Squidbilly
Well-Known Member
Here is an easy way to wash your coco.
Get a 5gal bucket and drill as many holes in the bottom as you can. I even drill holes an inch or two up the side of the bucket.
Pour your coco into the bucket.
Place bucket in tub/shower and run warm, not hot, but warm water through it for 5 mins.
(you could also take it outside and rinse it really well with your hose, warm water isn't needed but I think it helps disolve any salt left over in the coco>what we're trying flush out)
Get another 5 gallon bucket of water, add 200ppm cal/mag and ph it to 5.8.
Pour this slowly through your bucket of rinsed coco.
*coco holds on to cal and mag so it's wise to 'buffer' the medium with some cal/mag after you rinse it. This way the coco will hold on to the cal/mag you supplemented and when you plant your seedling/clone/mature plant into it and water it with nutes the coco doesn't suck out the cal and mag. It's already holding onto some and won't steal it from your normal nutes. If you don't pre-charge your coco with cal/mag you may be fine. Not everyone does. In my experience, when I don't pre-treat the coco like this I usually see a slight cal/mag deficiency within 3-7days, however by that time it has corrected itself through the 200ppm cal/mag I feed them every watering, I just have to look at the damage until I trim those leaves off or they naturally bite the dust. When I pre-charge my medium with cal/mag that 3-7day cal/mag deficiency never appears. It's a result of it's first few feedings>if the coco doesn't have some cal/mag to hold ontop before you plant it, it's going to 'suck' some of it out at first. Like I said, if your supplementing with cal/mag they are usually getting enough by the time you notice the deficiency but charging your coco with cal/mag usually prevents this.
Get a 5gal bucket and drill as many holes in the bottom as you can. I even drill holes an inch or two up the side of the bucket.
Pour your coco into the bucket.
Place bucket in tub/shower and run warm, not hot, but warm water through it for 5 mins.
(you could also take it outside and rinse it really well with your hose, warm water isn't needed but I think it helps disolve any salt left over in the coco>what we're trying flush out)
Get another 5 gallon bucket of water, add 200ppm cal/mag and ph it to 5.8.
Pour this slowly through your bucket of rinsed coco.
*coco holds on to cal and mag so it's wise to 'buffer' the medium with some cal/mag after you rinse it. This way the coco will hold on to the cal/mag you supplemented and when you plant your seedling/clone/mature plant into it and water it with nutes the coco doesn't suck out the cal and mag. It's already holding onto some and won't steal it from your normal nutes. If you don't pre-charge your coco with cal/mag you may be fine. Not everyone does. In my experience, when I don't pre-treat the coco like this I usually see a slight cal/mag deficiency within 3-7days, however by that time it has corrected itself through the 200ppm cal/mag I feed them every watering, I just have to look at the damage until I trim those leaves off or they naturally bite the dust. When I pre-charge my medium with cal/mag that 3-7day cal/mag deficiency never appears. It's a result of it's first few feedings>if the coco doesn't have some cal/mag to hold ontop before you plant it, it's going to 'suck' some of it out at first. Like I said, if your supplementing with cal/mag they are usually getting enough by the time you notice the deficiency but charging your coco with cal/mag usually prevents this.
