That certainly matches descriptions of magnesium deficiency that I have read. Every photo I've seen has been further along, with browning. I haven't seen it in the flesh yet. My fuzzy understanding of calcium and magnesium is that they strike a balance with one another and they compete for uptake with one another. It is possible, perhaps, that banking calcium might lockout the magnesium.
Thanks for the kind words Mech! I kinda had you in mind as I was posting this LOL You must have the equivalet of 20 of these in your DIY's Anyhow, to answer your question, the speed I talk about is growth rates, coco will reach 12" height faster than soil in my exp for example. Now would a bubble bucket reach that 12" faster than coco? I would guess yes simply because the roots have the advantage in the BB environment. I'd love for somebody to put this to the test LOL This stuff is so fast that I only veg for 1 or 2 weeks, if at all. And I normally yield 2-4 ozs off a plant, which is fine with me. I could tweak and LST for bigger yields, but I'm not really concerned with that for now. That's the only way I see coco affecting actual grow cycles. If they were the same, I'd pick coco over BB for the organics which results in more flavor. Plus I think coco is so easy to use with very little maintenance, and it's totally silent. That counts in stealth grows
AW! Thanks for the honor man, I have been wanting this for the good GC folks for a long time LOL I have to keep people away from your grow though, you make this whole argument of coco out-pacing soil a little hard to believe LOL! Thanks again bro Hey Saaz! Really good to see ya man, I'm really glad the coco is working out for you. Thanks for ths kind words bro, love that avi of your LOL
I have a bag of Cococoir in the garden and I was gonna ask the best methods to grow using it (as I tried before a failed big time) instead of the normal DWC I would use now. And what dya know I stumble upon this amazing thread!. I was just wondering though, this bag of coco has been in my garden for like 4months part covered.. Will it still be ok to use? I am slightly broke right now and dont really wanna buy more :\. Thanks for the help Ed.
This guide rocks...I have a coupla clones that are going right into coco It was worth the wait honorable mention to MrsE for REUSING the stuff.... I throw all my used soil and now coco out into my garden or flowers, lets always recycle
Thanks, but my stuff is not as doable, useful, or well written as this. The sticky gods confirmed it. So, to be clear, veg is faster than soil, maybe as fast as hydro, and the flowering times are largely unaffected? Sounds like it's not much slower at all. . . Hey, my grow doesn't truly need stealth but I'm tired of all those little noise/heat/vibration/power consumtion machines in my closet! Easy to use is always a plus! There is a GREAT idea. Forgive my little speech here, but this gives me an idea: I'm moving up to a 4 x 8 tent- don't have it yet but I can tell when something is already "mentally bought." I wanted to redesign my system at the same time, to increase yield and decrease maintenance if possible. I wanted to try Rumple-spec BBs and I wanted to try coco- But I'm nervous to try something new without a backup plan, or to risk the harvest, so changing up my grow method was a bit nervy, especially since I have only one grow's time before christmas. (When I want to have enough to give some away and also leave town for a while.) When I read your comment though, it was like a light bulb went off. . . I don't want to commit to coco, but 8 or so BBs was going to eat up nutes and time and cost a bit besides. So why don't I do a side by side of 4 coco plants in 5 gal buckets, beside 4 plants in 5 gal BBs? I have one soil grow and one hydro under my belt, so I might be the ideal "almost beginner" to test these in the hands of a noob. Bubble buckets can be converted to coco and vice versa, quite easily. Heck, it might be useful to have a valved drain on your coco bucket! I like to take tons of pics and video, so it might help others to see me follow all your directions. Man I'm going to do it- I don't know how I'm going to pay for it, but the shopping list looks like 8 buckets, 4 lids, coco blocks. . . . I was pretty sure folks were getting tired of my stuff but if I do a good job of this, it might actually be helpful and interesting to people. Thanks for posting such a complete, reliable guide. This document will become widely distributed I'm sure. Off to finish my list!
Great write up Ed!!!! Glad to see this guide. You have helped me out greatly through the Coco process and I owe you big time. Thanks for opening my eyes to Coco and for all of your extensive research on it.
Were you doing soil before Shags? I know you love the coco but tell me how great it is- getting stoked to try it myself! Edit: Gonna go check out your blog to see what's there!
Yep I was running soil before. I hate it. Lots of flys here in this climate with the high humidity. Coco works much better than soil for me. I love it. Nice and clean and it works very very well. Growth rate is damn close to hydro imo.
Hi Greg! Look on the bag for a date stamp of some kind. Normally coco is good for a year in the bags, it kinda breaks down into powder after that, but most companies will print a "good by" date on there somewhere. Coco looks like crap if it dries up good, but a little water will have it in fine shape, rinse out any loose dust and it should be fine! Not at all, unless you do it after a heavy watering It may break apart on you wet if the root structure isn't filling the pot. Coco is very clean compared to soil, unless you add earthworm castings... Hey Sweetleaves! Yes MrsEd is the tree-hugger in the family, I never intended to reuse this stuff but she asked if we could and of course we can, so she does That's why she did that section, and why we have nice tomato trees! Thanks Ventoux, appreciate it man. Just trying to feed the karma machine haha, I don't want to anger the pot Gods or make sacrifices, I'm hoping some good will gives them reason to shine on my garden. Mech I'd love to see that side-by-side man, seriously it's be something a lot of people would be interested in IMO. I would help with that too if needed, but I'd love to be a spectator to that because I know you'd do a great job with plenty of good test practices. Unfortunately stealth is a requirement in the Coconut Grove believe it or not... nobody knows about our garden that steps into our house At least I hope not! Hey it's a pleasure Shag, it's people like you that make it worthwhile man. I know you'd help out a fellow grower in a heartbeat, and have many times so I just want to join in that spirit.
Awesome Ed! Thanks for taking the time to write this up for all of us! My shit is starting to turn around, I figured out what my issue was..lol. My PH pen needed to be calibrated, after calibration I mixed a my res up with nutes to deisred PPM and checked PH...3.2 LOL
Wow Jbyrd!! 3.2 I gotta tell ya, your plant looked damn fine for being that far off, it would be dead in any other medium IMO. That's great news brother, and thanks for sharing. Appreciate the comments on the guide! I've had plenty of meter hishaps myself...
Yeah, just found that last night. The plants are looking good, they just seem like they are in a holding pattern over DFW waiting for a thunderstorm to break...LOL. I am hitting the shop today for both PH UP/DOWN and maybe a combo pen to make testing easier...cause ya know..lifting my hand to grab a second tester is a TON of work How you like that Hanna you got? that's the 65$ one right? Work good?
You know I was just thinking about your pH pen being off last night when I was mixing up a transplant feeding for my plants. lol. Very weird.
Stupid PH...LOL Picking up new bulbs today as well. Gonna ditch the Eye Hortilux and try the Ushio's...brighter light. We'll see!
I LOVE my Hanna! A solid fucking workhorse. I'd pay the full $200 for it in a heartbeat, but somehow MrsEd found ours really cheap, like less than $100 shipped. I had a $30 el cheapo previously, terrible meter and I was scared to get it wet at all. I've heard that the GH test kit (around $10) is really good, it's the drops & vials deal but no calibration required LOL I think that would serve as a good backup for meter failures and 2nd opinions when needed LOL
Ed...thanks for the coco info, it is great. Can you talk about the nutes you use in bloom? N,P,K,Mg,Ca,S....and the PPM.