Hello GC! My Friend has been asking about coco...She has always been a rockwool girl but now is considering other mediums. She has heard some mediums can increase yields. Anyone have some advice or processes to share? Thanks GC! Frag Out!
Coco fibers are a good zero nutrient sterile medium for hydroponics. The owner of the local shop in my town swears by it and grows everything in it. I dunno if it increases yields though. I personally haven't grown in it, but have handled it and its pretty cool. water retention is proper. It isn't messy like dirt. If you get in on your hands it wipes right off. kinda reminds me of perlite.
All the pro's use coco nowadays , Coco was developed to replicate the high oxygen rich root zone found in hydroponic setups. I have no experiance with coco , but I love me some hydroton on an ebb and flow table. Wanna see a coco pro , drop by Hydrocanna.com and check out the breeding bonanza by username : Vader that man has some talent. With all dense mediums like soil & coco there are nute build up problems , If you can get a feeding schedule down I would say coco is the way to go. That is if you don't want to go full-blown Hydro with Grorocks and a nice Ebb&flow.
I'm using Coco right now, and I have to say it's effing amazing. The growth in just 4 weeks is seriously impressive. If you want I can post some pictures. I hear that bagged Coco is notorious for having white fly infections, so make sure you get good quality stuff or get the parasite that kills them and mix in. I chose to use Botanicare compressed blocks for my coco, and despite the instructions and what not you need to use an extra gallon of water for every "brick." They say they produce 8 to 9 liters (about 2 gallons) but I've found it's closer to 6 to 7 liters. You don't have to use a Coco nutrient, but it's probably better for a first timer to coco. The reason being is it has a different CEC (cation exchange capacity) than other mediums and as a result requires a fine balance of calcium and magnesium to the rest of the nutrients. Botanicare Cal-Mag+ is essential as it also provides iron which coco mixes seem not to incorporate enough of. I use Canna Coco A&B, 10ml per gallon each with 10ml Cal-Mag+ and have had incredible results. I really wish I would have used a microbial root enhancer like Canna's Rhizotonic, or AN Piranha and Tarantula, even superthrive would have been great. You soak the stuff in a nice low pH solution to get it in the right range (about 4 solution takes it to about 6 in the coco). Allow it to dry out over the next 5 days and the roots get set. Then provide enough solution to keep it moist until there are a few leaf sets. Once the roots are deep, it only takes 2 weeks or so, you're going to want to saturate with a little run-off at the least every 2 days but up to 2 times per day. I would avoid mixing it with anything like perlite or hydroton, it's not needed and it drains well and dries about as fast as a 50/50 soil perlite mixture. You'll probably want to keep some Safer's fungicide around I had a small mold issue on the top of the media that was solved quickly with a few squirts. I think it's the best of both worlds. It's texture is that of the most perfect soil you could imagine, yet it's still hydroponic and it grows like it. It's great for old school soil growers and new age hydro stars and I really am sold on it.
I have been using coco quite a bit here lately, I love it. I've been using Botanicare also LOL 2Lazy is right about the CalMag, I've been using Fox Farms nutes and supplementing with CalMag, but I recently picked up the Botanicare CNS17 coco nutes and am trying them on a few plants. I get fantastic growth rates and this stuff is a pleasure to work with. It won't outgrow a good hydro setup, but it'll beat out soil for sure. Attached are a couple of pics, one is a G13 Lockstock at 14 days from breaking ground, and the other is a Dinafem Cali Hash clone at almost 30 days from rooting and 8 days after 12/12. If you want to see some more stuff visit my Coconut Grove and there are a few journals of some stuff I have going in coco, there's a picture or two.
Hey Guys Thanks for the info, Below is Her response: I guess I should try a tester plant, I have plenty of rooted cubes ready. Whats the cloning process? is it the same as rockwool? Could I just throw it on my existing ebb and flo set up? Using Rockwool Formular 1 A&B 5.8-6.0 ph Range, EC Range 350-700. Ed thanks for the reference! When she comes over Ill bait her with that...thanks Ed! She is so far under the radar that she only comes out at night and refuses to get a phone or internet. I tried to give her an Iphone and she got all weird saying then they will know where and when and with whom for how long for the reason of....Freaky like that, but hot as hell. and a freak in the bed. Show me the CoCo! Frag Out!
LOL Right on man, get freaky whenever you can. She's asking questions that have really big answers, tell her to get online or grab a book - of course I suggest anything by Ed Rosenthal Good luck!