I'm getting discouraged.

Johnbopper

Johnbopper

Member
Thanks for all this information everyone. I love growing it can be just as frustrating as it is fulfilling .first hand knowledge being passed down is great I like it.
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
cryologist said:
ah sorry I don't know about canada. seems like you're right.

to sterilize, I soak the coco in a bleach solution for a couple of hours before rinsing and buffering.
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Seems like another good reason not to use coco. My reasons so far are, lack of availability, constant watering often multiple times per day, pre-rinsing, charging with Calmag, cost up to 3X what ProMix HP costs me and now bleaching.

With ProMix HP I can fill a pot and water it with hydro nutes and it's good to go. Water once it dries out again and just keep that up until I harvest. Easy-peasy.

I did buy a bag of coco almost a year ago but haven't used it yet. One of these days I'll do a little side-by-side with it and see what happens.

I just don't see the appeal but to each their own. :)

:peace:
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
OldMedUser said:
Seems like another good reason not to use coco. My reasons so far are, lack of availability, constant watering often multiple times per day, pre-rinsing, charging with Calmag, cost up to 3X what ProMix HP costs me and now bleaching.

With ProMix HP I can fill a pot and water it with hydro nutes and it's good to go. Water once it dries out again and just keep that up until I harvest. Easy-peasy.

I did buy a bag of coco almost a year ago but haven't used it yet. One of these days I'll do a little side-by-side with it and see what happens.

I just don't see the appeal but to each their own. :)

:peace:
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To each their own but coco will give faster and better yields. But some of the reasons you listed just aren’t true.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
OldMedUser said:
Which reasons are those?
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Lack of availability, price, and constant feeding are personal reasons for not wanting to run it, which you stated. But pre-rinsing, charging with Cal-Mag, and sterilizing it just isn't need with quality coco.

I do pre soak my coco with a low EC feed though so not sure if that counts as pre-rinsing. Don't you do the same with Pro-Mix? You don't stick a seed in dry soil do you?
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
twentyeight.threefive said:
Lack of availability, price, and constant feeding are personal reasons for not wanting to run it, which you stated. But pre-rinsing, charging with Cal-Mag, and sterilizing it just isn't need with quality coco.

I do pre soak my coco with a low EC feed though so not sure if that counts as pre-rinsing. Don't you do the same with Pro-Mix? You don't stick a seed in dry soil do you?
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The constant feeding part seems to be an integral part of using coco so isn't a personal choice nor are the others as not being available and cost is out of my personal control as well.

Every set of methods I've seen in postings here and elsewhere say to charge with CalMag before use and as to quality control re: rinsing or sterilizing I have no personal experience with but it seems near universal with those that use coco. The first and only time I tried coco was over 20 years ago and the plants that got it all sickened until I had to toss them. I later found out that I had shitty coco in a brick and should have rinsed it well. I still have some of that brick left so soaked a couple tbsps in RO water then checked the ppm and it was really high so likely full of sea salt and that caused the problems but I had no internet at the time and my grow books didn't even mention coco.

I do actually put my seeds into dry soil then water it well. A fresh bale of ProMix is pretty moist so I'll add any amendments if I am, place my transplant in it then water the whole pot to saturation.

I'm gradually switching over to organic growing using ProMix as my base but it seems a lot more fuss and bother than just mixing some hydro nutes in my feed water and pouring it in. All stocked up with 3 types of composted manures, butt load of Gaia Green stuff and lots of EWC. Who knew you could burn the fuck out of plants with organics and I didn't think I was using that much.

I think it's highly debatable that coco grows better than peat or soil based mixes. I've seen too many triumphs and failures in all types of growing to base my conclusions on the medium type. My most productive grows have been in Rubbermaid tubs using water and hydro nutes. Easily double the yields over my attempts at organics but that's mostly grower inexperience in that method than anything else.

:peace:
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
cryologist said:
sorry dude. looks like you were right. in my mind it could have been severe heat stress. I tore down my first plant that had heat stress because I believed someone online who said I definitely had russets and needed to buy avid and forbid to get rid of them. made me a little skeptical of the "100% it's mites" diagnosis.
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You have obviously never seen heat stress. It does not do that. I'm the f'n queen of heat stress LOL
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
OldMedUser said:
The constant feeding part seems to be an integral part of using coco so isn't a personal choice nor are the others as not being available and cost is out of my personal control as well.

Every set of methods I've seen in postings here and elsewhere say to charge with CalMag before use and as to quality control re: rinsing or sterilizing I have no personal experience with but it seems near universal with those that use coco. The first and only time I tried coco was over 20 years ago and the plants that got it all sickened until I had to toss them. I later found out that I had shitty coco in a brick and should have rinsed it well. I still have some of that brick left so soaked a couple tbsps in RO water then checked the ppm and it was really high so likely full of sea salt and that caused the problems but I had no internet at the time and my grow books didn't even mention coco.

I do actually put my seeds into dry soil then water it well. A fresh bale of ProMix is pretty moist so I'll add any amendments if I am, place my transplant in it then water the whole pot to saturation.

I'm gradually switching over to organic growing using ProMix as my base but it seems a lot more fuss and bother than just mixing some hydro nutes in my feed water and pouring it in. All stocked up with 3 types of composted manures, butt load of Gaia Green stuff and lots of EWC. Who knew you could burn the fuck out of plants with organics and I didn't think I was using that much.

I think it's highly debatable that coco grows better than peat or soil based mixes. I've seen too many triumphs and failures in all types of growing to base my conclusions on the medium type. My most productive grows have been in Rubbermaid tubs using water and hydro nutes. Easily double the yields over my attempts at organics but that's mostly grower inexperience in that method than anything else.

:peace:
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I said personal reasons, not choice. I understand that availability and prices aren’t your choice.

Coco should be fertigated often for best results, but it’s not a requirement. An automated feed system can easily be setup.

As to posts here or elsewhere that state coco needs to be charged with CalMag or sterilized that’s just wrong. Today’s coco isn’t the same thing as what it was 20 years ago either so it’s not even close to compare.

It’s not debatable at all whether coco outgrows soil. Coco is hydro. It may only be debatable in your mind when you compare the poor coco grows you see posted online and try to compare those to soil grows.
 
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