Need advice soil plus coco

Yuv

Yuv

Member
Hey guys I’m thinking of growing in a soil plus coco medium. I grew two plants in coco plus some compost and they came out nice but I had to water so often. I’m thinking of adding some soil into the mix this time. 50% coco and 50% compost and soil. So my question is what’s the ph that I should be aiming for? Or is this idea completely worthless and I’m better off with coco alone? Let me know what you guys think
 
Yuv said:
Hey guys I’m thinking of growing in a soil plus coco medium. I grew two plants in coco plus some compost and they came out nice but I had to water so often. I’m thinking of adding some soil into the mix this time. 50% coco and 50% compost and soil. So my question is what’s the ph that I should be aiming for? Or is this idea completely worthless and I’m better off with coco alone? Let me know what you guys think
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My vote would be coco but then in a coco grower.

coco is a hydroponic soiless medium and once plants are established should be fed a minimum of once per day.

choose a larger pot size if you find daily watering a chore as with a larger pot you can go every other day without any negative impacts as long as you don’t get full dry out in between watering days.

most plants in coco with a balanced coco specific feed for your water type don’t need any higher EC than 1.4-1.6EC. for most coco specific nutrients this is about half the recommended dosage.

coco should be fed every watering with no plain water days.

coco IME also requires additional calcium and magnesium supplementation during the whole growing cycle.

My rule of thumb

seedling - early veg : 0.6-0.8EC
early veg - mid veg : 0.8-1.0
Stretch : 1.2-1.4
Mid flower : 1.2-1.4
Late flower : 1.2-0.8 reducing back in the last few weeks to 0.8.

pH 5.5-6.5 my preferred 5.5-6.0 during veg
6.0-6.5 during flower.
 
jondamon said:
My vote would be coco but then in a coco grower.

coco is a hydroponic soiless medium and once plants are established should be fed a minimum of once per day.

choose a larger pot size if you find daily watering a chore as with a larger pot you can go every other day without any negative impacts as long as you don’t get full dry out in between watering days.

most plants in coco with a balanced coco specific feed for your water type don’t need any higher EC than 1.4-1.6EC. for most coco specific nutrients this is about half the recommended dosage.

coco should be fed every watering with no plain water days.

coco IME also requires additional calcium and magnesium supplementation during the whole growing cycle.

My rule of thumb

seedling - early veg : 0.6-0.8EC
early veg - mid veg : 0.8-1.0
Stretch : 1.2-1.4
Mid flower : 1.2-1.4
Late flower : 1.2-0.8 reducing back in the last few weeks to 0.8.

pH 5.5-6.5 my preferred 5.5-6.0 during veg
6.0-6.5 during flower.
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Okay thank you. So just plain coco? Is there a benefit in adding compost or nah? Anything that I should premix? I live in a hot area and it’s like 30c all the time I run the lights in the night. Is there anyway to have a little bit more water retention? Like close to 50% of my feeding comes out
 
jondamon said:
My vote would be coco but then in a coco grower.

coco is a hydroponic soiless medium and once plants are established should be fed a minimum of once per day.

choose a larger pot size if you find daily watering a chore as with a larger pot you can go every other day without any negative impacts as long as you don’t get full dry out in between watering days.

most plants in coco with a balanced coco specific feed for your water type don’t need any higher EC than 1.4-1.6EC. for most coco specific nutrients this is about half the recommended dosage.

coco should be fed every watering with no plain water days.

coco IME also requires additional calcium and magnesium supplementation during the whole growing cycle.

My rule of thumb

seedling - early veg : 0.6-0.8EC
early veg - mid veg : 0.8-1.0
Stretch : 1.2-1.4
Mid flower : 1.2-1.4
Late flower : 1.2-0.8 reducing back in the last few weeks to 0.8.

pH 5.5-6.5 my preferred 5.5-6.0 during veg
6.0-6.5 during flower.
Click to expand...
Hey so these ec numbers are they the same no matter what the plant size is? I grow smaller plants in a 45x45x150. Last time I let her veg her for 28 days from the time. So should I be feeding the same? And last time I had ph issues. Should I be flushing regularly?
 
Yuv said:
Hey so these ec numbers are they the same no matter what the plant size is? I grow smaller plants in a 45x45x150. Last time I let her veg her for 28 days from the time. So should I be feeding the same? And last time I had ph issues. Should I be flushing regularly?
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the reason you get pH issues is probably because of feeding too heavy.

yes those numbers are regardless of plant size.

i veg for a similar amount of time.

as for water retention. Use a bigger pot for your plant if you chose coco alone.

if you add perlite etc it’s gonna make it dry out quicker.

how do you know you had pH issues last time?

Did you perform a runoff test or a full slurry test?
 
jondamon said:
the reason you get pH issues is probably because of feeding too heavy.

yes those numbers are regardless of plant size.

i veg for a similar amount of time.

as for water retention. Use a bigger pot for your plant if you chose coco alone.

if you add perlite etc it’s gonna make it dry out quicker.

how do you know you had pH issues last time?

Did you perform a runoff test or a full slurry test?
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I checked the run off. My ph pen wasn’t calibrated so the reading was off. When I did calibrate it. The run off was 4.8 I flushed her but it didn’t come back up more than 5.5 even when I kept feeding her at 6.5. Maybe the compost fucked it up. She finished okay with fucked up leaves. Trying to avoid it this time. I know I know I defoliated without knowledge. Which made her grow more leaves giving me leafy bud. Lol done the research to try out the right way this time
 

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Yuv said:
I checked the run off. My ph pen wasn’t calibrated so the reading was off. When I did calibrate it. The run off was 4.8 I flushed her but it didn’t come back up more than 5.5 even when I kept feeding her at 6.5. Maybe the compost fucked it up. She finished okay with fucked up leaves. Trying to avoid it this time. I know I know I defoliated without knowledge. Which made her grow more leaves giving me leafy bud. Lol done the research to try out the right way this time
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Runoff pH in coco will never be correct.

slurry Test With distilled water is slightly more accurate.

if your ph was that low to correct it you would have Had to feed with around a 8pH to correct the rootzone pH.

usually in coco pH issues happen through over use of PK boosters which cause the coco to hold on to the Ca and give back K.

once every 2-3 weeks its good practice IME to feed with a base calmag solution at about 0.6-1.0 EC to act as a buffer for the coco and then resume normal feeding schedule.
 
jondamon said:
Runoff pH in coco will never be correct.

slurry Test With distilled water is slightly more accurate.

if your ph was that low to correct it you would have Had to feed with around a 8pH to correct the rootzone pH.

usually in coco pH issues happen through over use of PK boosters which cause the coco to hold on to the Ca and give back K.

once every 2-3 weeks its good practice IME to feed with a base calmag solution at about 0.6-1.0 EC to act as a buffer for the coco and then resume normal feeding schedule.
Click to expand...
Okay will do one more thing is it bad to have the plant sit in runoff? Usually after a while it’s gone. Its all sucked in
 
jondamon said:
Runoff pH in coco will never be correct.

slurry Test With distilled water is slightly more accurate.

if your ph was that low to correct it you would have Had to feed with around a 8pH to correct the rootzone pH.

usually in coco pH issues happen through over use of PK boosters which cause the coco to hold on to the Ca and give back K.

once every 2-3 weeks its good practice IME to feed with a base calmag solution at about 0.6-1.0 EC to act as a buffer for the coco and then resume normal feeding schedule.
Click to expand...
And when should I start feeding? Coz plain coco wouldn’t have any nutes for her to grow yeah? Last time I fed her after like three weeks. I think compost had enough.
 
Yuv said:
And when should I start feeding? Coz plain coco wouldn’t have any nutes for her to grow yeah? Last time I fed her after like three weeks. I think compost had enough.
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Feed straight away.

i precharge with 0.6EC.


Yes it’s bad for coco to sit in runoff needs to be removed.
 
jondamon said:
Feed straight away.

i precharge with 0.6EC.


Yes it’s bad for coco to sit in runoff needs to be removed.
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That means 300 ppm yeah? I can’t find the fertilizer that most of these guys use where I live. I kinda have to mix them on my own. What do you think there should be in that first feeding? More nitrogen, cal or mg?
 
Yuv said:
That means 300 ppm yeah? I can’t find the fertilizer that most of these guys use where I live. I kinda have to mix them on my own. What do you think there should be in that first feeding? More nitrogen, cal or mg?
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A balanced nutrient feed.

It’s going to be hard for me to help you based on a few things.

I don’t know what’s available to you, I don’t know your source water, I’m not a chemist and I have found a brand of nutrients that suit me.

the only Things I use are

DUTCH PRO HYDRO COCO GROW A/B (soft water)
DUTCH PRO EXPLODE (pk booster)
Plant magic CalMag
Epsom salts

I add my Calmag to increase my source water by 0.2EC.

then I add my base Nutes A/B to the EC I posted earlier.

source water + calmag + A/B = to EC I posted above.
 
Dirk8==D~Diggler said:
What’s your setup because it’s not too hard to elevate the pots in whatever catches the water
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Yes I was being lazy. I need to take the water off. It’s a compact grow it’s fine during veg but when they flower it’s kinda hard to take her out every time I have to feed her
 

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jondamon said:
A balanced nutrient feed.

It’s going to be hard for me to help you based on a few things.

I don’t know what’s available to you, I don’t know your source water, I’m not a chemist and I have found a brand of nutrients that suit me.

the only Things I use are

DUTCH PRO HYDRO COCO GROW A/B (soft water)
DUTCH PRO EXPLODE (pk booster)
Plant magic CalMag
Epsom salts

I add my Calmag to increase my source water by 0.2EC.

then I add my base Nutes A/B to the EC I posted earlier.

source water + calmag + A/B = to EC I posted above.
Click to expand...

Thank you will try to do that. I have ordered professors original A and B. Hope it comes soon
 
Yuv said:
Thank you will try to do that. I have ordered professors original A and B. Hope it comes soon
Click to expand...

Have you got a calmag product aswell as coco I’ve found (10 year coco user) requires elevated levels of Ca and Mg more than the usual 5%Ca and 2%Mg that’s found in coco specific nutrients.
 
Yuv said:
Yes I was being lazy. I need to take the water off. It’s a compact grow it’s fine during veg but when they flower it’s kinda hard to take her out every time I have to feed her
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Lol dude is that cardboard box lined with aluminium foil? Lol.
 
jondamon said:
Lol dude is that cardboard box lined with aluminium foil? Lol.
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Haha yes. Made it with things I could find at home during corona. Initially coz I couldn’t get any bud. With some seeds I had from bud i smoked. Never thought it will actually work lol but hey I’m smoking my own now. Even though I got bud they weren’t really nice. Was potent but taste and look wasn’t so good. Trying to grow a little better this time.
 
jondamon said:
Have you got a calmag product aswell as coco I’ve found (10 year coco user) requires elevated levels of Ca and Mg more than the usual 5%Ca and 2%Mg that’s found in coco specific nutrients.
Click to expand...

I use epsom salt and the calcium product I use has nitrogen too.
 

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