Hydro vs Coco

[gardenfather]

Hey everyone,

I bought a hydroponic system a month ago, Im finding it really hard for some reason.

I was wondering is Coco easier to maintain? The reason I ask this is because you do not have to keep changing the water, clean it every week or 2. I just find Im working hard on this hydro system then I should.

Should I just switch to soil or coco and sell off my hydro system or keep going with the hydro?

Thanks

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Coco is more foolproof, drain to waste is hard to get wrong, and if/when you do, it is far eaier to recover in coco than in active hydro systems. You are also free to sit the pots where you want, making it easier to set up a stadium style grow to maximise all the light.

I ran [NFT] for years, switched to coco and love it. Disadvantages, it is poor in low temps IMO, you get Deficiencies, so other hydro systems can be "better" in winter. People who switch over from soil often seem to underwater, so kill all the roots and get problems.

I always set up beginners with coco, with zero problems, once the plants are up and running, with my hard water here, 1ml of pH- per Liter and around 2ml or A&B Canna Coco per Liter daily, at 22 degrees C, it is very hard to get wrong, you can try it cheaply alongside your existing system.

 

[JamPiece]

What hydro system do you have? Sounds like a recirculating system from the 1to2 week time frame. I've never cleaned my system until after harvest. Let's see if we can figure this out. Coco is nice, but I love ebb and flow.

 

[Bush Dr]

Disadvantages, it is poor in low temps IMO

Totally disagree, raise the feed temp and it can be run at very low temps, the coco buffers the feed temp

My best crops are when the intake fan reads -12C in which case they get fed at 26C which within 4 minutes of the pump running has the coco at 22C, frequent small feeds keep the coco above 20C

Wrap the pots in bubble wrap to insulate them

It may cost you $25 in run to waste feed thrown away but you get $250 extra bud, at least IMHE

 

[gardenfather]

What hydro system do you have? Sounds like a recirculating system from the 1to2 week time frame. I've never cleaned my system until after harvest. Let's see if we can figure this out. Coco is nice, but I love ebb and flow.

This is the system I have one bucket that has the water pump and air stone in it where i drop the water in.

The other ones are just like the front pic. I have 3 on the left and 3 on the right and 1 as the res. All 7 buckets have about 3 gallons of water each.

MY question with this is. When feeding the plants do I just follow the weekly feed? for example if i never change the water will it not over feed them? or at that time the food is all gone? FYI its an older pic from when i first started lol

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Totally disagree, raise the feed temp and it can be run at very low temps, the coco buffers the feed temp

My best crops are when the intake fan reads -12C in which case they get fed at 26C which within 4 minutes of the pump running has the coco at 22C, frequent small feeds keep the coco above 20C

Wrap the pots in bubble wrap to insulate them

It may cost you $25 in run to waste feed thrown away but you get $250 extra bud, at least IMHE

Some good solutions, but, "there is a problem" with Coco and low temps... for most people, on a standrd setup, when temps drop, I think it is Coco's high water content making the medium more thermally conductive. Underfloor heating systems set up with a remote thermostat probe placed in one of the pots would keep the rootzone within spec temps perfectly. Also a simple $10 digital Min/Max thermometer with remote probe [usually to read the "outside"] can show the temp swings easily and reliably.

 

[gardenfather]

Do you find when using coco it has less of a indoor greenhouse smell, because i find the clay stones leave a gross smell after awhile

 

[TheCleanGame]

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