I would first like to say that i in no way work for AN. Ive been growing in hydroton for years and really like what coco brings to the table so ive been researching and probing for coco info. ASKed is the man for one. im a fellow tejas grower myself. When looking through AN's nute line i started to get confused because some items say coco safe while others dont. So i wrote AN an email asking for a much coco info as possible and here is what i recieved: Bear with me, that i know a lot of you out there in GC no most of the basic concepts but even i found this reply from them to be helpful, so i wanted to share it with the COCO community cheers FROM AVANCED - Thank you for your inquiry, All of our products and formulas can be used in exactly the same way in all mediums. Mix the nutrient solution including any supplements that you are using, allow the solution to sit for at least ah hour or two, then adjust the pH to the level ideal for the medium that you are using. When growing in soil adjust the pH to 6.3, in hydro to pH 5.6 and when in coco coir, adjust to 5.8-6.0. We also suggest using approximately 200 ppm of sensi cal/mg grow/bloom to supplement coco coir with the necessary micro elements locked out by the medium. We also suggest using the old nutrient calculator as a base to make up you nutrient solution, I have attached a link here: Nutrient Calculator | Hydroponics | Advanced Nutrients | Hydroponic Gardening I am including a feeding guideline below. Feeding Guideline Don't start feeding nutrients to rooting clones or seedlings such as the 2 part Sensi A & B (Grow) until they develop 3 or 4 sets of new/true leaves. Until they develop 3 or 4 sets of new (clones)/true (seedlings) leaves feed them only water. You can foliar spray them with Jumpstart, use application rate suggested on the bottle or 1/4 strength B-52 (1 mL/liter) until then. You can also add 1/4 strength applications of Piranha, Tarantula and Voodoo Juice, to the water that you will use in the root zone. Clones seedlings need high levels of moisture in the medium (80% -85% is good 100% is too much) They also like a warmer environment in the root zone 70 F – 80 F. Entering the Vegetative stage, Use the Rooted Clones / Seedlings schedule in the nutrient calculator for the first two weeks of feeding) Week 1 At 3 or 4 sets of new leaves mix nutrient solution at 300 ppm Week 2 Mix nutrient solution at 600 ppm Switch to Vegetative Stage feeding schedule if you are going to vegetate the plants longer than two weeks, the calculator goes up to another 8 weeks (you don't need to veg the whole 8 weeks). Week 3 is Week 1 on the vegetative chart Mix nutrient solution at 600 - 900 ppm depending on size Week 4 Mix nutrient solution at 900 -1200 ppm depending on size Follow chart for additional weeks as required When entering the Bloom Stage follow the medium feeding strength. (If growing indoors the bloom stage starts when the lights are switched to twelve hours of darkness and twelve hour of light). Week 1- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1000 ppm Week 2 - mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1200 ppm Week 3- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1400 ppm Week 4- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1600 ppm Week 5- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1400 ppm Week 6- mix nutrient solution including supplements at 1200 ppm Week 7- Flush The nutrient calculator is set for a 7 week strain; it can be customized for plants that require more than 7 weeks to complete their flower stage. Just click add a week. The amounts suggested in the nutrient calculator are the total nutrient to feed the plant for a whole week, not the amount to give them per feeding. If you want to give your plants nutrient solution more than once per week, divide the amount (total ppm) for the week by the number of feedings that you want to give them to calculate the ppm per feeding. A light cycle of plain ph adjusted water prior to commencing a new week's feeding schedule will help prevent lock out conditions. Plants may increase their over all size up to 2/3, during the bloom stage, for this reason the feeding schedules in the calculator increases the strength of the nutrient solution every week, reaching the highest concentration on the fourth week of bloom. If plant needs longer than 6 weeks of feeding (7 week strain, the 7Th week is a flush week), repeat week 4 for each extra week. Always reduce the amount that you feed your plants during the last two weeks of feeding. Overfeeding If the very tip of the leaves gets yellow it is an early sign of overfeeding. Reduce the solution strength slightly (100 – 150 ppm), if not increase slightly. Deficiencies If the margins or any other part of the leaves yellows off it is a possible sign of deficiencies. Check pH in medium and reservoir, if the pH is off from the ideal levels look out conditions may develop. At first symptom of a deficiency apply rule # 1 (When in doubt flush them out). If growing in a medium that takes some time to dry up, allow the medium to dry and feeding them plain pH adjusted water when they are ready. If growing in a re circulating system, find a way to give them only pH adjusted water for the length of a light cycle, a second reservoir just for water may be a simple solution, then it is just a matter of moving the pump over, maintain the regular water pump cycle during the flush. pH conditions in medium In Soil/Soiless (Soil or Soiless mixtures that may also contain peat moss but not Coco Coir) adjust the pH to 6.3 In Hydro (It includes products such as Rockwool, Hydroton Rock, and Lava Rock) adjust to 5.6 In Coco Coir adjust the ph to 5.8 – 6.0. You may want to supplement with SensiCal when growing in coco with a base nutrient that in not specific to growing in coco Root damage Another possibility is damage in the root zone, check for the possibility of root rot, or insect larvae as potential causes for root deterioration, brown, mushy, smelly roots are a good indicator of root damage. Hydrogen peroxide is an efficient way to destroy root rot causing bacteria. Mixing instructions If using the base nutrient stand alone, mix nutrients according to instructions on the bottle. If also using supplements follow feeding schedule in the nutrient calculator. When using a re circulating system, you will be dealing with one of two situations, either the reservoir is large enough to feed the plants for a week without the need to be topped up during the week or it is a small reservoir and in order to feed the plants through the week it will require to be topped up. In case of reservoir that does not need to be topped up. Add to the reservoir the amount of water that the plants are going to be using for the week, include some extra water to allow for evaporation. Mix the nutrient solution at 1/6th of the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week. Example: If the plants need 1200 ppm for the week, divide 1200 by 6 and mix the reservoir at 200 – 250 ppm. Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH Feed the plants. Allow the plants to feed on the solution and the pH to rise for 1 1/2 – 2 days before re adjusting the pH. In case of reservoir that needs to be topped up with water during the week. Add to reservoir the amount of water that the plants will use in 3 – 3 ½ days. Mix the nutrient solution at the strength that is suggested in the calculator for that week. Allow the solution to sit long enough to stabilize the pH. Adjust pH Feed the plants Allow the plants to feed on the solution for 1 1/2 – 2 days, top up with water to the original level first before re adjusting the pH, after adding the water allow solution to sit for an hour and re adjust the pH. If growing in soil adjust the pH 6.3, in coco 5.8 – 6.0, in hydro 5.6. When using a re circulating system having the pH rise after you start feeding the plants is a good thing, It means that the plants are up taking nutrient, it is important that it rises the plants up take different nutrients at different pH levels, allow the pH to rise for 1 ½ - 2 days at that point adjust the pH down to 5.6 again Nutrient Calculator | Hydroponics | Advanced Nutrients | Hydroponic Gardening Measurements: 1 gallon = 4 liters (quarts) 1 tsp (teaspoon) = 5 mL 1/2 tsp (teaspoon) = 2.5 mL 1/4 tsp (teaspoon) = 1.25 mL 1 tbsp (tablespoon) = 3 tsp (teaspoon) = 15 mL I hope that this is the answer that you are looking for. If you have further questions please contact us via e-mail or by calling our tech support toll free line at 1 800 640 9605 8:00 am – 9:00 pm PST. If line busy or directed to voice mail keep trying. Regards A.N. Tech Support
This is great info. I haven't been sure how to use the coco coir with my AN, but this really cleared some things up. Thanks for sharing this!
Interesting, they gave me this same info as far as ppm values go over the phone today regarding their discontinued product Monkey Juice!!! Doesn't that get you thinking that Monkey Juice has just been renamed into a newer expensive product!!?
appreciate the rep. thats a very good point. one thing that sucks about AN is that they dont give exact product analysis. maybe a side by side comparision is in order?
Does anyone do this?!? I am a A.N. user,and this is the first time I have heard of this method. More info please! P.S. I grow in COCO.
Great info. Ed does not use AN so no real world experience for you. Would be awesome if you took it on as a side by side to see what happens though.
I think I'm going to give this a go. Since I already have a bunch of Canna Coco A+B I'll use that on most of my plants but I can take some clones of my bag seed plants and just grow 4 small plants in the place of a single larger plant and do some AN Sensi Bloom with Bud Candy, B-52, Big Bud, Overdrive and Nirvana on 2 of them and a combo of the entire Canna line and some KoolBloom on the other two. My plan this grow is to minimize my run off. I'm going to feed the plants every 4 days or so, and then use 250 ppm feedings between that period. I'll do some run off before I expect to feed and build a chart to get some idea of what is going on in the meida. With the clones I'll try to take a bunch at first, because this is my first time cloning but I read the guide, and then pick the four that are the most similiar. That's about the best I can do I hope someone else has tried these nutrients or can back up the claims. I'm going to spend probably $200 on them over the next 2 months so I guess there's some time to convince me otherwise.
Does anyone else use Advanced in coco? Any recipes might help eliminate some of what I'm using. I use Mother Earth Tea (Grow & Bloom) Bud Candy Big bud H2 (Humic Acid) Rhino Skin Nirvana Organic B Sensizym Sensi (cal/mag) Carboload (liquid & powdered) Voodo juice (clones)
Is there a weekly ph guide as to where my ph should be during 1-9 of flowering, or is 5.8 - 6.0 good??
"The amounts suggested in the nutrient calculator are the total nutrient to feed the plant for a whole week, not the amount to give them per feeding... If you want to give your plants nutrient solution more than once per week, divide the amount (total ppm) for the week by the number of feedings that you want to give them to calculate the ppm per feeding." .... So if I'm feeding daily, and at week 3 of flower the amount given in the calculator is 1400 ppm, then 1400/7=200 ppm? That doesn't make sense given that at full strength (according to the bottle) of sensi bloom base nutes (4ml per liter) the ppm is over 1200. If I were only feeding 200 ppm daily at week 3 of bloom I'd be seriously starving my plants. So what's the deal? Please clarify. Otherwise the info given is pretty good, if you ignore the part about dividing total ppm by the number of feedings per week. Cheers, brothas and sistas