Total Noob using teas and I am a believer

Javadog said:

P.S. Anyone ever see the film "THX1138"? Recall that the system was
constantly calculating expenditures against budgets and, in the end, the
robot cops chasing THX1138 simply gave for for lack of funds?

That is us, now or soon.

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Just went onto my 'must watch' list That is PRICELESS.

So how often do you really need an ACT?

Rrog said:

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I was starting another brew and thought...why lol.

Different strokes, and all that. vermicompost is worth tweaking...

Rrog said:

Different strokes, and all that. vermicompost is worth tweaking...

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Lately, I've been into researching drainage...ie size, porosity, percentage, etc. Everything just keeps leading me to the thought of a coco mix. It's CEC and drainage all in one. How does two parts coco and equal parts VC and peat sound? That way you have may maybe enough drainage without other drainage mat'l hogging up nute space. Sorry for my rambling, but this 5 day sobriety thing really has me thinking lol.

I'm no pal of coco, but that's just me. There was a time when I loved it. To much of a pain and not local. At least peat is local. Many guys abandoning peat altogether, going with leaf mold and even tree chippings.

Rrog said:

I'm no pal of coco, but that's just me. There was a time when I loved it. To much of a pain and not local. At least peat is local. Many guys abandoning peat altogether, going with leaf mold and even tree chippings.

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Can you elaborate on this Rrog? It's not that I don't like peat, but it's so damn acidic and the environmental end of it bothers me too. I've been kicking around what Red is talking about. Not completely abandoning it, but cutting back on it and using some coco coir in it's place. What are the drawbacks to coco as you see it?

I love peat....but the fact that it takes millions of years to make
and an afternoon for me to turn into soil or a mushroom casing soil
is odd. (read "not inexhaustible")

I think this about perl and verm too, as they are mined IIRC.

JD

Roots explode in coco. Every time I transplant I'm amazed. Nearly impossible to over water too. I think once you rinse the crap out of it, break the buffer, and charge it up...you're set.

The untreated coco can have salt (the big coco bricks you re-hydrate) so soaking and rinsing in CalMag is needed.

Leaf mold takes a while (couple years) buy guys like it especially in soil with good aeration amendments (pumice, etc)

JayKush is using the partially (fungally) composted tree chips in place of compost.

I haven't used Perlite and Vermiculite for a while...

Javadog said:

I love peat....but the fact that it takes millions of years to make
and an afternoon for me to turn into soil or a mushroom casing soil
is odd. (read "not inexhaustible")

I think this about perl and verm too, as they are mined IIRC.

JD

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Rice hulls FTW! I'm picking up a 50lb sack next weekend. The only place in MI that I could find that carries them has a location about 2 hours away, but a friend of mine that lives there is coming for a visit so he's doing the grunt work for me.

There's no plug-and-play versions of coco? Everything has to be rinsed and messed with?

Every coco brick I've bought is loaded with salt. Comes out pretty easy though. If you do 2 rinses the run off is usually good and clear. I only do one rinse usually. Agree with the cal/mag charge.

st0wandgrow said:

There's no plug-and-play versions of coco? Everything has to be rinsed and messed with?

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Triple washed.

http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/index.php/item/bush-doctor-coco-loco.html

RedCarpetMatches said:

Every coco brick I've bought is loaded with salt. Comes out pretty easy though. If you do 2 rinses the run off is usually good and clear. I only do one rinse usually. Agree with the cal/mag charge.

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It where my mg is going? I did a triple wash and did not charge it with anything.

Most of the bagged coco with brand names is treated already I think.

Super cool on the rice hulls St0w. Barley hulls, too

GandalfdaGreen said:

It where my mg is going? I did a triple wash and did not charge it with anything.

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Muahahaha did I learn that one the HARD way whew... Your usual per gallon dose just after rinsing, let it sit nit drain, then drain and rinse gently and hey presto! It also sucks up nitrogen after about 8 weeks as it decomposes. That is why The Rev can cook such hit soils with little I'll effect. I am going to try make my own 're-peat'. Props to Rrog for that one

If I had a smaller grow I would run canna coco, imo you cant get any better, they scientifically test each batch. I run roots organic blocks but deff rinse more than a cpl times, dont make the miatake like I did.

CocoTek and CocoGro bricks are my go to cheap brands. Hydrate it in PH'd water with cal/mag at 5mL/g for a day. Then I get crazy with it. I'll sit there for 30 min and squeeze every drop out of it. Once dry, I rinse nice and slow with another PHd cal/mag solution. Then I mix in a light 7tbsp/cft of dolo lime. I don't mind the price of bricks due to the fact you won't need drainage.