Recommended brands of Coco Coir

[Guest]

My last 4 x bags of canna pro have all had several large, red/orange colour lumps of salt in them 

[InTheSystem]

4 hours ago, golf.007 said:

i use canna but I'm now put off by what I have been reading about califonia and what canna have come out and said, apparently if you want to pass heavy metal tests in cali you shouldn't be using their coir as grows have been failing tests. 

True, but California are pretty hardcore with testing and with organic products. I am pretty sure some organic and most artificial fertilisers would fail these tests miserably if put through them  Coir should not have heavy metals in though to be fair... Thanks for pointing out.  

4 hours ago, FigmentofFig said:

Botanicare cocogro. Cheap as all, no salts, just perfect 

Will check it out. Cheers!

Just now, Cherry said:

My last 4 x bags of canna pro have all had several large, red/orange colour lumps of salt in them 

Thanks for posting - it seems there is a pattern quickly forming of recent Canna bags containing contaminate or salts, which is a shame.. More the reason to hunt for an alternative though!

[BonnieAuto]

I am putting in a order for a brick of ugro l70 for £10, the bagged stuff is 50l for £16 including the £5 oversize surcharge. 

 

I don't have to worry about expanding the coco with ph balanced water as I use sensi's nutes, alot less hassle. 

[catweazle1]

@BonnieAuto I use the Ugro brick but I first rinse it through to a pale runoff then soak in 2.0ec calmag for 12 hours and I've had no problems with deficiencies. Am into fifth week of NL Autoflower... just started showing pistils.

[BonnieAuto]

@catweazle1My tap water ec is 0.1 should I be adding cal mag like you? 

 

I'm expanding my block soon 

[catweazle1]

It doesn't matter what your tapwater is regarding buffering co, it needs doing with 1.5 to 2.0ec calmag... I think! For general feeding, I think the recommended base water is 150ppm, which is what I originally dropped mine down to mixing with ro, so maybe add another 50ppm. I got fed up making the ro so I'm using 300ppm tapwater now. No issues so far. 

 

Many people don't wash and buffer their bagged stuff but I think bricks definitely need doing. I've had unwashed stuff before going by the wash colour. I'll always do it whatever the reputation of the source. It's one potential problem avoided.

[BonnieAuto]

ah okay then, I will pick some cal mag up and give the coco a wee wash.   

Edited May 30, 2020 by BonnieAuto

[catweazle1]

@BonnieAuto  I wash, buffer in 1.5 -2ec calmag for 12hours then run through to a good runoff whatever pHed ec nutes you are going to start with in the pots. I'm 6 weeks in  now and not seen any deficiencies. If your runoff is higher than 0.2 of feed ec just keep running your normal feed through until it's down to that range. If it's regularly going high, say 0.4+ over, add another feed time. High temperature has a lot to do with it, causing more evaporation and concentrating the nutes in the media.

Edited May 30, 2020 by catweazle1

[Guest]

Plants can handle sitting in pots with much higher background ec than 0.2 above the feed ec. 

The run off from this girl was 2.6 after feeding 1.4. 

Edited May 31, 2020 by FatBoy77

[catweazle1]

14 hours ago, FatBoy77 said:

Plants can handle sitting in pots with much higher background ec than 0.2 above the feed ec. 

The run off from this girl was 2.6 after feeding 1.4. 

Yeah, when they get big and also when you know how to react when it's too much. What I'm posting is for people that  are just starting and learning the relationship between ingoing ec and runoff ec and how to control it. What target numbers they use in the end is up to them.

Edited May 31, 2020 by catweazle1

[BonnieAuto]

@catweazle1 @FatBoy77

this debate right here is what does my head in with coco. I think we complicate it a little. 

 

It's why I'm running a tent with coco and another with soil to find out what I like growing with best. 

 

also going to run a single pot of coco with 10% peat and some castings that's going to be fed non-phed organic nute's just out of curiosity, bio bizz says there stuff works in coco. 

[catweazle1]

@BonnieAuto That's the thing with forums: you get choices. What I do is follow the people/methodology/philosophy that I think might work for me and then choose to act on the suggestions that seem to go with that way of thinking. You can get several right, yet contradictory, answers if you understand why and what methods each person uses. I try to give what I think are safe numbers for a novice to try with some lattitude for error and still have a nice result. It won't produce the most or the best but when you are starting out the pursuit of perfection is the enemy of good.

Edited May 31, 2020 by catweazle1

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, BonnieAuto said:

@catweazle1 @FatBoy77

It's why I'm running a tent with coco and another with soil to find out what I like growing with best. 

 

also going to run a single pot of coco with 10% peat and some castings 

I ran a soil tent and coco tent next to each other, you'll get your bucket confused at least once!  I also ran 60% compost 30% coco 10% castings, good shit. 

And I was organic feeds for a few years. 

My quest has led me to 100% coco in all tents, mothers will be compost though. 

[catweazle1]

@FatBoy77 I'm sold on coco too. I find it very straightforward and controllable once I got the idea behind it and understood that it's hydro and not soil.

[BonnieAuto]

3 hours ago, FatBoy77 said:

I also ran 60% compost 30% coco 10% castings,

Yeah basically the soil tent will be tropic bat mix which is 40% coco and 60% peat, I have emailed the makers of the soil asking how much extra coco can I add without running into deficiency's while using soil nute's like biobizz or shogun terra. 

 

I plan to have a separate flexi tank being used to avoid stoned fuck ups  

 

have you ever tried charge ? I want to have a "water only" type thing. could I finish a crop with only top dressing charge and some Guano ? 

The Guanokalong range look really interesting aswell but slightly more expensive. 

 

@catweazle1 Yeah your right everyone has their own way of doing things. 

 

3 hours ago, catweazle1 said:

it's hydro and not soil.

I don't think It's a hard and fast rule though mate, you could say that coco is more like soil in the sense it has a micro herd and can be fed things like charge, bat shit ect.. 

but then if you water it like compost it'll dry out and die  I have heard people call coco the middle ground between hydro and soil. 

There is the option to go organic with coco. I think, but no one really does it. 

Edited May 31, 2020 by BonnieAuto