Coco Coir...?

I've been seeing more and more people use coco, so I'm planning to use it on my next grow. I have a couple questions about it though. First off, the majority of people use automated irrigation be it drip or whatever. If i were to water by hand, how often would the pots need water? If its an everyday thing thats cool. I just wat to make sure its not like a 3-4times a day thing. Secondly... Once I have my expanded coco does anyone have a good "coco recipe"? how much pearlite... any other additives, as well as would it be ok to add say bat guano to the mix?

With coco, I think ive read that you can only use "coco nutes"? Will reg nutes work?

Thanks so much for your help...


Cheers

I have used coco coir in my last grow...and its awesome... I hand watered my plants once a day with good quality hydro nutes and I got a great crop.... I just used it straight and when I finished I put it out in my garden where it goes back into the soil.... I had them in double pots so I could collect the runoff in low sided resivours... I'm about to start again using coco again but with Autopots this time so I dont have to tend to them so extensivily as it does get tired doing it by hand every day.... good luck with that..my plants were huge..after veging them for 7 wks and the buds were PHAT :^D

I have used a lot of coco. Watering frequency will depend on your pot size, plant size, and maturity of plant. In seedling-veg stage in 1 gallon pots expect 4-5 day increasing to every 3 days watering. In flower in the same pots expect a four foot plant to need every 3 days increasing to every other or even every day in late flower. You DO NOT need big pots for coco. A gallon max is needed for indoors unless you really don't want to water much. The bigger the pot the less you need to water but the more you need to be accurate with your nutes because they stay in the pot longer. You can use regular hydro nutes just make sure you have a cal/mag supplement. I use 100% coco, no additives.

I also use 100% coco and I hand water aswell. Mared juwan summed it up pretty well and also overwatering is never really an issue either. Just remember to give them a good flush/flood every week or 2 to get rid of any salt build up. A coco specific A+B nute is best to use, all other additives dont really matter.

mared juwan said:

I have used a lot of coco. Watering frequency will depend on your pot size, plant size, and maturity of plant. In seedling-veg stage in 1 gallon pots expect 4-5 day increasing to every 3 days watering. In flower in the same pots expect a four foot plant to need every 3 days increasing to every other or even every day in late flower. You DO NOT need big pots for coco. A gallon max is needed for indoors unless you really don't want to water much. The bigger the pot the less you need to water but the more you need to be accurate with your nutes because they stay in the pot longer. You can use regular hydro nutes just make sure you have a cal/mag supplement. I use 100% coco, no additives.

Click to expand...

MAred Juwan, that was great info! so you can really grow with a 1 gallon pot? I got some 10" pots the other day I was thinking of using.. I fugure they are between 2-3 gallons. so that should be fine right?? Also what grade coco do you guys use?? DO you mix grades?? Like put some coco cubes in the finer grades of coco? What I have here is compressed coco peat. so no additives?? the Packaging says its ph is 5.5-6.5 would I still need the cal/mag?... not even pearlite?? LOL Thanks guys. Yours a great help.

Cheers

M Blaze said:

I also use 100% coco and I hand water aswell. Mared juwan summed it up pretty well and also overwatering is never really an issue either. Just remember to give them a good flush/flood every week or 2 to get rid of any salt build up. A coco specific A+B nute is best to use, all other additives dont really matter.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip Bro. Your grow was the thing that actually triggered the coco switch! Amazing my brother!!! Been a Pro mix man for years... loved it/ Still love it... but what I see you get out of coco will make anyone give it a try. Keep up the good work!

Bless!

No worries bro, im sure you will like it (and so will the plants). Im not sure on the calmag thing coz ive never used it and ive always used coco specific A+B.

I use a very fine 100% coco blend but will occasionally top up the pots with some potting mix if I dont have any coco around. The potting mix doesnt sit on the top for very long because once they get a few good waterings the soil sinks down because its heavier and the coco rises to the top.

This is the type of coco I use, I have never tried the coco bricks: http://www.nutrifield.com.au/mediums/nf-coco-bags

This is what the Nutrifield coco blend looks like, its very light:

Cool yeah its the same thing.. Mine looks the same once it's expanded. Good stuff, Im looking forward to it.

Cheers

M Blaze said:

No worries bro, im sure you will like it (and so will the plants). Im not sure on the calmag thing coz ive never used it and ive always used coco specific A+B.

I use a very fine 100% coco blend but will occasionally top up the pots with some potting mix if I dont have any coco around. The potting mix doesnt sit on the top for very long because once they get a few good waterings the soil sinks down because its heavier and the coco rises to the top.

This is the type of coco I use, I have never tried the coco bricks: http://www.nutrifield.com.au/mediums/nf-coco-bags

This is what the Nutrifield coco blend looks like, its very light:

Click to expand...

Yea I've used a few different types of coco. All worked more or less the same. I started with the brick coco but didn't like the work of soaking and breaking up the block so I switched to bagged stuff. For a while all my hydro store had was a premixed blend of coco and worm casting so I used that for a while. Then they got 100% coco in bags so I switched to that. Didn't notice any real difference between the three. I've used coco specific nutes before as well. AN Monkey Juice for a long time. Now the guy at the dro store says they don't make Monkey Juice anymore?! So about a month ago I switched to AN's regular hydro nute, Sensi 2 part. I've been adding Sensi Cal Bloom for calmag and it works just the same as Monkey Juice so far.

2-3 gallons sounds like OK pot size. I've grown quite a few in 2 gallon pots. Also tried 1/2 gallons before. I grew 4+ footers in the 1/2 gallon pots but didn't like watering twice a day at the height of flower. I've grown 5+ footers in the one gallon pots and never had to water more than once a day. After many tests I have decided 1 gallon is the best for me but your space and motivation to water may dictate something else.

Thanks a lot Mared. So between you guys and research I've come to understand that with coco you can mix it with other ingredients if you want or not. I think im gonna throw in a bit of perlite and maybe a little bat guano in mine. With coco you have to add calmag right?? Why is this? And do you add it in the mix or do you supply it with waterings?? So excited about the coco. Cant wait!

Thanks agains!
Cheers

I mean that's what I hear. The difference between coco specific and regular hydro nutes is mainly the cal mag which you are supposed to add with every watering. The only other difference I noticed is that regular hydro nutes seem a bit lacking in P for veg in coco. They are just fine for flower. So what I do in veg to fix any P def (purpling stems, lack of shine or luster to the leaves) is add a flower hardener.booster. Don't let the name fool you, it is just straight PK supplement which can be used in veg no problems. Specifically I use Ionic Boost (0-5-6) but you can use any booster. My mix is roughly 2/3 regular veg nute(Botanicare Pure Blend Pro - for hydrogardens), 1/3 Ionic Boost. So if anytime your stems go purple or your leaves are not shiny just increase the Boost levels and you will see the changes overnight. If your leaves have a color problem, ie too dark or light green, then you should adjust the regular nutes with the nitrogen content. Very easy this way assuming all other factors (water frequency, ph, temps) are on point. You should have a booster like this on hand when it comes time for flower anyway.

i use coco and only coco i grow with advanced nutrients all organic with the full line of additives i water every day with 20 percent runoff watering every is important u must treat the coco like hydro not soil u will grow a nice crop but no where near what u can yield if u keep the nute levels in the coco steady by watering and feeding daily also flush ur coco weekly or everytime u change ur nutes and always add some cal mag to the coco