Hi, I'm planning on starting my first coco grow soon, after seeing the many benefits of it. I keep hearing people talk about a and b nutrients, and stuff like that. In my soil grows I have been using the General Organics grow box line, which has been working well for me, and is low in salts. Is this something I can carry on with or do I need coco specific nutes?
A & B just refer to any 2 part base nutrient system. Commonly used coco nutes are often 2-part, like Canna and House & Garden. I would suggest getting a coco specific system. Coco needs are different than soil. No reason to make growing harder than necessary imo.
Two-part nutrient systems are designed that way because the elements are reactive when put together. One part nutrients are normally dry or they must depend on a suspension of the nutrients to keep them from reacting with each other. Coco specific nutrient systems are created with elevated Calcium and decreased Phosphorus due to the Coco's affinity for some elements more than others. Canna A+B, H&G A+B, and Sensi Bloom A+B are all common two part programs. CNS17, BioThrive, and MaxiBloom are common one part nutrients. General Organics will work fine in coco. There are some factors which need to be considered, like the hardness of your water before adding nutrients. Hard water with excess Calcium means you don't need to use much of the CaMG+. Soft water will need some extra micro elements from the CaMg+ to make you solution proper for coco. But this is just something to be aware of. Not a big deal really. The BioThrive Grow and Bloom are safe to use up to 30ml per gallon. Especially the Bloom. Follow their feed guide and increase the supply of base nutrients if the plants are hungry. The BioRoot is fine at full strength 10ml per gallon right from the start. BioWeed is really the only product to be very careful about. Don't use more than 2.5ml per gallon and don't use it with every feeding. This product contains a relatively large amount of sodium. Sodium will interfere with the uptake of other competitive cations like calcium, magnesium, and potassium, so a buildup of sodium is all bad news. It's totally safe to use at low levels, just be wise about how much you apply and how often you do so.
Thanks a lot SCMC, very informative post, but like the poster above you said, no need to over complicate it, and I like that approach. The grow box has a lot of variables, which I must admit actually caused me to torch my last grow, and I'm going to try a nice 2 part nutrient system like you described above.
I've no experience growing anything (I did soldering for the Air Force before the accident that left me a shut-in; I slipped and fell down a flight of steel stairs that had gotten oily), but I'm starting to figure out how to grow a plant or two in coco using the GH Grow Box . My last grow herm'd two days ago, so I'm starting over. I can't drive to a dispensary regularly so I haven't gotten a Red Card though my GP is more than willing to do the paperwork. Maybe if I could cope with living closer to town it'd make sense.