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SOIL vs COCO?

B

BOZWELL

Active member
I have been reading up on coco for a bit know and it seems to be very good as long as it it mixed 50/50 -60/40 with perlite or caly pebbles the results are good and better than soil .I am a soil grower and have freinds who do hydro and its to much fuss for me, I like to hand water my plants as and when needed I get good results from soil but hope take it a step futher with using coco I would like to here from people who have used both coco and soil and how they rate the two mediums aganst each other
cheers :joint:
 
truecannabliss

truecannabliss

TrueCanna Genetics - Selection is art
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I have grown both soil and coco using canna nutes......both were easy as pie, no stress or any real problems to note.....also i used the canna coco on its own, no perlite. I personally would go for coco, that is the medium i have opted to stay with.
Peace
 
Dr. D

Dr. D

Active member
Veteran
Im still on my first grow with it and its working very well for me so far...
 
G

Guest

Can not compare to the soil, but will say that the 50/50 mix of coco perlite work's great for drip feed hydro system's as that is what I do.

stay safe and grow the same way.
realhigh.
 
G

Guest

I use soil for my mom's qnd use Xtreme Coco cubes in my hybrid hydro systems. The coaoa has nutrients that are not otherwise available. It is good in the initital phase of growth as it provides the initial nutrients necessary to help seedlings start. I like the material as it does not degrade in hydro use. In soil applications I use perlite,bone & blood meal meal and pro potting soil mix for my moms.

Good Luck

Avid
 
kasabian

kasabian

Member
coco will beat soil any day ,better dranage,no insects,allround healthyer plants...thats what i find bro...
 
G

Guest

Either seperate or together soil and coco will always perform really nicely as long as there is good drainage and dry time in the medium for breathing imbetween waterings imo.

I like to mix 50/50 perlite and coco and use only liquid ferts as this makes flushing at the end really easy.

The thing i like most about coco is that Its light to lift for my back when i have to cart the pots around the place, my shoulder is slightly buggered and lifting the heavy soil pots everyday is a pain.

I tried hydro but I didnt do to well so coco it is for me. I thinkits great, and cheap.

Cant go wrong unless you dont mix perlite with it, sometimes if its on its own with no perlite i find it sets like mud and i would not use that to try and start seedlings in for example, that need their roots to break through a medium easily.
 
G

Guest

Another thing I did discover, I got worm casting's and ground them up to a fine powder, a mistake, as this dense and act's like a blanket and will not allow water to drain well, so if you use the casting's, mix well with the medium, I kinda layered it in the medium as I planted the plant's, not a good idea at all.

Coco does not dry out super fast, so in hydro it can be a pain as you have to get used to watering less, as it was said as the medium dry's out it pull's in oxygen to the root's and allow's them to breath.

I have used coco for over a year now in a recirculating drip system. At first I feed it all the time, kept it wet, they grew. Next time a bit less feeding, but coco was still moist all the time. Finally I got myself to slow down on the feeding a bit more, but again all has grown fine for me, but according to other's I still feed way to much.

Stay safe and grow the same way.

realhigh.
 
Dr. D

Dr. D

Active member
Veteran
i use 30 % coco in my organic soil grows and it works well...iv just repotted some more plants into coco for the flower room...coco is very good without a doubt...but full organic is shit hot too...peace
 
SuperToker

SuperToker

Member
i use about 70% hydroton and 30% coco in buckets that i hand water, and the growth is as good as hydro, but healthier looking plants. either perlite or hydrton mixed 50/50 is good.
 
B

BOZWELL

Active member
Cheers for all the info so far ,those that hand water what kind of feed and what streanths do you use and when do you feed
Sorry for all the questions but I want to get it right
once again thaks for helping me move on from soil
 
CalcioErba2004

CalcioErba2004

CalErba
Veteran
I tried coco a little bit ago and I love it. Its great mixed 50/50 with perlite or 60/40 with perlite(more perlite). I usually feed a weak solution(GH 3 part) and I water when they need it. I dont follow a strict schedule, just water when I think they need it. I use the weight of the pot to tell. If its heavy that means there is still water in the pot and I can wait a little bit before watering. If they feel light and empty, I water them. Not super complicated, I noticed in the little time I have been growing that the more you complicate things the more things go wrong. :smile:
 
G

Guest

Well, I'm confused. Passive hydroponic setups like the Autopot recommend a 60/40 coir/perlite medium. This sits in about an inch of water at all times with an air stone . Through capillary action the medium constantly stays moist. How comes these systems aren't said to be watering too much as compared to drip systems?

The reason I ask is because I have a plant in coir/perlite mix and every time I've tried to sit it in a passive resevoir the plants starts to show signs of stress. Take it out and let it dry and the plants starts to respond. I'm thinking either my mix is out of ratio, or perhaps the rootball is sitting in too much water (this was a transplant re-veg from a dwc setup, light root prune).

Apparently one of the good things about buffered coir is it's stable PH buffering around 5.5.
 
P

phunkey

New member
Hello Personal Grower. This is my first post so hope I understand OK but it sounds like an additional air supply is absent from your passive system. It's nothing to do with your mix.
Hope it helps. :woohoo: . My first post. :wave:
 
G

Guest

There is an airstone in the bucket-in-a-bucket setup. Pretty air tight which forces the air to escape through the medium. This is my first time working with coir and I even added vermiculite to the Coir/Perlite mix, which may be retaining too much water. Most people would agree that vermiculite isn't needed in this mix and that they think it holds too much water. I didn't think it would be a huge deal because, iirc, vermiculite is only retains 8% more water than perlite. I didn't do precise parts because I underestimated coirs expansion from brick form.
 
G

Guest

That's what I was thinking too. I'll just use a drip setup for her and on the next batch I'll make sure to get a proper ratio of coco/perlite minus the vermiculite. I really hope the passive setup works out for me because it seems to have all the advantages of soil and hydro without the drawbacks/complications from either...

Thanks phunkey!
 
G

Guest

i recently visited interpolm(a grow shop) in amsterdam and they had a coco v all mix running side by side ,,,to say the coco plants looked better is a huge understatement ,the coco plants obliterated the all mix in terms of growth ,obviously i couldnt say about taste ,,,but i knew this already i been using coco nearly 15 years,,,,,, no way would i change back to that dirty soil stuff
just my opinion though
 
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