Cola's coco/peat Organic Grow

Just about done with the maxibloom K.I.S.S grow, which was pretty impressive and moving on to an organic grow using coco/peat, compost, amendments,perlite and pumice.

The medium was amended about 30 days ago and in the cooking stage (actually done) I will transplant the seedlings into 1 gal containers using just a base mix of coco, peat, ewc and perlite before the final transplant into 3 gallon containers.
I would have liked to have used 5 gal containers but the money is squeaky tight.
The 3 gallon pots are air pots and will be good for the roots in that size container. The main reason for using 3 gallon is I only have room to do 4 plants at most under a 240 watt Blackstar HO led for vegging with a few cfl's and a 600 watt hid for flowering.
My concern with a 3 gallon pot is having enough fertilizer(amendments)to supply the plant from start to finish. If I don't I am prepared to cheat and top dress with Dr.Earth.....

My main feeding regime will consist of water, and an ocational ACCT during veg and flowering.The plants will veg for 6-7 weeks before the start of flowering.

I started 6 seedling and are in various stages of growth and wanted to share my seed starting method....lol I know I said 4 plants but, thought 2 were going south on me.....

I've tried several mediums to see what the best was for seed starting and will assure you pure coco wins hands down, with Jiffy organic starter mix coming in second and my special blend of coco, ewc and perlite which did not do as well because the soil texture was poor for the roots to get started. I eventually transplanted these into coco and they are looking good.

Strains are:
2- Acapulco Gold(Barney Farms)
2- Blueberry Gum(G13 Labs)
1- White Shark 33(?)
1-Jamaican Dream(Eva Seeds)

My feed is 1/4 tsp Alaska Fish Fert, 1/4 tsp Liquid Seaweed and 1/4 tsp of Equilibrium by Humbolt. The Equilibrium is an all natural cal/mag supplement 1-1-2 with iron.....
I treat the seedling as a soil grow and let them dry some between watering. I am using distilled water, not ph adjusted and will change to purified soon....

Seeds are first rinsed a few minutes in a solution of a cap full of h202 and cup of water to kill any pathogens. The coco is hydrated with 1/4 tsp of Equilibrium before planting the seed 1/4" deep I sprinkle a little xtreme myco in the hole and gently watered in.
I only use enough coco to fill the cup a little less than 2/3 full. As the seed sprouts and leaves grow I add more coco to help support the seedling and to provide more stem area to grow roots from.
These seeds are the last of the freebies except for the Acapulco Gold. All the free seeds have less vigor than any I have started....

2-Blueberry gum planted 8/10...jiffy organic starter mix


Close up Blueberry Gum


2-White Shark 33 & Jamaican Dream® planted 8/19-8/20..my mix, then transplanted to coco


Jamaican Dream Close up


2-acapulco gold planted 8/21...pure coco


Acapulco Gold close up

Edited by colafarmer, 29 August 2012 - 09:57 AM.

is that mix pretty "muddy" when it gets watered?

^^That mix I made had to much ewc and perlite making it pretty hard packed. Itried to dilute but would take to much coir so, just went coir all the way.
Maybe next time if I lay off the ewc a touch it might be better.....

Awesome! Good stuff to come.

I am working in a little Coco Organic mixture myself. I haven't found it to be any different than standard soil mixes, but maybe that's because organics is easy to do. I'm not quite a purist, but it all works the same in the end

Awesome! Good stuff to come.

I am working in a little Coco Organic mixture myself. I haven't found it to be any different than standard soil mixes, but maybe that's because organics is easy to do. I'm not quite a purist, but it all works the same in the end

The coco is great for texture. What makes the difference in an organic blend is the compost and it's quality which allows not having to ph adjust water while building a healthy micro herd......

BTW...how is your General Organics grow doing.....

Here's the my soil recipe:
1.5 cf kellogs natural Organic potting soil:
3.5 # ewc
1 1/4 c blood meal
1 1/4 c fish bone meal
1 1/4 c alfalfa meal
1 1/4 c kelp meal
1 1/4 c bat guano
1.0 c starter fertilizer
1.0 c xtreme myco
1/4 c azomite
10+ c vermiblend
6 tsp lime
4 tsp epsom salt
2.0 tsp humic acid
20+ c ea pumice/perlite(optional)10%

At the time I blended this mix I did not add the coco. It's done cooking and ready to use but, will be adding 1/2cf of coco and 1/4cf of a compost made from fruit, vegetables and leaf. I am debating and probably will, add another 3/4 cup of each of the meals to make sure I have enough food for the entire grow. I still have time to let this cook more before using the soil mix.

My plan is to transplant from solo cups into a base mix of Kellogg Patio Plus, ewc and xtra perlite using 1 gallon containers. The second transplant will be into 3 gallon air pots using the hotter soil blend.
This mix with the compost I'm using will allow for a water only grow with no ph adjusting..Amen for that...

For my ACCT I may use a liquid concentrate called Soil Soup and ewc. From their web site it sounds pretty good. The price is $35 for a gallon and treats 128 gallons.....

How old are those seedlings? They look real nice. Mine (the ones I posted about growing slowly) looked like your Jamacian Dream yesterday morning, but this morning the 2nd set of leaves are larger than the first set. I think my seedlings grew more in the last 24 hours than at any time since they were planted, other than maybe the first day after sprouting. Mine are 1 week and 3 days old from going under lights.

How old are those seedlings? They look real nice. Mine (the ones I posted about growing slowly) looked like your Jamacian Dream yesterday morning, but this morning the 2nd set of leaves are larger than the first set. I think my seedlings grew more in the last 24 hours than at any time since they were planted, other than maybe the first day after sprouting. Mine are 1 week and 3 days old from going under lights.

The Jamaican dream is 10 days old...Th seedling were started at different times...

The reason for that fast growth is a sign your roots system is getting larger and can uptake food better....

The Jamaican dream is 10 days old...Th seedling were started at different times...

The reason for that fast growth is a sign your roots system is getting larger and can uptake food better....

Oh, so your JD and mine are the same days old.

The coco is great for texture. What makes the difference in an organic blend is the compost and it's quality which allows not having to ph adjust water while building a healthy micro herd......

BTW...how is your General Organics grow doing.....

The whole "no pH" thing is so wonderful. I used my meter to check what the tap starts at but then I packed it back up for another day. I am really looking forward to seeing how the coco works for you. Your formula isn't all that different from Subcool's super soil, so it is probably a good thing that you started in the pure coco and will transplant into the cooked formula once they can handle it, like sub does.

My GO grow is going splendidly.

My mix was 20% cocogro, 10% Roots Organics coco mix, 10% GO Alaskan forest humus, and 60% perlite and grow stones. A very mild mixture without the 20 other ingredients the organic community uses to... Keep things simple?

I found that I ran a little too much Grow for the more sativa strains, resulting in some genuine nitrogen induced eagle claw. Other strains loved the nitrogen though. Just one of those things growing different phenotypes all on the same program. Technically, what I do is called "Bioponics" but I find it to be very easy to manage with the GO lineup. Now that I am using the bloom I am starting to see some plants yellowing on the bottommost leaves as they are consumed. About 25 days into 12/12, so they are about to get blasted with some full strength bloom food here shortly.

It's really hard to get the exposure and white balance correct with my iPhone with the vertical bulb. But I think you will get the idea.

Edited by SCMC, 29 August 2012 - 06:38 PM.

^^There looking good.....Nothing better than a good sativa high...

Been 5 days since last updated. Feeding 1/4 tsp AFF, 1/4tsp Vitamin b1 and foiliar feeding with maxicrop seaweed. There all starting to catch up and grow faster.
They were weaned off distilled water today and went on purified water with no ph adjusting. I may start adjusting ph with silica to raise ph if I see the need.....So far going strong and a couple weeks away from transplant.

BlueberryGum


BlueberryGum Close up


White Shark 33 & Jamacian Dream ®


Acapulco Gold

Looking great!

looking nice cf. But I definitely wouldn't be waiting 2 more weeks to move them up a pot. I'd do that now myself )Except the two little ones that is(

I'm going to miss out the seed cup altogether if I'm only running a few in future.

^^Might be sooner....Just gotta travel 40 miles to pick up some coir to finish the mix....

Well guess I going to travel the 40 miles today....

My next pot up will be to 1 gallon containers with a base soil mix of coir/peat/compost and starter fertilizer. This will be their home for 3-4 weeks.

I will add the coir to the hot mix with some additional compost from veg and leaf and amend with another 1/2 cup each food. This should be sufficient to allow additional cooking time before transplanting into final air pots....

airpots huh?

i hate those fucking things

their great and all for getting an awesome root system going, but they dry out WAY to quick for my liking

My maxibloom grow 2 gallon pots is 1/2 gal per plant every 3 days. The key to watering those air pots is real slow or, most of the water runs down the sides and out the holes.......

Getting ready to pot up to 1 gallon containers in a day or two. By that time they should all be about the same size ..I made a acct for my outside veg garden and gave the kids a nice liitle tea to build the colony a little....I think they liked it...
So far they have been getting 250-300ppm of AFF,seaweed xtract and equilibrium every 3-4 watering and are ready for the step up. Noticed some minor leave bleaching or, a possible sign they want more food and raised the light to 18" above the plants this morning...

Blueberry (LF)(RF)..Acapulco Gold ©...White Shark (LB)...Jamacian Dream (RB)

Looking good!

Mine are still about the same size as you JD. I was thinking about re-potting this weekend from cup to final pot. Are you planning to top for FIM or anything?

Question for you, if I wanted to top or FIM them should I do that first, then maybe repot the following weekend? Or repot first and then top or FIM the following weekend?