Amendments in Coco?!

[Ioni Botani]

Ive been having the problem of roots damping off in my Coco, so I picked up some Perlite today and have about a 15% cut. So far I like it, the Coco doesn't get "sopping" (standing water)....just stays niccce and consistently moist.

Anyone else amending their Coco?

Suggestions/Advice for an 'amendment newb'?

I love how loose the medium stays when it's amended...the Coco doesn't settle as much...nice...I feel like regular feedings will be much easier to judge.

Peace.
Io

 

[shitabyss]

Yep, been running 20% perlite with canna coco for a few runs.

I can't say I've noticed an increase in yield, mostly because I didn't bother to compare since there were too many other variables.

I hand water DTW from an aerated reservoir with a water-wand. Perlite definitely helps with drainage and reduces the amount of time I need to spend watering each plant, as the solution moves quicker through the medium compared to 100% coco.

Next run I want to try out Silica rocks (Diatomite). I've heard great things about silica rocks and would love to mix it in at about 30% with the coco. If I go this route, I'll probably start watering more frequently as well.

 

[Space Ghost]

a little ewc as an organic buffer never hurts either, esp for young plants...

 

[ScrubNinja]

Next run I want to try out Silica rocks (Diatomite). I've heard great things about silica rocks and would love to mix it in at about 30% with the coco. If I go this route, I'll probably start watering more frequently as well.

Would love to try the silica rocks myself. I've been adding 5 to 10% of coarse diatomaceous earth to the perlite/coco and very happy with it. The coarse DE is 0.9 to 2.0 mm which is sort of like sand texture and is a slow release form of mainly silica. If you press your fingers really hard, you can crush the DE, so my theory is that anytime I move the (smart) pots, it microscopically grinds the DE together and releases a hit.

It gives the medium a distinctly gritty feel. It's not for the light hearted though - at 10% DE my runoff comes out around 8.2 to 8.4 for weeks, instead of like 6.2ish. You would think this is disastrous but it's not.

I also started adding a handful of sifted composted horse poo to the mix but haven't had time to assess the results yet. Later

 

[SlowCalaToker]

a little ewc as an organic buffer never hurts either, esp for young plants...

Exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to start a worm bin and do about 10% EWC, 20% Pearlite, and 70% coco.

Yea or Nay?

 

[Daffy]

Of course, ewc, bat guano, kelp, blood meal, cottonseed meal, crab meal, shrimp meal, seabird guano, fish meal, urea, ammonium sulfate, super phosphate, potassium sulfate, potassium chloride, ferrous sulfate, iron sucrate, and manganese sucrate, cheap in bulk, time released nutrients, can you say autopilot. The more Air Filled Porosity + quick drainage + minimal silt will give you best results. So either 100% cubes, 1-1 cubes-perlite, 1-1 cubes-hydroton. Any one of those mixes is great for automated or sub-irrg8d for the first 2. Also using a good mycorrhizae (Plant Success Endo Ecto Mycorrhizae with all purpose fert) with trichoderma harzianum + ewc with sterilized media will take care of the damping off prob. diatomaceous earth is good. I mix small amounts with my mix. Which reminds me don't use silica stone since it is too sharp for fragile roots. I think I covered everything. If you don't want to buy all those things in bulk just pick-up bag of FF Marine Cuisine and bag of algamin kelp. There's plenty of thing to amend with that have similar effects but I like the FFMC + Algamin since its essentially super compost. Another thing If you don't want more silt in the medium just buy a muslin/cheesecloth/panty hose/put your soil through a large screen.

 

[SergeantGod]

i run a 75 plus plant garden and use straight biobizz coco out of the bag. no amends. keeep it siimpllllllllle

 

[Harinama]

i use perlite also, about 25% or so. Also i reuse all coco, and rinse it well between uses.

BC Nutes(3/4 strength), veg, bloom and boost
cal/mag-use at 1/2 str(except full strength when first potting in reused coir)
humic/fulvic acid
cannazyme, or hydrozyme at 1/2 str(full strength at repotting time)
dripclean 1ml/gal

 

[Sam the Caveman]

I'm trying out a half soil half coco ammended with perlite/lime/blood/cottonseed meal/bone/kelp/diatomaceous earth.

the plants look great if I ph the water to 6.0, otherwise I get P lockout and Ca deficiency. With that much coco, I don't think the microbes are efficient at buffering the ph.

 

[mk6]

70/30 coco / perlite... never an issue... also I recycle an add 20/20% new every grow