beneficial bacteria and coco?

Discussion in 'Coco Coir' started by donkiez, Feb 3, 2015.

  1. Ive been adding beneficial bacteria to my coco for years, Great White mostly but various other things from time to time. I always thought it helped but recently I was reading about beni's and it said their primary function was to help break down soil into usable nutrients. So I was thinking, coco is hyrdo and obviously doesnt need this help in accessing its nutrients. Have I been wasting my time and money on these? .... or did I just momentarily confuse myself? 

     
  2. Yes you have been wasting your time but that's OK because soil is an old subject and you moves on to a better medium so stick to the basics 5.7-5.9 ph and 1.6 EC through the entire process.
     

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  3. You are not wasting your time at all!!
    You can build a very high powered living soil out of coco with only a few steps.
    I am currently running s DWC vs living soil (my soil is not coco but it is completely neutral) and the living soil is rocking in almost every way at 2 weeks.
    Enzymes actually are the ones that break down the material so bacteria can deliver nutes to the roots. I use this method with very good success and with a solid inoculation of
    Mycorrhizae at transplant. Less added nutrients are needed with a far smoother delivery.. Of course you can't just feed once and think it will work. A continual feeding of enzymes and beneficial bacteria in coco is needed but it works at a very high level no doubt
    Cheers 👸


    I am so open minded you should only think like me..
    You are not wasting your time at all!!
    You can build a very high powered living soil out of coco with only a few steps.
    I am currently running s DWC vs living soil (my soil is not coco but it is completely neutral) and the living soil is rocking in almost every way at 2 weeks.
    Enzymes actually are the ones that break down the material so bacteria can deliver nutes to the roots. I use this method with very good success and with a solid inoculation of
    Mycorrhizae at transplant. Less added nutrients are needed with a far smoother delivery.. Of course you can't just feed once and think it will work. A continual feeding of enzymes and beneficial bacteria in coco is needed but it works at a very high level no doubt
    Cheers 👸


    I am so open minded you should only think like me..
     
  4. I always add beneficial bacteria to my coco. And I try my best to assist colonizing them using brewed compost teas.
     
  5. #5 Grow2dab., Mar 6, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 6, 2015
     
    Heaps of people use it and swear by it, I'd love to try great white if I could get it.  I been running a pretty tight ship lately though, bottle fed only lol.
     
     
     
    No better medium then soil dude, that's just common sense.
     
  6. I've done better in coco than soil, in terms of potency taste smell and yield.  both in doors and out.  my dad is the other way around.  definitely a different set of skills are needed but i don't think one is better than another.
     
  7. Yeah I was just generalizing mate. I think of it like vegetables, hydroponic is fine but organic always taste better.
     
  8. I have yet to have REAL organic.
     
  9. I don't think I've ever even opened a bag of soil yet lol, one day.
     
  10. I take it back. My grand fathers was all organic. No nutes. Just water and compost. No pesticides either.
     
  11. You've been wasting money [​IMG]
     
    • Disagree Disagree x 1
  12. One other thing I haven't seen mentioned is that mycorhyzal associations also help to bring water to the roots. Fungus are the masters of building bulk cheaply, and plants utilize this to increase their range.


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  13. #13 donkiez, Apr 8, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 8, 2015
    What up everyone, been awhile but Ive figured this one out. I apparently have to learn all my lessons the hard way so maybe some of you don't have to. I stopped using benis around the time I started this thread and promptly got a root fungus/rot invasion big time. Going back in my mind, I think Ive had this issue on and off for years and just blamed its symptoms on other stuff. This time was different though, this root shit was bad and everything I did just slowed it down. My last two harvest I figure it cost me 25%-40% yield, lost my two mothers and 90% of my seedlings/starts. So my conclusion was that my Great White beni bacteria was keeping my root fungus in check but it was still effecting my plants to some degree. 

    The big question here is how did I fix my problem? All the "normal" fixes dont really work well, H202 and hydrozyme are mostly speed bumps, Great White does nothing once the problem is out of control. I was getting desperate until I found Actinovate, this shit is pure bottled magic and the best part is that it is actually a beni bacteria product. Within 48 hours of application I noticed improvements in all my plants, its been two weeks now and they are mostly recovered. I pulled a few of my extras yesterday to look at the roots and I havent seen that many white fuzzy, cucumber smelling roots in a long time, and those were from previously infected plants. Best part is that its reasonably priced, and it works by building colonies on the roots (like most beni's) so one application is all they need. It also apparently helps the plant as much as it destroys most root rot fungus's, but just recovering the lost yield is enough for me. 
     
    So its been a painful few months but Im actually really excited now, because I think I finally found the lost ingredient needed for my set up. Ill know for sure in June though. 
     
  14.  
    The only endo-mycorizhal strains to colonize cannabis are glomus intraradices and glomus mossae. I'd be more inclined to say that your root rot is most likely from poor drainage and root zone conditions.
     
    NaCl kills microbial life that has not been bred to withstand chemical conditions and is for the most part irrelevant in hydroponic cultivation.
     
    Read 'Living with Microbes', you'll understand where I'm coming from :)
     
    Best of luck
     
  15.  
    Thanks man, I will look into this just because it looks like good information on the subject. I dont think drainage is my problem but I could probably improve the overall root conditions and my knowledge on the subject. Honestly I think the main cause of my problem is poor habits in a perpetual grow. Ive been running the same system in the same place for years with lots of success, but over the years Ive let my habits slip and it finally caught up with me. Im also thinking its not drainage because Ive tried just about everything, from daily flush to letting them bone dry out, with no real success. Its also been very aggressive with my cuttings and seedlings, so I just have spores everywhere at this point. 
     

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