How many here re-use their coco?

[Tomatoesonly]

I let some old 2 gallon coco harvests dry and it turns out... it really sucks trying to recycle this stuff. Once the roots dry they become a large part of the stuff you end up keeping. So now you have all this organic matter in there that you need enzymes to digest once you start using it again.
It just seems so much easier to just buy new bricks of this stuff and go that route.
What say all you other coco experts?

 

[goingrey]

So don't let them dry?

It's not that difficult to get most of them out in my experience. And hydrating a bunch of bricks is an annoyance also.

Dry the roots and grind them up, then use as a flavor enhancer (like MSG).

 

[englishrick]

Here is my trick

So you let a plant super colonise a pot,,,let's say its 5l,,,perfect size to super colonise and imo enough to grow in

Let's say you have finished a run and all you are left with is the bottom bit of the stalk and a pot full of roots ,

If you get a container similar size to the pot and dunk it in zyme,, make sure its a super strong zyme mix,,,leave it for a couple days,,,then wash it through with liquid o2,, then leave it and zyme it again,, that should be enough to just dig a hole and replant, treat it like rock wool from then on

Coco can compress in the pot, once you have colonised it with roots the air to water ratio is super improved and the coco won't compress,,,this alone is worth not getting new coco

 

[englishrick]

You should always use zyme in coco imo ,,massively improves flavour,,,once you zyme and o2 the roots they are basically just fibers that help

 

[trainer]

Hello it is a little bit late
But the canna cogr System you didnt need to prepare for the next .the cogr comes in slabs . You put the cutting in 3 or 4 inch rockwool cube on the slab . All the grow you Give cannazym or other enzymes. After the grow doubble the enzymes one time and two days alter you can put a New rockwool cube with a cutting on the slab . This works wonderful . Some Friede didnt this for two years with same slabs .

 

[MD84]

i used to just cut out the main stem/root ball and plop the new plant into the same little hole. The runs after the first were always the best as some nutes would already be locked in despite a good flush giving a good start to the nest crop.

 

[Ca++]

I have cored out plants, like coring out an apple. We even had knifes with the ends missing, so as not to stab the bottom of the plant pot. It was a bit lazy, and driven by the no-till ides. An idea that's not really relevant in pots, but seemed like a good excuse to not do some work. We did it a fair few times, but saw a reduced yield each time, when compared to sifting/riddling the entire pot. It paid to do the work.

It's not hard to break up a root ball by treading on it, then sift it with a garden riddle. If you loose 15% of your coco to waste, it's probably useful, as the incoming plant likely has coco coming with it. This loosing a bit and replacing it each time, makes the clean up easier, and means that all your coco gets changed eventually.

Once dry, the roots will break up a bit to easily. You should aim to riddle with a moisture content close to how coco or compost comes from the store. This lets the coco fall though, while the roots remain stringy so stay in the riddle.

Over time, you don't have coco as such. That root mass is composting. It's made of the right stuff though, and while we are guided to use enzymes, you should really have a good level of bio activity anyway. I see no reason to use enzymes. Looking out my window I see a dead tree, that's not killing trees around it. If my last crop had rot (wtf?) I would probably dry and burn the coco. Otherwise it's fine and the system is working. Some h2o2 isn't off the list though, if you wanted. It doesn't instantly kill all the good oxygen loving life. It kills the other stuff first. Tipping any colonisation you have, in the right direction. I have used h2o2 in soil grows. It is non-sense that you can't. Coco is often thought of as some inert hydro, but that is a mistake. It's organic material, that supports an eco-system worth having.

So in all, your coco becomes more soil like. Though you stick to coco feeds. The roots left in are not a problem, but do make it heavier over time. So you really want to sift it, not run no-till consecutively.

 

[Tomatoesonly]

I ended up just tearing those old root balls apart and sifting it. Kinda dusty but it wasn't too bad and I haven't noticed anything just yet. Haven't really re-used it, but it seems like it will be fine to re-use.

 

[IngFarmer]

i used to reuse my coco, then after some time i noticed the buds was tasting bad like muddy and it was not strong as before! i changed nutrients, did everything i could do and my buds will still remain very bad after harvesting and curing properly. then i noticed that the only thing i havent changed was using new coco...
I did that and then boom!!! every thing is back normal, strong crazy bud and i'm the KING again...all my friends now want my stuff!!! when things were bad they nicknamed me "thebadweedguy" hahahahaha...
just use new coco after every harvest or at most two runs and you throw it away...IT TOOK ME TWO YEARS of TRY AND ERROR...to come to the realization that the problem was this coco i've been reusing for such a long time!!! be careful!!!

 

[Tomatoesonly]

i used to reuse my coco, then after some time i noticed the buds was tasting bad like muddy and it was not strong as before! i changed nutrients, did everything i could do and my buds will still remain very bad after harvesting and curing properly. then i noticed that the only thing i havent changed was using new coco...
I did that and then boom!!! every thing is back normal, strong crazy bud and i'm the KING again...all my friends now want my stuff!!! when things were bad they nicknamed me "thebadweedguy" hahahahaha...
just use new coco after every harvest or at most two runs and you throw it away...IT TOOK ME TWO YEARS of TRY AND ERROR...to come to the realization that the problem was this coco i've been reusing for such a long time!!! be careful!!!

wow that's a wild story. Did you ever really figure out why? Old nutes, old roots?

 

[IngFarmer]

wow that's a wild story. Did you ever really figure out why? Old nutes, old roots?

the why may be just old rotten roots...JUST USE NEW COCO every time...no need to go through my pain!!!

 

[StickyBandit]

the why may be just old rotten roots...JUST USE NEW COCO every time...no need to go through my pain!!!

I wonder if it was a magnesium buildup

 

[IngFarmer]

wow that's a wild story. Did you ever really figure out why? Old nutes, old roots?

I may like to add that i was always using the zymes, sensizyme from advance, cannazyme from canna, SAME HORRIBLE RESULTS...just fresh coco for every run solve it and i saved the money for buying the enzymes...coco is also QUIET CHEAP to be honest, the loss this problem caused me was 500 times the price of buying new coco...I regreted all the advice i read from people saying yeah its good to reuse the coco...don't make my mistake...

 

[englishrick]

I haven't tried to re use more than 3 times so I can't say much for the long run,,,

I can only assume your issue was a buildup that you couldn't flush away

 

[Paradox808]

Coir is not cheap in Hawai'i. We run it several times using enzymes & o2 rinse. Also adding new coir to the mix every time, the plants break it down.

The problem with coir is that it holds almost zero nutrients.

 

[stiff]

I never rinsed after using it. At the end you give plenty zyme and that was it. Repotting straight into the old roots till they were eaten up by zyme and the new plants. The more I used it the better the plants got. I think my longest cycle was 4 grows and I had to stop due to other stuff..not because the coco reached its end

 

[Ca++]

I have reused it for years and years. Replacing perhaps 10-15% each time, so many times, that how many looses relevance. At that time, quite a lot of your coco is actually compost. It becomes darker and heavier, with a peat like quality that coco doesn't have.

I did once use enzymes to clean pebbles, and suggest that might of been the taste issue. I won't have them anymore.

The Mg call is interesting. All I can say, is that my 'go to' feed is low in Mg.

There is the unpleasant possibility that the coco is breeding something over time, if it's going bad. Many houses have a bit of mold if you really look. Weeping soil pipes under floors. Dried up U-bends letting air in. Pink staining around shower drains, where the sewer bacteria are getting back in. Often because the shower puddles, rather than drains properly. There is a list of common issues, and a longer one of less common ones. Even the water supply can bring in things that breed happily in your system. Using RO seems a good idea, but makes such problems worse. Stripping out the cleaning chemicals.

Enough of us reuse it for long enough to know it's not a problem itself. Like anything, it needs keeping healthy though.

 

[englishrick]

So don't let them dry?

It's not that difficult to get most of them out in my experience. And hydrating a bunch of bricks is an annoyance also.

Dry the roots and grind them up, then use as a flavor enhancer (like MSG).

I say let them dry out after the zyme and after the o2

 

[Ca++]

I try and avoid the inevitable dry-outs. I'm unsure what compounds might be created. Though I'm sure I have had far too many dry-outs to be overly concerned.
Something like salt feeds, can't be put together until well dilute in solution. In a hard dry back, we are taking the water away, and putting them salts together. Things like calcium-phosphate are on the cards. Not toxic, but not much use.

Now and again.. meh. Probably not an issue, but not something I would actively try and achieve.

 

[IngFarmer]

I have reused it for years and years. Replacing perhaps 10-15% each time, so many times, that how many looses relevance. At that time, quite a lot of your coco is actually compost. It becomes darker and heavier, with a peat like quality that coco doesn't have.

I did once use enzymes to clean pebbles, and suggest that might of been the taste issue. I won't have them anymore.

The Mg call is interesting. All I can say, is that my 'go to' feed is low in Mg.

There is the unpleasant possibility that the coco is breeding something over time, if it's going bad. Many houses have a bit of mold if you really look. Weeping soil pipes under floors. Dried up U-bends letting air in. Pink staining around shower drains, where the sewer bacteria are getting back in. Often because the shower puddles, rather than drains properly. There is a list of common issues, and a longer one of less common ones. Even the water supply can bring in things that breed happily in your system. Using RO seems a good idea, but makes such problems worse. Stripping out the cleaning chemicals.

Enough of us reuse it for long enough to know it's not a problem itself. Like anything, it needs keeping healthy though.

"I did once use enzymes to clean pebbles, and suggest that might of been the taste issue. I won't have them anymore."
what do you mean by this? can you explain further? thanks