Growing Organic w/ Bio Bizz in 50/50 peat coco PH of medium and run off low

jaked3800

Active Member
I been growing in organic soil for a long time. Then like 5 years ago I jumped into the coco hype and began experimenting. I have been doing a 50/50 coco peat blend for the past 5 years or so. Some runs come out with little to no deficiencies but often I am having what looks like ca/mg deficiencies. And premature yellowing of fan leaves/ browning. I have a blue lab pH meter that tests the water going in and the medium itself. The medium is always lower than the water going in. I water around 5.8 and the medium is usually arund 5.2-5.3 but the runoff is closer to the pH of the water going in. Sometimes when I pH probe the medium its all the way down to 4.8 pH, but even when its that low, half of the runs have no deficiencies so its confusing the shit out of me.
I run with about 10% run off hand watering about every 4 days in 5 gallon buckets.
Nutrients are Bio Biz line minus bio heaven, General Organics CaMg, Hygrozyme, seabird/guano tea, benificials, molassis.

Theres a ton of info on soil alone or coco alone but it's hard to find info on the 50/50 blend but Ive had some of my best runs when I hit it right with it.
 

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Peat is acidic by itself. That's why promix adds lime. You can blend your own but you should add dolomite lime or something else similar to buffer your ph. Or just use promix. Lot easier than messing around and getting yellowing plants due to ph lockouts. Making your own medium isn't as easy as just throwing a bunch of things together. Promix makes a coco blend. Promix cc. Personally I wouldn't use it. I'd stick to either or.
 

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
Peat is acidic by itself. That's why promix adds lime. You can blend your own but you should add dolomite lime or something else similar to buffer your ph. Or just use promix. Lot easier than messing around and getting yellowing plants due to ph lockouts. Making your own medium isn't as easy as just throwing a bunch of things together. Promix makes a coco blend. Promix cc. Personally I wouldn't use it. I'd stick to either or.
My personal preference at $32 a bale
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xtsho

Well-Known Member
A 50/50 blend of peat and coco plus that nutrient regimen you're using is an odd mix. It's probably going to be difficult to keep that in check.
 

jaked3800

Active Member
Peat is acidic by itself. That's why promix adds lime. You can blend your own but you should add dolomite lime or something else similar to buffer your ph. Or just use promix. Lot easier than messing around and getting yellowing plants due to ph lockouts. Making your own medium isn't as easy as just throwing a bunch of things together. Promix makes a coco blend. Promix cc. Personally I wouldn't use it. I'd stick to either or.
Promix is the peat I use with mother earth Coco but it just seems like its to sensitive to pH where you have to have it very dialed in to catch the best absorbtion for Calcium and Magnesium at the same time. Might just go back to soil.
 

jaked3800

Active Member
A 50/50 blend of peat and coco plus that nutrient regimen you're using is an odd mix. It's probably going to be difficult to keep that in check.
Yeah im starting to thing the same thing. I always liked having all the coco in for the quicker drybacks and easy absorbtion during waterings. Felt like I could get the best of both worlds which I do about 1/3 of the time just cant get consistant with it unfortunately.
 

Bukvičák

Well-Known Member
Yeah im starting to thing the same thing. I always liked having all the coco in for the quicker drybacks and easy absorbtion during waterings. Felt like I could get the best of both worlds which I do about 1/3 of the time just cant get consistant with it unfortunately.
Sounds like improper treatment of coco…
 

Bukvičák

Well-Known Member
Improper beause im mixing it 50/50 with peat or because I'm allowing it to dry out more than you should for 100% coco??
Mixing coco with peat is a nowadays trend since there is a big demand for lowering the usage of peat due to CO2 release. Eg. Canna Terra pro and promix Cc. But it does not change a shit. You still need to treat it different than you treat pure coco or coco/perlite. Proper treatment of coco is way different, and it allows you amazing things. Commitment is serious untill you automate you grow to some point, especially watering and runoff managment, than its fairy tale.
 
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