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Re-using Coco

W

Woody

Member
Hi all,

I am about to move to coco from DWC because its an easier medium to work with and I can't visit my grow every day (sometimes I have to leave it for a week).

I will have a 60L resivour I'll be using with a pump on a timer to feed/water my girls.

My question however is what do you do with the coco at the end of the grow? I was thinking of composting it, but I would like to re-use it for the next grow.

Is there anyone out there that re-uses their coco? If so how do you reclaim it? Do you just put the whole root mass/medium in an large garbo bag and shake it all about?

I'm thinking of using about 60% coco, 40% perlite. To this I might add some worm castings and maybe even some compost. I would like to stay primarily organic at this stage but havent ruled out chemical nutes if things get hard because its just what I know.

Any advice on how YOU reclaim your coco would be appreciated.

Woody.
 
shaunmulok

shaunmulok

Don't drink and drive home, Smoke dope and fly hom
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i re-use my coco all the time... i wouldn't add perlite as that will add drainage and your plants will dry faster and it will also make it harder to reclaim the coco as you say

I re-use my coco every grow!

After i have finished a grow and have harvested i cut off the main stem of the plant about 3"above the coco surface,
i then place the pot in a warm area to let the coco dry completely

(now i have a soil sieve which i purchased from a garden store specifically for separating roots from soil)Otherwise i have found plastic sorting racks/kitchen racks work well and are cheap$2-3

and i sift the coco from the roots

I always mix new coco into my old 3-1 as you will still loose some stuck to the roots

I have been doing this for over 3 years now and have seen no bad effects, i find after a period of time,obviously as the coco breaks down i have small coco particles in my runoff

The only thing i have found is as your coco is used more you need to add a little cal/mag otherwise you get K and cal/mag deficiencies

hope this helps
S
 
gaiusmarius

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
not sure about perlit coco mixtures, but pure coco can be re used at least 3 times, have used the same coco slabs for 6 runs before now, but they were in a cellar for a few months in the middle of those 6 runs. when i dumped them out in the forest i noticed how good the stuff still looked, i was like regretting throwing it out.

when you flush well at the end your coco is ready to go again right away, no need to do much. if you pull the old roots out and loosen it up a bit your good to go again.


edited to add: as of the second time you use the coco, i would start adding a zym product to your tank. every watering ideally. it helps with the general well being of the coco micro life.
 
Last edited:
W

Woody

Member
Thanks for your reply shaunmulok.

Most helpfull. Exactly the kind of responce I was hoping to get. By kitchen racks, do you mean like the ones for letting dishes drain?

There seems to be a bit of conflicting opinions on adding perlite. Personally I can handle the extra drainage because I'll be feeding/watering quite often with a pump on a digital timer. If I was hand watering I definatly wouldnt add it. I think the extra drainage would be benificial later in flower period because my mothers that I grow in straight coco seem to become quite root bound over time and it makes it hard to water them
 
W

Woody

Member
Thanks gaiusmarius,

I'll have to look into a zym product. I guess something like canna-zym?

Never used a zym befor. I guess its some kind of good bacteria?
 
HillBillMt

HillBillMt

Member
looking/1st run, with cocoir, have noticed the plants tend ta be a bit more pail then our dirt, getting ready to re-use the first batch, dried/de-rooted now. have concidered making that facility coco only and doin dirt at second nursery, we have both at the same facility now. still looking at simple/efficient way to clean/flush/dry. will run advance nutes on next run and compare color/yeilds/effect with current nute (some big maple leaf on the front, cant remember now).

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , HHB
 
shaunmulok

shaunmulok

Don't drink and drive home, Smoke dope and fly hom
ICMag Donor
Veteran
yeah bro, exactly like that but you will get them in a square or rectangle shape without the ridges for stacking and sorting the plates....

oh and gaiusmarius posted a vital point! I use a zyme product to break down the roots which also converts them(the dead roots) to carbohydrates and gets rid of what fine roots made it through your sift

I do water by hand so i understand exactly what gaiusmarius says when its come to adding perlite as i have tried and it ment i had to water twice a day in flower as the coco would dry out between waterings and the nutrients seem to concentrate when the coco dried and caused nutrient lockout

so i think in your situation if going away for a week or so perlite wouldn't be advisable

and from my experience over a week you will have a big ph swing! do you have someone to ph your res and/or do a flush and res change?
 
W

Woody

Member
shaunmulok said:
so i think in your situation if going away for a week or so perlite wouldn't be advisable

and from my experience over a week you will have a big ph swing! do you have someone to ph your res and/or do a flush and res change?
Click to expand...

Well I plan to have a 60L reservoir with some form of nutrient with a pump on a digital timer. Not sure what the best feeding schedual would be. I was thinking twice a day, although I have heard of some people feeding 15minutes every hour. Feedback on this would be appreciated too.

I could also hook up a 2nd 60L reservoir with pH'ed water on another timer to flush every 3rd day or so.

Unfortunatly my job requires me to fly away from home for a week, and then back home for a week so I only get to see my girls every 2nd week :(
 
shaunmulok

shaunmulok

Don't drink and drive home, Smoke dope and fly hom
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Woody said:
Well I plan to have a 60L reservoir with some form of nutrient with a pump on a digital timer. Not sure what the best feeding schedual would be. I was thinking twice a day, although I have heard of some people feeding 15minutes every hour. Feedback on this would be appreciated too.

I could also hook up a 2nd 60L reservoir with pH'ed water on another timer to flush every 3rd day or so.

Unfortunatly my job requires me to fly away from home for a week, and then back home for a week so I only get to see my girls every 2nd week :(
Click to expand...
Its hard to say without knowing the size of your plants and pot size?
My plants are veged for 4 weeks and are flowered in 16 lire pots,
From about midway of flower daily waterings are necessary to flush built up salts

So i would say at least once a day waterings about 4 hours into your light cycle, that will give tha plant 6 hours to use the available nutes and H2o before lights out and the rest of the moisture should be enough for the first few hours of lights on

Hope that helps
 
Grizz

Grizz

Active member
Veteran
stay away from the perlite, hate that shit. if you want more air in you pots mix coco chunks in it 50/50. also seems to hold water . i use 1 gl pots for flowering, water everyother day. i seem to get much bigger nicer buds doing it everyother day than i did everyday, also seem to get better yields on the 2nd and 3rd resuse of the coco.
 
Justin_Credible

Justin_Credible

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....
Veteran
shaunmulok said:
i re-use my coco all the time... i wouldn't add perlite as that will add drainage and your plants will dry faster and it will also make it harder to reclaim the coco as you say
<snip>
hope this helps
S
Click to expand...

mmmm...maybe that's MY problem then? I used 90-10% coco perlite mix when I started because I was told it would make for increased root mass with better oxygen transfer. Maybe I should ditch the perlite shaun? Thanks
 
ShroomDr

ShroomDr

CartoonHead
Veteran
I like perlite, there are lots of users here using it as an amendment. There are at least two threads debating its effectiveness, benefits.

I believe (sunleaves) chunky coco was causing problems (releasing too much K; probably not broken down enough). I did like the consistency, so i settled for the chunky perlite/coffee grind coco.

Ive been reusing my coco for over 2 years, but i do keep adding fresh to the mix. The only coco i have thrown out was the sunleaves chunky
(used as a top dress for empty outdoor garden, it didnt lose its color for two winters). I use hygrozyme @2-5mL/Gal.
 
Justin_Credible

Justin_Credible

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....
Veteran
ShroomDr said:
I like perlite, there are lots of users here using it as an amendment. There are at least two threads debating its effectiveness, benefits.

I believe (sunleaves) chunky coco was causing problems (releasing too much K; probably not broken down enough). I did like the consistency, so i settled for the chunky perlite/coffee grind coco.

Ive been reusing my coco for over 2 years, but i do keep adding fresh to the mix. The only coco i have thrown out was the sunleaves chunky
(used as a top dress for empty outdoor garden, it didnt lose its color for two winters). I use hygrozyme @2-5mL/Gal.
Click to expand...

Hey Shroom,
Thanks for the input, I bought the coco bricks that are fine ground, looks a lot like coffee. I just popped a brick today for translplants and r.o. was 240ppm (hanna) ...sound right?
So, you use perlite and find that you have healthy white looking roots at the end? I just need to get my head around this, I cannot get over the fact that they need feeding everyday, AND are growing faster than I can keep up with. :tiphat: Thanks
 
bobblehead

bobblehead

Active member
Veteran
I use coco/perlite 50/50 and reuse every time. Some of it leaves with the thick root-balls, and new stuff gets added in. And I use the horticulture grade normal perlite, no chunky stuff... How's the size of the perlite going to matter when the coco is so fine? I don't get it...
 
Justin_Credible

Justin_Credible

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....
Veteran
bobblehead said:
I use coco/perlite 50/50 and reuse every time. Some of it leaves with the thick root-balls, and new stuff gets added in. And I use the horticulture grade normal perlite, no chunky stuff... How's the size of the perlite going to matter when the coco is so fine? I don't get it...
Click to expand...


I don't get it either man...I am new at this coco thing...just trying to gather as much info as I can.I was just giving all the info I think needed to be given in order get back proper advice.:tiphat:
 
ShroomDr

ShroomDr

CartoonHead
Veteran
The reason people cut the coco with perlite is because they believe in a possible 'sour spot'. This 'sour spot' is basically a wet spot that doesnt drain properly, directly under a transplant. You could squeeze the water out of it, and its probably caused by transplanting into a container that is too big.

If you have ever had a transplant sit and do nothing for 2 weeks, this is the probable cause. The sour spot doesnt kill the plant, it just slows everything down, and the roots dont seem to grow threw it.

Some dont believe in it, some say its effects are negligible, a lot has to do with how you prefer to water.

I like to water as often as possible, but like the substrate to dry out in between soakings (roots to explore, looking for moisture), perlite gives me the best ability to water in this manner.

The only thing i add to my coco is perlite and a little earth worm castings.
 
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