crossing over to the coco side

[RUFUS HOUND]

heres the shogun coco feeding chart  - more for my reference 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

So root stimulator - are the root stims worth it?

 

I have 1/2 bottle of seaweed going spare, that I used from germ to start of flowering iin soil - can it be used in coco and if so, whats the best way to use it?

[catweazle1]

Just now, RUFUS HOUND said:

I have 1/2 bottle of seaweed going spare, that I used from germ to start of flowering iin soil - can it be used in coco and if so, whats the best way to use it?

Yep. Use that, then get some root stim next grow and compare.

Edited November 28, 2023 by catweazle1

[RUFUS HOUND]

 sounds good to me 

[RUFUS HOUND]

santa dropped off some supplies for my first venture into coco land.

 

not sure if pH from 5 to 7 is good or bad - buffered but not prefed - it takes 30L to hydrate hopefully I can split it in half as I will only need 3 x 12L

 

Not sure how much feed to pre-treat it with - shogun bottle says 2 ml of A&B per litre - so was thinking of trying 0.5 to 1ml of each to start ? advice please

also does it mater about mixing A and B separately and feeding separately or can it all go in the jug ?

 

with A being 3.9/0/0 and B being 1.8/2.1/4.6 looks like A=grow/  B=Bloom

[RUFUS HOUND]

Ive been having a look about for the best EC for different stages of growrh.

The Shogun seemed to my inexperienced eye to be a little strong with  an EC1-1.2 for seedlings

I found this as a guick guide and it tallies with what I was thinking - doesnt make it right though!

 

Stage	PPM	EC
Clones	500-600	0.5-1.3
Seedlings	500-600	0.8-1.3
Vegetative	800-900	1.3-1.7
Flowering	1000-1100	1.2-2

 

 

 

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

For my reference but handy if others want the Jiffy pro7 coco bricks

 

The PRO7 COCO BLOCK produced by Jiffy is the perfect choice for growers that use a lot of coco and want it to be easy and discreet to transport and store, but more cost effective than buying multiple COCO BRICKS.

How to use:
Place your PRO7 COCO BLOCK into a large wide container such as a Garland 1m tray or wheelbarrow, premix your water and nutrient in a bucket then add to your block and watch it swell. (pH adjust solution to 5.5 to 6.5)
We recommend 30L of lukewarm water for a mix that is not quiet fully wetted up, ideal for if you then wish to water in your freshly potted on plants, and 35 litres if you are not going to water in your plants.
Break it up within the bucket as it swells and fluff it up to produce a uniform product with your hands or a hand fork.  This can take 15 to 20 mins.  Now is the point at which it is best to add any further substrates you require such as perlite or clay pebbles.
Add your expanded potting mix to a suitable pot and then add your plant. Plants propagated in Jiffy7C plugs or ROOT!T sponge plugs will have a head start ready to thrive in your PRO7 premium substrate.
Start to feed with a professional fertiliser such as VitaLink Coco Coir Grow, a vega nutrient proven to promote rapid root development and vigorous early growth. Mix in 1-2 ml/L of each of A and B solutions to your water for seedlings and young plants. Begin to increase the dose rate once you see your seedlings or plants have established and are actively growing. Use at 3-4 ml/L of each of A and B solutions for mature plants.
Always check the water quality in your area and ensure you are using the correct variant – either hard water or soft water. In very soft water areas, we recommend a half strength CalMag supplement such as Vitalink CalMag (0.5ml/L) during the growth stage.

Technical specification
Media: 100% Coco Pith
Compressed: Yes
RHP: Yes
Buffered: Yes
Pre fertilised: No
Volume: 70L when expanded
Water needed to expand each block – 30L for a drier mix which is perfect for plants that you wish to ‘water in’ or 35L for a wetter potting mix to plant directly into without ‘watering in’.
Ph: 6.0 +/-1 (1:1,5)     
EC: 0.5 mS/cm (1:1,5)
Pack qty: 1
Pack size: 290 x 280 x 140 mm
Pack weight: 5 kg (approx.)

Edited December 2, 2023 by RUFUS HOUND

[RUFUS HOUND]

since the wife is out, I took the opportunity to make up a litre of shogun to see what Im playing with! God that sounded sad but all I need is smoke, sounds and my hounds 

 

1L Tap water 

Ec 375

TDS 172ppm

pH 8.4

 

1L Tap+ 1ml coco A 

EC 781

TDS 380ppm

pH 8.2

 

1L Tap+coco A+ coco B

EC 1085

TDS 535ppm

pH 7.9 

 

guess I need a fair bit of ph down as the shogun only reduced my tap water by 1/2 a point 

 

 

[catweazle1]

22 minutes ago, RUFUS HOUND said:

since the wife is out, I took the opportunity to make up a litre of shogun to see what Im playing with! God that sounded sad but all I need is smoke, sounds and my hounds 

Are they for soft water? Doesn't look like there is any acid in it. They usually use nitric acid. If you don't get the HW version, you could treat your water first with phosphoric acid and bring that to your desired pH, then do your nutes. Doing acid last will likely react with some of the nutes and reduce the down effect. Try it both ways.

 

I like Pro7 coco, nice; fluffy and uniform.

Edited December 3, 2023 by catweazle1

[RUFUS HOUND]

10 hours ago, catweazle1 said:

Are they for soft water? Doesn't look like there is any acid in it. They usually use nitric acid. If you don't get the HW version, you could treat your water first with phosphoric acid and bring that to your desired pH, then do your nutes. Doing acid last will likely react with some of the nutes and reduce the down effect. Try it both ways.

 

I like Pro7 coco, nice; fluffy and uniform.

shogun coco A/B supposed for hard and soft water, you just use a little less when using hard water - maybe to do with the EC total???? Im only guessing 

 

I did a little trial adding  1ml of cider vinegar to the 1L tap+A+B solution . not the best method but I dnt have any pH down yet or citric acid yet 

EC   = 1085 uS

TDS = 545 ppm

pH   = 6.9

 

adding the vinegar doesnt appear to effect the EC or ppm but brought the pH down 1 point.

 

heres the feeding chart - the bottles of A+B say pH of 5.5 to 6.5 but that may be just the raw feed????? - only guessing ????

 

 

 

 

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

ph down arrived - nothing special phosphoric acid 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

need to dig out my jiffy pucks, I might as well go full on coco from start to finish.

 

All I know is there in the loft, along with tonnes of decos im also sorting through, to put up for a couple of weeks, then take em all down again, bah humbug

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

I found the jiffy pellets 

 

I split the coco block in half today with a hammer and bolster chisel as I only want 35-36L of coco (3 x 12L pots), a hand saw might have been a better choice but it got the job done.

 

Ive got an old fliptop bin in the garage which I think is 50L, so that will be ideal mixing up me thinks.

 

This is the plan - please tell me if Im going wrong ! 

 

going to hydrate the 1/2 block in a 15L feed solution (tapwater with 1 ml per Litre of A and 1ml of B. so 15ml of A and 15ml B) or should I go 1/2 strength ????

I dont have any root stim so plan on using seaweed extract and some "mykos" to dust the roots every pot up.

The feeding chart recons 5ml/L katanta roots but as Im using seaweed instead, I think 5m/L is a bit high from day 1, so maybe reduce that to 2.5ml/L (at least I know I wont kill the little ones at that rate).

EC of solution should be between 1 - 1.2 on chart ( or maybe 0.5 to 0.7 to start????)

if thats okay adjust ph to 6 with ph down 

throw in block, let swell and break up, turn every now and then leave overnight 

 

As Im only using 3x1L pots to start, what do I do with rest of the made up coco - will it keep or should I just make up a few litres coco to get me through to the next pot up.

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by RUFUS HOUND

[catweazle1]

You could get a dustbin. Make it up in that then you can you can move the coco in and out as required, after cleaning the roots out. Just keep using it and topping it up with new stuff as required. When you pot up with recycled stuff, just run through your normal nutes, squeeze and use. You could use an enzyme, if you are fussy, to break root fragments down. Anyway, yes you can make up all the coco and have it sitting around waiting to be used. Sitting around a bit will stabilize the coco environment.

 

The main thing to rember is when watering, you are correcting the coco environment. Get it out of your head that you are ADDING food and nutes are accumulating everytime you water... they are not. If your runoff measurements are out, fertigate, whether it's to high or too low. Fertigating redresses your target parameters.

Edited December 14, 2023 by catweazle1

[RUFUS HOUND]

@catweazle1 cheers mate, thanks for that info - in that case I'll knock it up tomorrow and let it sit over christmas