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Quality Coco list (EC/PPM)?

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notjonesinNEmor

Member
Has anybody seen or have a list of EC/PPM runoff readings for different brands of Coco? I know first hand how salty the Sunleaves coir is, but I was curious about the other brands. It would be great to have a little more information on deciding what brand to go with and if you even need to go through the trouble of flushing.

It sounds like Canna is one of the best, but how about say Botanicare or the others out there?

Maybe we can start gathering this in one place?

:joint:

___________________________________________________________________

Here is what we have so far:

Bontanicare - ~150ppm
B'Cuzz - mixed results. still looking for that damn post!
Canna - good stuff ( no numbers yet)
GH (Bricks) - good results ( no numbers yet)
Grotek - >1000ppm RINSE!
Pele - EC <.05
Sunleaves - rinse ( no numbers yet)

NICE! 7 different brands so far.
 
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G

Guest

I fluffed up a big block of the Grotek stuff last fall, it needed to be rinsed heavily about half a dozen times, verrrrry salty. It was dirt cheap though, about 8$ CDN for a brick that expanded to 60 L or so. Initial runoff from the first rinse was over 1000 PPM, and my tap is @ ~75ppm.
 
B

Boxy Brown

botanicare has some good stuff, the flush water was around 150-ppm.
 
J

jimjay

Member
I have been using bcuzz. On the last grow with it i didnt flush and my ppm started coming out real highlike 1.8e.c. starting w/ .8. The only other thing i can think it could have been was build up in drippers. but i really dont think buildup would get that high so? What ever coco you get i would check because shit happens.
Any one else have issues w/ bcuzz? Either way i gotta switch since they raised their prices
 
N

notjonesinNEmor

Member
Boxy, Good to hear. Locally I only have Botanicare and Sunleaves.

JJ, Hmmm, it seems I read a post in a thread here that said that they tested the BCuzz and the runoff was almost as low as the Canna. I need to go back and look for that again. Thanks for the feedback.
 
J

jimjay

Member
Your probably right. I have used bcuzz more then once, never any problems. This one time i had problems. For all i know it was my fault just a warning i guess
 
clowntown

clowntown

Active member
Veteran
What exactly is the method used for measuring runoff?

How big a container of coco? How is the water poured / passed through it (or is it placed in a closed container and shaken)?

If you give me a uniform method of testing the runoff, I'll test it on a bag of Canna and post results.
 
N

notjonesinNEmor

Member
Canna has this long process detailed on their site about how to measure the nutes, but to be honest I think a simple process could be followed to get pretty consistent results.

Something along the lines of:
1) measure the ec/ppm of water to flush with
2)soak coir in tub ( I used a compressed brick) for 15-30 (?) mins
3)stir well
5)drain and measure ec/ppm of this first batch of runoff

This process, of course, does not take into account balancing the water first and if you decided to use R/O or tapwater, buffering or any of that fun stuff done in a later step.

But then again, feel free to dream up your own standards, I'm easy :D

I know absolutely nothing of hydro-based mediums (been doing org soil) so I could be missing something important. My first grow was a coco based soil-less mix. Hand watered with bottled nutes. Came out OK for a first grow. Been too lazy after that to get back into so I have been using FFOF since.
 
B

BlueBear

Member
I have used the GH bricks with no problems, defs or such, but the local store stopped carrying it so I can only get a brand called down to earth now and I like it better than the GH. With both I use GH 3 part, LQ, SuperThrive in veg and CalMagplus and pull about 1 1/2 LB under each 1K with 12 girls under each with 5 weeks veg under a 400 only keeping 12 under the 400 at a time.
 
N

notjonesinNEmor

Member
Bluebear, sounds like you've got a good thing going! Do you rinse your coco prior to use?

IS, Hmmm, I have not heard of the Pele before. Is that something available in the US?

I think Clowntown's question was more to get a ballpark idea of how I would take measurements. I could definitely see where a reading taken from someone just running water straight through a batch of coir vs letting stew/stir for an hour could show different readings.

Thanks all for you participation. When I go into the grow store and I am given a choice as to what brand to buy, it sure will be nice to be able to make an informed decision and to be able to have a reasonable/predictable expectation as to the results. :joint:
 
B

BlueBear

Member
I will probably get a little ragd for this, but I stopped doing a deep rinse on my coco and havn't had any problems. As a matter of fact I just put a bunch of coco in a 5 gallon bucket and break it up with tap water, but my tap is 7 PH right out of the foset and a PPM under 50. Once I put the coco and the plant in the pot I will then water with nutes according to the age of the plant, veg or flower and so on. I use 3 gallon buckets with a small 2 gallon painter bucket under it to catch the run off and just change the under bucket about every 4 or 5 days depending on how full it is. I will also put a layer of hydro rocks at the bottom of the 3 gall, but sometimes I don't and don't have any problems. On smaller plants, straglers or plants that tend to stay under 2 FT I just use the 1.6 gal pots, many stors call them 2 gall pots.
Hope all this helps some. One other thing, I PH everything at 5.9 approx and don't worry about run off because I don't have defs and I don't recerculate and havn't had any problems.
Adieu
 
G

Guest

American Agritech (Botanicare) gets their coco from PeleMix.. :joint: I'll get the exact EC numbers tommorow.

Pele wants $239 per ton of their coco =]
 
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T

thc43

Active member
Veteran
Richgrow 1.5ec but had grass seed popping up within first week will take a while for waste to be clear.

canna coco in bags below 0.5ec havnt used the compressed slabs

higen with neem says its below 0.5 unsure havnt used but told its alittle higher than canna ec but has neem already mixed in.

Coco peat bricks 2.8ec first run off of the flush,

Bcuzz didnt measure ec early in the grow but was right up there with canna but the coco can change colour to dark brown by grow end.


where i buy higen, bcuzz, richgrow and canna are all the same price $30 per bag but you get more in Bcuzz, canna and higen. Pick of the bunch for me is canna followed by higen if i had known bug or scaria fly issues.
 
G

Guest

Pelemix compressed block
Pelemix grow bag
Pelemix loose sample

All of them had..

EC 0.28

pH 6.5 - the RO water used was tested at 8.5 pH
 
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G

Guest

Indica Sativa said:
Pelemix compressed block
Pelemix grow bag
Pelemix loose sample

All of them had..

EC 0.28

pH 6.5 - the RO water used was tested at 8.5 pH
Click to expand...

I'm using Botanicare 6x6s... they say any salt left over isn't at toxic levels in there stuff... people say it's 150ppm.. That Pelemix looks pretty mean thou :) I wanna try it.


Hi Indica Sativa btw
:wave:
 
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G

Guest

HENNESSY said:
I'm using Botanicare 6x6s... they say any salt left over isn't at toxic levels in there stuff... people say it's 150ppm.. That Pelemix looks pretty mean thou :) I wanna try it.


Hi Indica Sativa btw
:wave:
Click to expand...

If you go to pele's website they have a few pictures of their coco with Botanicare's label on them.. so I believe Botanicare = Pele :joint:
 
aeric

aeric

Active member
Veteran
sunleaves test was same as tap
B'cuzz, same as tap
Botanicare....didnt test, but no salt toxicity symptoms.

I don't think all batches are created equal...some1 else could and has said quite different.
 
B

Boxy Brown

Indica Sativa said:
If you go to pele's website they have a few pictures of their coco with Botanicare's label on them.. so I believe Botanicare = Pele :joint:
Click to expand...


multd.jpg
 
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