Soil or Coco

Greetings fellow RIU'ers...

I'm considering switching to COCO / Perlite * 50/50 or 70/30* ...

I've been using Sunshine mix #4 with GH Flora Series and had good results.

I'm wondering if it would be cheaper to go COCO route but I don't know much about it (A lot of mixed reviews and opinions on the net)

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated'

-ch33b (cheeb)

Nah, not really cheaper. But that shouldn't be the reason why you want to go to coco, because it's cheaper.

When one chooses to go to coco, you want to have more control of what happens in the root zone. And you can get hydro-like results if....

You have all parts of the equation dialed in.

I currently use Mother Earth coco. I recently switched over and I'm loving the ease and friendliness of it.... Plus my girl loves it!

From the place I seen coco for sale it was a bit more expensive than the Pro-Mix I use I doubt Sunshine mix costs much if anymore than Pro-mix.

sno capz said:

I currently use Mother Earth coco. I recently switched over and I'm loving the ease and friendliness of it.... Plus my girl loves it! View attachment 3443286

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Where can you purchase that? and do you mix with Perlite for better drainage?

I have learned and love growing in coco its an inert medium that you have full control over the nute levels. Just make sure you get the little bricks and not the huge 10 pound slab I had to take my machete to that thing for like thirty minutes lol.

I put it in two pillow cases and stick it in a plastic trash can. Then I PH two gallons of water and add and let soak until fully dissolved. After pull the pillow case out and drain it and then add your perlite and you are good to go.

I've used botanicare coco and found it to be an excellent media. A big advantage is that is holds a lot of water "as is". I'm not sure what the benefit of cutting it with perlite would be. The drawbacks are - for my operations - is that it does not do well in mixed hydro. That is, a table with some plants in rockwool and some in coco. The plants in coco need a lower PPM than those in rockwool. The other issue is for organic soil building. I use 5-10% coco in Pro-mix BX to improve the wetting and water retention of the Pro-mix. If I wanted to build an organic soil starting with coco, then I would want the perlite....but largely defeating the purpose of the coco...and Pro-mix as an organic base is more economical.

If I wanted a non-rockwool media for something like GH Flora, a good grade of pure coco would be my first choice and I have used it 'stand alone' to great effect.

I like to put a bout a 1inch layer on the bottom of my pots of perlite just to make sure I get really good drainage since I worry about salt build up.

Coco ftw! I doubt you will save money up front, but your yield will improve if done right.

brimck325 said:

Coco ftw! I doubt you will save money up front, but your yield will improve if done right.

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Indeed *epic high five*

You can always buy the compressed bricks, that is the cheaper option, then you just need to add water to expand it out.

I'm using Botanicare Slacker at the moment and price aint bad for 1.5 cubic ft bag. Comes amended with perlite, zeolite, rice hulls, bat guano, alfalfa meal, earthworm castings and such. Kinda the best of both worlds.

Oddjob said:

You can always buy the compressed bricks, that is the cheaper option, then you just need to add water to expand it out.

I'm using Botanicare Slacker at the moment and price aint bad for 1.5 cubic ft bag. Comes amended with perlite, zeolite, rice hulls, bat guano, alfalfa meal, earthworm castings and such. Kinda the best of both worlds.

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My main objection to things like Slacker - and particulary Fox Farm soil blends - is that you don't know how much of the more expensive amendments they actually add. Legally, they can throw a thimble-full of bat guano in there and say "It has Bat Guano!" As a result, I always make my own mixes.

ch33b said:

Where can you purchase that? and do you mix with Perlite for better drainage?

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You can order online... I get mine at a local hydro shop

I decided to go with the Sunshine Mix #4 for the summer as thats what the hydro store reccommended.. My next question . im wonder if I should plant in the BIGGER POT ?

I expect my final growth height to be 4' - 4.5'. So I use a 5 gallon smart pot from start to finish. Smart pots claim to grow a plant to be 15' without getting root bound... I've never tested it but I don't have 15 foot high grow spaces lol

Maybe it's not 15'... maybe it's the equivalent to a 15 gallon pot... Lol I'm so ripped right not that I can't remember haha

LOL, I'm growing in 5 gallon smart pots that vegged 3 weeks. I have 7 foot ceilings and never got over 3-4 FT ... my other 5 gallons pots are much taller and they grew bigger like 5.5 ft never have I got them any bigger

So would you reccommend the bigger pots I have or the smaller?

If you want to go bigger plant size wise then yes... Get like 15-20 gallon pots