crossing over to the coco side

[RUFUS HOUND]

Hiya all, as peat is going the journey I am thinking of giving coco a crack.

 

Total coco virgin so dont rag me about to much.

 

Im thinking of getting jiffy pro7 5kg brick or jiffy pro7 100% coco 50L sack beyond that Im open to advice 

grow in compost so I have all the hardware - ph/EC/TDS meter

 

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

Forgot to mention my water is classed as moderately hard 10:1 cal'mag ratio 

 

any things I need to know, need to do or not do - thanks in advance

Edited November 26, 2023 by RUFUS HOUND

[Lux_Interior]

I changed to Coco two grows ago. Hand watering. Cal-Mag will be needed. Coco dries out quicker than compost and altering the water p/h to 5-6 will help. Until another equivalent to peat compost is found Coco is the way I'm going. If you use a Coco-Lite variety substrate you need to start to feeding earlier than in compost.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Lux_Interior
sp.

[Slippy One]

Should be 3:1 so you’ll need a teeny amount of Epsom salts or a teeny bit more of liquid mg, don’t bother with calcium. Good runoff is essential so Medusa or Danish trays plumbed in or rig a runoff pump. Another product to consider is using slow release pellets to feed the coco, that way you’ll only need to add water. Research Beanstalk (there are other brands) nutrients and you can even check the “feed once, yes once…” thread in this very coco forum. 

good luck whichever method you choose. I’m currently testing the coco:beanstalk:water method as we speak, using gravity fed blumat carrots. Week 3 and so far so good. 
 

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Slippy One

[RUFUS HOUND]

The jiffy brick is buffered but not pre fed, ph =6 , EC =0.8 i think

 

not heard of the slow release stuff - sounds great 

so you just have to reduce the pH of your water and thats it 

 

I get  mg def with my tap water so I always add a pinch unless the feed has added mg 

 

Sorry cant do name checks as on chrome 

[RUFUS HOUND]

are tthere any 1 part feeds for coco veg and bloom or are they all a&B ?

would my chempak neuts be okay to use in coco = no.2 for veg / no.8 for flower???

I have 1/2 bottle of biobizz bloom but am I right in thinking, organic neuts are no good in coco.??

 

I'm happy hand watering, as dont entirely trust blumats but thats based on buggar all experience with them , just worried about flooding

 

In soil I have a heated sand bed that keeps the roots warm and allows the runoff to drain into the sand - is this method still ok using coco.

Edited November 27, 2023 by RUFUS HOUND

[Herbal Kint]

No bio bizz , if you are not on budget try advanced ph perfect Coco ,you don't need to mess with ph. Need only EC pen and I really recommend bluelab ec. So AB and some rootgrow is all I use. I start with around 1Ec of food ,my water is 0.7EC so feeding 1.7EC.

 

More watering, rest is same. Harder to get deficiency in coco then coco imo

[Slippy One]

3 hours ago, Herbal Kint said:

No bio bizz , if you are not on budget try advanced ph perfect Coco ,you don't need to mess with ph. Need only EC pen and I really recommend bluelab ec. 

 

More watering, rest is same. Harder to get deficiency in coco then coco imo

While I agree with the deficiency thing, especially how fast you can fix nutrient problems in coco (watering every day), I don’t agree that an E.C truncheon is necessary unless you’re running larger reservoirs that need topping up, and you need to know. For most folks, hand watering is fine, just follow the labels on dosing, usually 3-5ml/L so no need to check E.C. 

[RUFUS HOUND]

3 hours ago, Herbal Kint said:

No bio bizz , if you are not on budget try advanced ph perfect Coco ,you don't need to mess with ph. Need only EC pen and I really recommend bluelab ec. So AB and some rootgrow is all I use. I start with around 1Ec of food ,my water is 0.7EC so feeding 1.7EC.

 

More watering, rest is same. Harder to get deficiency in coco then coco imo

cheers - got myself a EC already 

 

So no grow/bloom just A&B from the start - sorry totally newbie coco wise and weve just welcomed a new hound to the pack to havent had time to read up.

[Slippy One]

7 hours ago, RUFUS HOUND said:

are tthere any 1 part feeds for coco veg and bloom or are they all a&B ?

would my chempak neuts be okay to use in coco = no.2 for veg / no.8 for flower???

I have 1/2 bottle of biobizz bloom but am I right in thinking, organic neuts are no good in coco.??

 

I'm happy hand watering, as dont entirely trust blumats but thats based on buggar all experience with them , just worried about flooding

 

In soil I have a heated sand bed that keeps the roots warm and allows the runoff to drain into the sand - is this method still ok using coco.

Def have a go at hand watering first, the blumats are something I recommend experimenting with outdoors, as they’re kinda quirky how they work. If you’re worried about flooding, best plumb in a runoff system using the medusas or Danish trays first. Blumats take a few days to dial in no runoff using small increments on the tap but there’s been no significant problem so far, and without the need for watering duties, the plant/s literally grow themselves..  

[Slippy One]

25 minutes ago, RUFUS HOUND said:

cheers - got myself a EC already 

 

So no grow/bloom just A&B from the start - sorry totally newbie coco wise and weve just welcomed a new hound to the pack to havent had time to read up.

Yes, A&B from the start 50:50. I failed with Canna, my savior was Growers Ark nutrient, hardwater edition. Bloom (yellow bottlea) is amazing if your local grow shop sells it. Great for hand watering, rubbish for large reservoirs and pumps. I hand watered for years, nothing beats it. 

[RUFUS HOUND]

Just now, Slippy One said:

While I agree with the deficiency thing, especially how fast you can fix nutrient problems in coco (watering every day), I don’t agree that an E.C truncheon is necessary unless you’re running larger reservoirs that need topping up, and you need to know. For most folks, hand watering is fine, just follow the labels on dosing, usually 3-5ml/L so no need to check E.C. 

 Ive already got a truncheon and EC/ppm my feed in soil, so its no more bother - to me anyways. Im in the "I just need to know " camp 

[stu914]

I use Advanced PH Perfect for hydro and although expensive much easier to use without having to set ph level.

Word of caution, use about half what they recommend as I've just overdosed a couple of grows following their guide on the bottle.

 

[Slippy One]

^^ This!! It’s safer smarter and cheaper to err on the side of caution with doses. If there’s any sign of def, just up it next day and it’ll be obvious a day later. You’d be surprised how little feed some strains need. 

[RUFUS HOUND]

I took the plunge and ordered a couple of 5kg jiffy blocks and some shogun coco A+B. It seems half decent and on the plus side uses a tad less with my hard water.

 

tap water from yesterday - left for 24 hours 

EC = 0.55

TDS = 275PPM

Ph = 8.2

 

Heres the brewers info and hardness report for my water
Total hardness:
The water in your area is classed as slightly hard.
Scale/units Average Maximum Minimum
CaCO3 mg/l
Calcium Carbonate 110.66 113.64 105.02
mg/l Ca 39.40 40.61 37.96
total hardness 44.26 45.45 42.01
Degrees Clarke 7.70 7.91 7.31
French Degrees 11.07 11.36 10.50
German Degrees 6.29 6.45 5.96
 

Brewers information:
Scale/units = Average Maximum Minimum
 

mg/l Calcium Carbonate 110.66 113.64 105.02
mg/l Chloride 11.07 15.19 8.26
mg/l alkalinity (HCO3) 60.03 71.75 45.41
mg/l Ca - Calcium 39.40 40.61 37.96
mg/l Mg -Magnesium 2.96 3.74 2.46
mg/l Sodium 8.70 9.52 7.48
mg/l Sulphate 60.51 72.62 53.23

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by RUFUS HOUND