Organic in coco

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Hey there fellow poo lovers..

I am using 100% coco coir as my base for the first time. Results so far are excellent and very happy with the progress of my beautiful budz.

I was just wondering if any of you folks has much experience in this particular field and could offer me some wisdom?

Especially vis a vis the use of soil conditioners and microbe enhancers such as mollases and wormcastings... is the process just as in soil or not

Cheers.

 

[Guest]

Do you have a specific question????? Give us a list of what you're planning to use in the coir mix.....LC

 

[BurnOne]

Welcome SilverSurfer_OG-
Coco coir is a little too wet all by itself for me. I like a lot of drainage because it allows space for oxygen. And I like Sativas which like a dryer medium.
By all means add worm castings. Here's a soiless mix from an old Buddy of mine...

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Coir
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Check the link in my sig line below for cheap earthworm castings. Free shipping to the eastern USA.

Burn1

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Emm i guess my specific Q is are the same helpful microbes all present and correct in coco?

I have read that coco bonds the nutrients in a different way and just wondering if the use of mollasses, kelp, wormpoo etc is affected...?

Presently i have acquired: Bat poo, worm poo, seasol (kelp), fish emulsion, blood and bone meal, mollasses, epsom salts, sulpher of potash and a lil bit of superthrive...

And a wee pinch of TLC.

Nice to see youse OG's again

 

[Guest]

SilverSurfer,

Yes, everything works in coir that works in peat mixes....With the exception that coir has better drainage and a higher PH...Coir is a better base medium than peat...But they both work the same.....Do some homework and have fun.....LC

 

[BurnOne]

Another thing to watch closely with coir is salt. Some of it has a very high amount. You can wash it though. Use a large bucket or tub and flood the coir. Move it around with your hands and the coir will settle to the bottom. Pour off the water on top and drain the coir. A couple of those will get rid of most of the salt. It can also be tested with a TDS meter.
Burn1

 

[CoolBreeze87]

im glad to hear you're having good results with organic fertilizer and coco coir. Im currently growing in a peat based medium, but my next grow im going to try using coco coir since i bought some last year but never used it yet.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yes i am pleased with my plants in coco... have some minor issues but plants overall nice and healthy...

Will definately mix in some more goodness for my next batch.

 

[The Slickster]

With your bonemeal, you should be able to provide a good calcium base. And for Magnesium, epsom salts will do the trick. The thing is to find a way to get it all to the plants on a slow continuos basis seeing as how coir is so "conductive". Am trying a 30% coco, 30% perlite, 30% peat moss, with 8% guanos (4%-seabird and 4%-bat), and 3% bone meal for calcium sourcing. The bonemeal has no K potassium so will not be adding excessively available potassium to plants that may not need it yet. But in flowering mollasses can be a good source of potassium amongst other things. With pure coco, it seems like it is always a good idea to watch calcium and magnesium. The plant needs calcium for the structure and coco tends to with hold calcium and then magnesium. It readily passes potassium throughout, and so should be fed such especially during flowering. Calcium from bonemeal should assist the PH slightly.

 

[SpanglyBoovus]

Coco Coir is what I've been using for the last 8 or 9 months and I love it. I doubt I will ever return to moss because Ive had such great success with coir! I love the fact that it's pH is stationed much closer to what cannabis likes to grow in (6-7) and that it holds the moisture a bit longer than moss also because it's very dry in my room so having the coir hold moisture a little longer has probably saved me from a few disasterous situations.

All of the ammendments that you would use in a peatmoss mixture can be used the same way with great success!

good luck.

 

[Vash]

I've been growing hydroponically in the past, but have decided to make a go of it organically because I like the taste of MJ, as opposed to quantity. From my research, there seems to be a lot of positive things said about the coir, and I'd like to use that as a part of my base mix. There seems to be a "learning curve", and I don't want to before I even get started. Hopefully, throughout this thread, i can gain enough knowledge to include the coir in my mix. The salts are my concern, so far. Let's say I wash the salts out, will that effect the ph?

Spangly, how much of your mix includes coconut coir? By the way, check your PM.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yup i think my next mix will be LavenderCowboys mix with some rock dust and greensand if i can find it here in Australia...

 

[SpanglyBoovus]

Most of my base is coconut coir. And now, most of it is re-used coconut coir.

about 65% coir, 30% perlite, 5% bark/sand/amendments.

I love coir! I add most of my nutes and amendments to the pots at transplants, various amendments depending on the transplant time..

I do plan on getting a bag of mushroom compost when some free money comes up, and then I will be adding 2 new bricks of coir + bag of mushcompost to my base mix tote..

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Cool Spangly... I plan on reusing my coco, this is my first grow using it. Have some kind of lockout these last weeks of flower but the buds are growing nicely and still shooting out lots of white hairs in now week 8 of flower...

I think the problem i have is lockout of magnesium and calcium but not sure...

Will mix in some dolomite lime...

Is that what you use for your calcium and mg?

What do you put in before you flower plants???

Cheers.

 

[- ezra -]

While coir is undoubtedly a fantastic hydroponic medium, I have been a bit hesitant to use it with organic nutrients because of its anti - microbial properties. Coir is mildly anti fungal and possible has some anti bacterial properties as well. This is great for sterile hydro, but not so great with organics where your success depends on the micro herd thriving. I am sure good results can still be obtained, but I think the advantages or coir are best utilised in hydro, not with organics. For this reason I still use a coir free mix when doing organics. I use Composts, organic soil, WCs, perlite and diatomite in my mixes.

remember that coir can lock up calcium and magnesium, especially towards the end of the cycle, so use specially formulated nutrients for coir or watch for defficiency.

good luck with your grow, Ez

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

I see... so what LavenderCowboy says is incorrect?? The microbes etc i want to farm are going to die in coco? Not good... i think i might just chuck my coco i have into my compost heap and reuse it that way...?

What are the opinions on maybe a mix with 30% coco, 30% compost (home-made), 30% soil and 10% perlite?

Does anybody here use their own compost for indoor grows or am i just asking for some kind of infestation?

Cheers.

 

[BurnOne]

I see... so what LavenderCowboy says is incorrect??

Hell no.
LC knows more about organic gardening than anyone else on these forums.

 

[Patch7]

I have been using lc's soil recipe with the entire biobizz 100% organic nutes and reusing it too on several crops for 3 years now and I have not had any defeciencies at all from seed to harvest.. I never add calcium or mag and the mix works great on a second crop too. My belief that it works is from growing with it and seeing it work great with organics!!

 

[- ezra -]

Hell no.
LC knows more about organic gardening than anyone else on these forums.

No one person knows everything. there are many ways to achieve a good result. The best thing to do is take in as much information as you can from as many sources as you can and draw your own conclusion based on that.

I am not saying that coir and organics strictly do not mix, I am just saying that coir does have mild anti microbial properties. IMO it may be more difficult for michorrhizae forming fungi to thrive in a coir based medium.

- Ez

 

[Patch7]

Well I do add flower saver to all my mediums during transplants and it is the michorrhizae. It thrives in my mix and my roots love it!