Should I sterilize?

[avs]

Starting a new grow and i will be mixing some coco-peat with fine pearlite in 60/40 ratio. I will flush until water is clear and finish with PH adjusted water. Test PH and EC.

 

The coco-peat is in brick form richgro brand. I plan to use GT or DM coco nutes on the 2 darlings and will be hand watering. Veg will be done under 400W MH and flowered under a HPS.

 

1) Should I sterilize the mix before transplanting my seedlings in there and how can i do this?

 

2) Can i start the seeds in a comercial seed raising soil or should i start them in the coco/pearlite mix with some 1/2 strength nutes thrown in? Keep in mind I will be transplanting into the coco/pearlite mix before going under the 400W HPS.

 

3) What other products should i be investing in for this grow. I just want the basics for now that will help yield a decent smoke

 

Its go time! Cant wait to get underway

 

Cheers for your advice

[SukonmiSkunk]

as far as i know you dont need to sterilize the coco/peat.. it should already be treated and sterile.. and yes you can raise the seedlings in a seed raising mix and transplant to the coco.. just when you transplant try and get most of the dirt off by gently washing the roots.. shouldnt be too hard with seedlings..

 

i would opt for something organic if your going to be smoking it all ya self.. i use monsta bud and ozi tonic... they sort of go well together.. works a treat and 100% organic..

 

others will give advise.. on what works best in coco... and theres plenty of stuff out there that works...

[avs]

i would opt for something organic if your going to be smoking it all ya self.. i use monsta bud and ozi tonic... they sort of go well together.. works a treat and 100% organic..

 

others will give advise.. on what works best in coco... and theres plenty of stuff out there that works...

 

Are you suggesting I stay clear of the coco specific nutes and just use monsta bud & ozi tonic by themselves?

[Gazza2001au]

monsta bud is a flowering addative to be added with your flowering nutrients i would just start the seeds off in coco and let them grow in the same coco why do u want to use soil? i use the richgro brand from bunnings its awesome coco also go with dutch master advance its designed for coco

[Stoney]

you can start ya seedlings in what ever medium you want but if you use soil you will have to wrince off as much as you can and you run the risk of damaging roots

 

why not either start them in coco or start them in rock wool cubes and then just put the whole cube in the coco when they are ready

 

and yeah gazza is correct monterbud is really only for ya flowering period and so is ozitonic ya better off with a coco specific 2 part nute for veg and a good 2 part nute for flower and to the flower nutes you also use the monsterbud and ozitonic

 

but the monsterbud and ozitonic will only do half there job if ya nutes are shit to start with

 

hope that helps ya

 

cheerz

[Tom]

When hydroponics mediums were an expensive item growers used to sterilise their media between grows so they could reuse it without worrying about pests or anything carrying over to the next grow, in my opinion sterilising new grow media is a waste of time and could be damaging to organic media. A couple of methods I knew were to either spread it on biscuit trays and stick it in the oven at 110 - 120 C for an hour or so or the one I used for perlite was to soak it in a drum of water with a cup or two of bleach added and then give it a quick rinse through afterwards. You can buy conditioners from the hydro shop that remove the need to sterilise the media between grows as well as products to introduce good bacteria into new mediums.

 

[avs]

Thanks for the advice lads.

 

Well i decided to try the aussie made GT Coco nutes for this grow. I'll be sprouting my germed seeds in small pots with coco and some 1/2 strength nutes.

 

I was contemplating conditioning the coco/pearlite mix with some microbial but i keep reminding myself about KISS. What are your thoughts?

[loylty gets u nothing]

hey

i love the coco

i use the same coco as u have pictured above

flush it well then i add some canna coco or sri lankan coco

add me perlite mix well together..pot up ..

i dont use microbial and no nothing bout it sorry

an alternative is using a zym like sensizym...

i also use some bio bugs in the medium again similar to sensizym

but to remain within the KISS system i wouldnt use for me 1st grow

coco specific nutes and some monstabud and ozitonic will be a great starter for u imho

maybe some superhtrive or vitamin b1 for using in vege..

all the best

bil

[Tom]

I was contemplating conditioning the coco/pearlite mix with some microbial but i keep reminding myself about KISS. What are your thoughts?

I haven't used it myself as I've never seen the need but I know of a couple of coco growers that use it with every grow.

 

[bufo marinus]

I've grown using HySan to control harmful bacteria/pathogens such as Pythium, but there are easier ways to keep the medium healthy.

Coco isn't sterile anyway to start with, it will keep decomposing.

Problem with wiping out the bad bacteria is that any good bacteria is wiped out as well.

This is ok though and things will hum along fine, but you need to keep applying the HySan, same as OxyPlus, every 3-4 days, otherwise harmful pathogens can attack very quickly seeing as there are no good bacteria to guard against attack

Pythium can be controlled by controlling the Sciarid Fly. Fongarid is a better idea as it should only wipe out most of the harmful pathogens. Sticky traps are a great idea for this also, also beneficial bacteria is another option, I've used Power Active from NuLife

Number 1 advice with coco though, from my own mistakes, don't over water and you'll have no probs