Growing in Coco

[New Holland]

I'm going to transplat to Coco. Should I add Vermiculite?. Because Coco is well draing should I water/nute more often?

[SukonmiSkunk]

personally I wouldnt use vermiculite in any system.. I just think its crap.... it breaks down too and clogs drippers and besides it does hold a lot of water.... I would be using perlite, or even the finer versarock would be better and can be reused over and over....

[nirvana]

no need to add vermiculite to coco peat,be aware that not all coco peat is of the same quality,coco peat from coba is of high quality.

 

[thc24]

Hi NH,

Best would be to have a 3 to 4 cm layer of expanded clay in base of pot. Maby a 30% mix of good quallity small partical perlite mixed evenly into coco., or straight coco . With the pots you may need two or three drain holes to ensure there is no pooling in pots.

The Varmiculite breaks down too fast when mixed with coco.

[WantDaChronic]

i grow in a 50/50 mix of coco/perlite atm and its awesome i just feed once a week and water with pH adjusted water when needed

 

couple of things about coco you need to know are it really must be flushed alot to free up that brown shit before using it and it likes a slightly higher pH than normal hydro, it likes around 6.2

[BentBuddha]

6.2? Where did you find that out? Because I thought coco liked 5.5. Thats what i've been using and my plants seem very happy. I'm interested in knowing what the optimal PH is so would appreciate any links that say 6.2

 

[flipster]

I'm going to transplat to Coco. Should I add Vermiculite?. Because Coco is well draing should I water/nute more often?

 

Hey NH, hope you're probs are going away from that other thread.

 

Coco isn't an overly well draining medium when compared to others such as perlite and clay. A lot of people grow in coco with a thin layer of clay balls in the bottom of the pot to assist drainage. I think this is really only necessary if your pot itself hasn't got good drainage. At the moment I am growing in straight coco with out any problems at all.

 

As for watering more often, you'll probably have to do the opposite. Coco holds a fair bit of water so watering every few days is not uncommon. During veg I was only watering once every 3 - 4 days, in flower they're getting some every 2 - 3 days or so. So people around here though water their coco a few times a day, I guess it depends on your environment, your plants, and how much you are actually giving them. I read somewhere to know how much to give you plants, you simply give them a good watering, wait until the plants go slightly droopy, then take note of the time it took for them to use that water, and make the time interval a bit smaller. That way you give them the water when they need it, not before or after. You'll probably need to make slight adjustments in flower when they start to drink a bit more.

 

If you tend to water your plants a bit too much, then you may want to consider mixing it with something, otherwise just follow the method above and you shouldn't go wrong.

 

PH wise I stick to anywhere between 5.9 and 6.3. Apparently you're supposed to treat coco more like a soil media than a proper inert hydro media.

Edited April 12, 2006 by flipster

[SukonmiSkunk]

Optimum PH for ANY herbs are 6.3.... MJ is perfect at 6.3.... but different plants will settle for slight variations.... but really any where from 5.8-6.8 is a good ball park. I wouldnt be fucking with ph too much.... plants like a range.. i think it helps take the various elements....

 

I NEVER CHECK MY PH.. and havent done so for about 16 years.. thats how important I think it is...

 

with that said....... if you have a system the never gets flushed then you WILL have ph issues as salts build up.... check ph once a day... at the same time everyday... if you find then its way off.or fluxuating out of that range.. then usually a flush is in order.....

 

dutch master buffers PH at 6.3 ....

[New Holland]

Wow guys, this is some good info. I thought coco was like a light straw material. I'll add some perlite (about 1/4-1/3). I don't have a ph pen as yet so I'll flush once a fortnight.

 

Flipster, in regards to my other post, the plants are starting to look alot healthier. I've been ferting with Thrive 21-5-9 at half strength with every watering so far (every 2-3 days). The pale coloured leaves are slowely starting to darken up. It's wierd. It looks like I've poured dark green water into the pot, and plants are slowley soaking it up through there viens. You can see it run along the centre of the leaf, then work it's wat out to the edges.

[thc24]

Good work NH,

Hope you where able to find fault so that you can learn from it.

 

Mate try a nute that is better suited like 6.6.5 . You can buy canna nutes at bunnings about $35 a/B coco you will have no burning or stretch problems with canna if used correctly bottle directions or 2.6ec. Ph pen you can do without when using canna norm drops PH tp 6.2 so only a small increase needed but fine at 6.2..

 

Single part would also be good.