Outdoor coco attempt. Advice please

[reginald blumenfield]

Yeah in that bloody big forest you had out the back onyas Styx! (it deserved another congrats I reckon )

 

I never have tried the spag peat moss reggie...I had a look at some stuff yesty that was really light in colour, almost like sawdust.  Where abouts would I look for some in that kind of bulk block?

 

Man grow mixes are so varied...

 

Peace

Faith

 

 

 

Yeah, when its dry its quite fine and does resemble sawdust somewhat. Once its been hydrated, it becomes much darker. I have a friend who picks up my supplies from Duralite located in Braeside, Vic. They are wholesalers but also sell direct to public. Best to call them and check which days you can drop in and pick up your supplies(if your vic based). 

 

Your right about grow mixes being so varied. Ask 20 growers what mix they prefer and your likely to get 20 different answers haha

 

Peace reggie

Edited July 26, 2015 by reggie kray

[reginald blumenfield]

The lighter colour he peat moss the better quality it will be. Some of the bst found in Aus is canadian sphagnum afaik. Just careful as peat moss can become incredibly hydrophobic if allowed to dry out. 

 

 

Coco is the same IMO! You need to hydrate coco and peat moss well before any planting/germing...

[Frank Reynolds]

yes both are shipped dry and compacted. Coco once expanded in the pot, won't become hydrophoic unless you are using the incredibly ultra fine crap coco, but i havent see that for sale in a while. 

[Rosey]

Coco is great for growing with a drip system. This was watered 4 times a day at peak flowering. But make sure the pH of your feed solution is between 5.5 and 6.3 or you will run into dramas

[The Rose of Darkness]

Growing outdoors in coco is really super simple with fantastic results.

Whether you use pots or dig holes into the ground, the key to outdoor coco is to maintain moisture.

#1.  To reduce evaporation from the sun, use a "CD" style cover for the the top of the pots (out of panda film or similar) or sugar cane mulch. This will reduce any excess salt buildup from drying out and save nutrient usage.

#2. An automated feed system (pending location and access) is ideal over hand watering. This will allow constant feeding with reduce risk of dryout. Either a timed pump system or a "self aware" system like Blumats or a 12v soil moisture probe that triggers the pump.


If the plants are not too far from your dwelling, buy yourself a 1000L IBC tank for ease of mixing.

The only two products required are a good mineral base nutrient and (optional) House & Garden Drip Clean.

Extra additives will only cause issues and are not required in the main mix.

 

Run a low EC of 1.0. Even though this seems like a very light strength, this is still double the availability of nutrients in a well composted organic based medium and twice as fast.

When you plant in, a big contributor to success is using extra lime or dolomite lime through the coco.
This will stabilize the PH better in the rootzone and also hold better PH when it rains, which will try to pull your ph out of range.

In veg, a hand water mix of a seaweed stimulant can be used every 1 - 2 weeks to establish strong root platform.

In mid to late flower, a hand water mix of a sugar based element like molasses can be added as well every 1 - 2 weeks.

Fundamentally, the only different factor we have to consider outdoor to indoor coco growing is excess evaporation from the sun.

if we can maintain good moisture, then fantastic harvests are on the way

Rose.

[Jagged]

Ok, so i ran outta soil this year and still have the biggest pot i wanted filled not filled

 

Can i do straight coco outdoor?

 

It's a big fuckin pot will this be ok with sugar cane mulch as mulch? here is a pic not sure how many litres? but its the thing all those pots are in.

 

 

What nutrients? just use what i am atm as the soil mix everything else is in could be 50% coco

 

Or just use what little soil mix i have left and put the 3 remaining photos in the biggest pot bunnings has?

 

What to do what to do?

 

I have a reasonable amount of time to tend my garden, more than the avg bear thats for sure.

 

Thoughts?

[torrietree]

My two biggest pots and latest plants last year when into a very strong coco mix. Would have been a good 70% coco perlite mix with the remaining being pottingmix and mixed manure. Went pretty well considering they only got power feed through the grow.

 

Actually one was male but the female went real well

 

 

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