Hello, Been reading up on coco for a while now and decided to get some plants started. I got 2 different types of coco-peat brick, one with a slow release fertiliser one without. Slow-fert: http://www.brunnings.com.au/products/factsheets/NitroPeatBrick.pdf Normal: http://www.brunnings.com.au/products/factsheets/easywetta CoirPeatBrick.pdf Planning to do a tub of each, with 30% perlite mixed in. Is the slow release fertiliser appropriate for growing ? The NPK ratio is 16:3:1.
You purchased a media with a slow-release fertilizer??? Everything I have ever seen grown in one of these type of media has had nothing but problems. Miracle Grow is notoriously difficult to use for this reason. The 16-3-12 nutrient profile is all wrong, needs more PK for flowering plants. I wouldn't ever touch that stuff. The other coco might be okay but I would still flush the hell out of it to be safe. Why didn't you go with one of the tried and true brands? Botanicare, Canna, General Hydroponics, etc... How big is a "tub" of each? 9L of coco is about right for an indoor grow.
I couldn't find much of a variety in brands at the hardware store where they are about $2 a block, where as at the hydro its $30 for a bag of prefluffed stuff. I'm growing in 9L buckets.
God damn! $30? Are you on an island? Canna Coco and Root's Organics run me about $16 for a 40-50L bag. The compressed stuff can be found online, like Botanicare's CocoGro, for about $2 a brick (plus shipping I guess) but your local grow store should have the compressed coco too. If not, tell them to catch the fuck up with the rest of the growing world and carry something reasonable or you're going to keep going to the hardware store for the cheap shit. They'll bring it in for you to buy, or at least order it for you. Seriously though, hardware store coco has been shown to be problematic for people as it simply isn't very high quality. Check out: http://forum.grasscity.com/coco-coir/620656-askeds-coco-guide.html for a little more info on how coco coir is made. Where your coco is from, and how it is aged and processed, make a tremendous difference. Everyone I know is sick and tired of dealing with shitty coco and they sack it up and just spend the $ on the good stuff. You might find yourself sacking up for the good stuff on your next round too. We'll have to wait and see. Maybe this coco isn't so bad... only one way to find out.
Thanks for that I'll give the guide a read. I am on a fairly remote island that is about a decade behind the rest of the world, Australia. Will test out both the coco bricks to see how they go and if it bombs out I'll give it another shot with coco from the hydro store.