Questions about Botanicare Cocogro bricks and Hempy's

[Jnugg]

Thinking about switching from FFOF to Coco Coir and teying some 2l to 1 gallon hempy buckets with leftover GH Flora Micro & Flora Bloom @ 6ml/9ml per gallon.

Questions...

1) How many quarts or gallons will each brick of Botanicare Coco Gro expand to?

2) Should I do 100% coco (with 2" deep perlite rez) or 75% coir 25% perlite with 2" perlite rez?

3) Is it necessary to flush the brick/coir of salts?

4) Do I need to precharge the cour with nutrient solution?

5) Should I precharge with Botanicare Cal/Mag Plus or similar product?

 

[Jnugg]

Bump

 

[mg75]

if you have a ppm meter, you can check the run-off after expanding a bale. you don't need much. just a sample in a plastic beer cup with holes in it. collect the run-off and check.

if it is really high, then flush... check again and "charge" with your favorite nutrient solution and transplant. if the ppm comes low, then just transplant and water with your nutrient solution.

better safe than sorry.

 

[bigbufu]

Whats up nuggs ! I can answer a couple of your questions as im using the 6/9 currently and love its simplicity yet effectiveness. I would definitely rinse my coco with phed 6/9 before putting the ladies in there new homes. I dont precharge with cal-mag as the 6/9 has enough nutes in it to keep everything straight i do add a half gram per gallon of epsom salt once a week to keep the mg up. Ive never used the coco bricks but know that ive had some friends say the botanicare coco bricks come hot so RINSE !! Also definitely amend with the perlife ive done runs with straight coco and they tend to only need water every 3 days while with the perlite they want it every day or two days at most. I use a perlite/ lava rock mix and love it. Now regarding how much the coco bricks would expand to it should say on the botanicare website or on the package itself. If you need any tips let me know Jnuggs. Have fun and welcome to the coco world !

-AJ

 

[RonSmooth]

I have never rinsed or precharged Botinicare's Cocogrow and have had no problems. IMO, it is a good product and doesn't need to be rinsed.

I hydrate the blocks with tap water and cal-mag. I only add the cal-mag because I have soft tap water. 2.5mL/gal brings it up to around 150ppm which is more in line with common tap water. I don't really consider this pre-charging.

The block expands to maybe 3x its size when hydrated. It breaks up to a nice fine, fluffy mix and I use it straight with no perlite. It can get soggy if you use large containers before the plant fills them with roots so dont overwater until the plants become established.

 

[moka]

I use those CocoBlocs exclusively. Straight coco, nothing else. I rinse them with tap water and wait about an hour for them to fully expand. I will add water the following day with a little cal mag, 2ml/gal and maybe one third or half the recommended dose of CannaStart and CannaZYM. I've never had a problem. It's my beginning ritual.

The blocks are advertised as 5G or whatever. Do not just judge it's size in the store. I mistakenly bought a 5KG block one time without realing that it expanded. I had so much I couldn't even give it away. Like bathtub size.