Theres a newish growing medium on the market..The medium is coco..Its made from ground or mashed coconut shells...Its a very effective and growers are starting to use at as the results are being shown to be good..Its a hydro grow as the coco has no nutrition its self but organic growers are using it too... I have been groing in coco for a year now..I didnt start off very well due to bad coco but i think i will be able to stear you in the right direction now..I will be editing this over the next few weeks while i can to keep as informative as i can.. Benefits of coco are no res temp probs,fast grow rate,good yield no res changes and more.. FIRST OFF..NOT ALL COCO IS GOOD COCO..I found this out the hard way...Some cocos like cannas is in the bag and ready to use..Canna coco has all the goodies in it such as trichaderma,trace elements and more..Its also ph balanced and wasnt rinced in the sea for that unwanted sea salt...Canna is not the only company making the good stuff..there are more..Bcoz is another.. So you found your coco and your ready to go...Some of you might say this shits expensive can i make it last longer or cut it with something..You can use the coco more than once if you remove as much as the old roots as possible..Ive used it up to 3 times with out probs but i think i wasnt far from trouble..Shop run out so i had no choice..Ive also heard of people using pearlite or vermiculite with it but i dont think theres any need.. Organic growers are using it with organic ferts for a organic hydro grow or as a water retentioner in there organic mixs..Im using it as a hydro grow with the ferts that go with it..Canna do a special fert that goes with there coco and gues what its called??Canna coco ferts..lol..These products are meant for each other and can be used in automated systems such as run to waste sytems or simple hand feeding..Any good ferts will work with coco.. Coco for seedlings has one danger..It can dry out real fast..Unlike soil grows where you want to dry out your soil befor your next feed you want to keep the coco moist..That will be your first test..You might want to mix your coco with some seedling mix to start off with.. The next thing that is different with coco is your fert strength..You dont need your solution as strong with coco as you do with hydro..You would want it to be about 2/3rds as stong as normal..If you have the canna coco you will not have to change anything and its not so important to have a wond or something to test your ppm..You will need to change the strenngth of your solution to weaken it if you are using a fert thats designed for water..YOU FEED EVERY TIME YOU WATER..Another important thing is to set your ph..Only coz its not water doesnt mean the ph has to be out..So a ph pen or something to measure you ph is a must.. Pot size..I beleave bigger the pot bigger the plant..Bigger the roots bigger the buds..This doesnt seem to apply so much to growing in coco..It does to some point but it doesnt seem to matter too much..The real out come is the smaller the pot the more you have to water/feed And vice versa..The bigger the pot the less you need to water/feed... Ill be back to add anything if i missed it..
Looking forward to it THC, I read up on it a little bit but I don't understand how it is beneficial if it's just a hydro setup. I will stay glued for sure.
To kind sir, many thanks. It sure feels nice to work with (I've just bought some on Tetra's recommendation) and I can see how the plants would love it. Nice and loose and airy and I bet you'd have to try bloody hard to over water them using cocoa too. So, I'll be growing in cocoa and soil side by side as my next grow and I got some bloom booster too so I'll give that a trial too. Many thanks mate
LOL - I cant' believe this. It's the same stuff i get for my turtle, Just coconut husks that are chopped up. Damn that stuff is expensive.
for those of you who hold onto old High Times mags as if theyre beanie babies (not funny, i know ) theres a small article about growing in coco cups in the august 2002 issue on page 94 (jack black on the cover). they dont talk about using coco as a medium per say, they have cups much like rockwool that is made of coco, and then you fill it with your desired medium.
hi mates, can we use this coco thing for whole life of the plant? Do we need to repot the plant in flowering, And What should the Ph to be?
Hi..yep its good for its intire life in coco..all good coco is ph adjusted..your ferts company will tell you a reckomended ph for your ferts..
from what I hear it is basically the same convenience that rockwool is.. I actually saw a guy getting some at the hydro store a few months ago.. but tell me.. how is it superior over rockwool other than the environmental reasons? Have you compared the two? I use rockwool now.. and haven't been convinced to switch to coco.. does it retain moisture? I was just curious.. if, there were, in fact, actual advantage over rockwool...
I believe the advantage with coco has to do with oxygen to the roots. I think I read somewhere that it seems to hold onto disolved oxygen a little better or something which means more O2 to the root zone. Personaly, I grow via bubbler buckets so I have never realy done much with my grow mediums. I just use perlite or clay balls in my net pots but if I was to go with a medium grow I think I would try coco for sure. I have heard good things about it.
I was doing a comparison grow..# plants where in canna coco being fed canna coco ferts and the other 3 plants where in another coc.Not really named but reckomended by a hydro store..They where being fed Canadian xpress coco ferts.. You can see for your selves from the pics the other coco isnt as good..
Very nice lookign plants tet! i have a question, coco is not available to me down here but 10 million coconut trees are... can you give me some detail on the consistency of the product you buy??? im asking its texture, are the fibers long? or is it chopped up like it was put in a blender, i want to try something by gathering dried husks and bleaching them out to get all the nasties out then growing in it.
Boy Dier that will be something..Making your own coco..O man..lol. I suppose it can be done..its main ingrediants is coconut..Its just the other stuff that canna add or do..I know they put in trichoderma..ph balance it..They flush it with fresh water not sea like other companys which is one of the reasons its good..I also use cannazyme which helps keep moould away and is a stimulant for the roots.. Its Like its been ground with some stringy bits but no hard bits at all...Fuck ive just thought of you putting it into a blender...lmao..After you have flushed it i would then leave it to soak in some light ferts..Well good luck..would luv to know how you get on.. heres a pic of it..
The ones in canna coco look good ay but not the ones in the other coco..They look shit..I might have to chuck those...Not often i do that..
fuckin sweet i started out with coco last year , only even been on 1 forum with a coco awareness. so glad people here are picking it up also canna coco is the best in most peoples opinions (those who have tested multiple brands) i use it and with the 2 part nutes , A+B , it cant get much easier , also im usin PK 13/14 & pickin up some cal-mag , cannazyme , rhiztoric etc.