coco recipe help.. + rep

Hello everyone.
Haven't posted in awhile but I've been around . Been growing for years but wanting to switch things up. Im starting a new grow using coco coir/perlite and feeding using HnG coco base a+b. Just bought my first botainicare 5kg cocogro brick expanded it with ro water ph'd to 5.8,checked run off which was 20 ppm(pumped about it too!) measured on a blue lab combo. My question is my coco recipe which goes as follows.
1. 5kg cocogro brick (about 2.5 c.f.)
2.about 1 cf of #3 chunky perlite
3.3/4 c.f of ewc
4. 4 cups of azomite
5. 4 cups of alfalfa meal
6. 1 lb of mycos
7. 8 oz of azos
I am going to let this mix sit for a couple weeks and hit it with a aerated tea once or twice before I use it. The tea consist of
1.great white
2. Fossil fuel
3.More mycos and azos and ewc
Im hoping this will set off the micro herd nicely.im not using many amendments because I want to start feeding them rite away as I will be putting established plants In this mix and going to flower shortly after. Does anyone have any input/advice?
Also I was thinking about adding some lime to the mix but all I have rite now is epsoma Prilled garden lime which I have heard is ok to use you just have to use more of it. Does anyone know if this is correct and if so would the amount be about 1 tablespoon per gallon?Im new to coco so any is appreciated. Thx again and its good to be back. Lots of new knowledgeable people to meet.

#3 on your list 3/4 cup of worm castings i would add more like 3-4 cups it won't hurt and will only help.

i have no expirience with prilled lime but if it is garden lime it seems like it should work just fine?

also are you aiming for an all organic grow? i'm not certain fossil fuel or great white is all organic? i may be wrong but i don't believe so. there are probly lots of organic options if this is what you are aiming for.

again i may be wrong but in my books it doesn't list either as being organic

dopeydog said:

#3 on your list 3/4 cup of worm castings i would add more like 3-4 cups it won't hurt and will only help.

i have no expirience with prilled lime but if it is garden lime it seems like it should work just fine?

also are you aiming for an all organic grow? i'm not certain fossil fuel or great white is all organic? i may be wrong but i don't believe so. there are probly lots of organic options if this is what you are aiming for.

again i may be wrong but in my books it doesn't list either as being organic

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Hey thx for the input. I actually put in 3/4 of a cubic foot of castings in the mix. Which is much more substantial then cups. I know a lot of people around here go 1/3 aeration,1/3 coco/peat, 1/3 compost as a pretty standard ratio but was wondering what people thought of my mine. Was thinking about adding more perlite because im not opposed to watering/feeding daily. This is also a DTW in 5 g smarties. Im not really going organic because I plan on utilizing house and garden coco A+B base amoung with some other goodies. I guess its kind of a hybrid of sorts. I suppose I really shouldn't be posting in here but I wasn't able to get much of a response in the indoor gardening section. Thx again for the response

"coco recipe help.. + rep" ...I don't post or advise, on this site or elsewhere, expecting a tip or a 'rep. but as you are new here, I do advise you to wash that coco well in fresh clean water, to ensure all salts are removed first, so later you have a clear and defined path to solving your future nute burn issues, beside it's best to make the tea, then add it to the plant, not make it, with the plant ...lol

vostok said:

"coco recipe help.. + rep" ...I don't post or advise, on this site or elsewhere, expecting a tip or a 'rep. but as you are new here, I do advise you to wash that coco well in fresh clean water, to ensure all salts are removed first, so later you have a clear and defined path to solving your future nute burn issues, beside it's best to make the tea, then add it to the plant, not make it, with the plant ...lol

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Check my join date. Been on here awhile. I dont know if i understand your post but I suppose u don't know to much about bim or the method of letting your mix cook for a couple weeks. I'll give u some rep anyways though . Thx for the response

ahh i reread your recipe and seen cubic foot, haha i thought it said cup i must have been a tad stoned. yea thats much better, hard to overuse the stuff.

if getting a good mico life in your mix is what your aiming for putting chem nutes of any sort wrecks havok on them. thats what i had always been told anyhow and stuck with it. using them together might probly be somewhat counterproductive as far as establishing good microbeastie life in the soil.

Hey thx again dopeydog. And yes your exactly correct I am trying to make my medium alive in the hopes of promoting nutrient uptake. I appreciate the input and am aware of the problems mixing HnG type line up with an alive soilless mix. Again any input is welcome. Even if its like vostok its welcome and appreciated.

seems an interesting mix you have going keep us updated on how it goes. good luck

personally, i do not like the look of your recipe but i honestly wouldn't mind you proving to me that it works. i just get concerned that the organic fertilisers you mixed in will dissapate at varying levels whilst you are adding your inorganic fertilisers. you may find that they are getting too much of one thing and not enough of another so the plants may get burned/ go hungry.

i am subbed and looking forward too seeing your results however, do you have a journal?

ghb said:

seems an interesting mix you have going keep us updated on how it goes. good luck

personally, i do not like the look of your recipe but i honestly wouldn't mind you proving to me that it works. i just get concerned that the organic fertilisers you mixed in will dissapate at varying levels whilst you are adding your inorganic fertilisers. you may find that they are getting too much of one thing and not enough of another so the plants may get burned/ go hungry.

i am subbed and looking forward too seeing your results however, do you have a journal?

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Thx for the reply ghb,
The alfalfa meal at about 1.5 cups per cubic foot u think is to much or to much in conjunction with my house and garden base? If your familiar with subcools recipe he uses quite a bit more amendments than mine does.The amendments I put in the mix are more for food for the microbes then the plants. I haven't started a journal yet but I think it would be a good idea for others to refer too. Im pretty good at identifying plants needs or deficiencies so im hoping my current knowledge will be of some use through this process. Thx though for your advice and tips!!

i have never grown organic so i have no idea how any of that stuff works.

i was just worried that obviously they will be getting food from the coco before you even add nutes, it's just when the nutes start to run out of some things like say nitrogen, you will start to add base nutes which contain lots of other elements that the plant may be getting from whats left in the coco which may result in too much of one thing and not enought of another. do you plant to use nutrients from the out set or will you start them on just water first then wait for them to fill the pots before using chemical nutes?

i know people who ues sunshine mix and that has nutes in it so i'm sure you will be fine.

Where to begin... I apologize if this comes off as harsh. Just sayin' it how it is from an organic growing perspective.

1) All those "mycos" you talk about making into a "tea" are better applied DIRECTLY to the roots. Mycorrhizal fungi can't live or reproduce in a brew; they more or less just become a food source for any bacteria or fungi that DO multiply during the brew cycle. Do yourself a favor and read these:

www.microbeotganics.com
http://www.nofanj.org/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=104151

2) You are wasting your money on all those microbial inoculates if you turn around and dump a bunch of chemical fertilizer on them. They will not thrive in your medium if they are repeatedly dosed with salts.

3) Runoff pH is NOT an indication of the pH of your medium. If you really want to measure your medium's pH, read up on doing a soil slurry test using distilled water.

4) In an organic system, you actually want to MINIMIZE runoff, so "drain to waste" isn't the best idea. In healthy organic soil, the microbiology works hard to solubilize nutrients that are held in your soil amendments. You want to keep these nutrients in the root zone, not flush them out as "waste".

It sounds like your on the verge of making the jump to actually growing organically. Why not take that last step and ditch the salt-based fertilizer? You will see MUCH more benefit from all those pricy organic ingredients you've already got. I'd be happy to give you any organic advice you may need, but you're really just spinning your wheels until you ditch the HnG nutrients...

i'd be inclined to listen to somebody who grows organicly, everything he said made sense to me.

ghb said:

i have never grown organic so i have no idea how any of that stuff works.

i was just worried that obviously they will be getting food from the coco before you even add nutes, it's just when the nutes start to run out of some things like say nitrogen, you will start to add base nutes which contain lots of other elements that the plant may be getting from whats left in the coco which may result in too much of one thing and not enought of another. do you plant to use nutrients from the out set or will you start them on just water first then wait for them to fill the pots before using chemical nutes?

i know people who ues sunshine mix and that has nutes in it so i'm sure you will be fine.

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Yes I understand what you are saying. Coco is inert and comes with no nutrients for the plant to feed on. Its often compared to the hydroponic method of growing because you can add what you want when u want and makes flushing easier. You just have to be able to recognize what the plant needs and be able to feed/water often. This enables the plant to grow faster.im just trying to combine what I've learned in soil to now my soilless mix.thx agsin for the response bro