reads less than 0.2, my water is 0.0 and i've never used calmag with 3 canna, bio nova and Ionic.

As for coco being nothing on soil rofl...
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
with ionic soft water yeah you don't need .. because its formulated for soft water
lol you are saying you use hard water nutrient with RO ?
and 3 canna ? What is that
 

DaFreak

Well-Known Member
growth rate in coco is nothin compared to soil

coco is hydroponic media, the ph/ec in the medium must be kept in check or it go wrong
soil do not allow you to multifeed everyday, while coco yes

as for coco if your tap water conductvity is less than 0.3mS you need to add calmag
some strains (og) need even more calmag
Coco has nothing to do with it. Growing with salts is faster than organics, yes, but coco does not offer faster growth compared to any other medium or substrate while using salts if done right. Only difference is that coco is not the easiest medium to use with salts, hence all the people not doing well with coco. Yes, once you learn how to do it it's easy enough like anything else but your comment I would call 100% nonsense and misleading.
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
Coco has nothing to do with it. Growing with salts is faster than organics, yes, but coco does not offer faster growth compared to any other medium or substrate while using salts if done right. Only difference is that coco is not the easiest medium to use with salts, hence all the people not doing well with coco. Yes, once you learn how to do it it's easy enough like anything else but your comment I would call 100% nonsense and misleading.
don't talk about what you don't know

coco gives better results than soil because it's more oxygenated at saturation
 

kingromano

Well-Known Member
I just use tap water that measures 0.0 on my meter, the ionic afaik is regular nutrient.
Canna is only another a+b nutrient, quite a popular one.
yes, thats what i was saying
you are using ionic coco formulated for SOFT WATER

IONIC CoCo Flower Best Food Plant Nutrients Hydroponic BLOOM Hard or Soft Water
CAN BE USED WITH HARD OR SOFT WATER​
i also use ionic hydro with RO, a very good brand and easy to use
 
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DaFreak

Well-Known Member
don't talk about what you don't know

coco gives better results than soil because it's more oxygenated at saturation
Come on guy, stop talking nonsense. Salts vs organically. Coco does not feed plants, salts do. Get over your ego and gtfu
 
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