For newbies growing in coco coir

Hello friends and new growers.

When I first started out growing in coco coir I quickly noticed there’s a lot of contradictory information as well as no definite answers on how to water and feed in coco so I wanted to create an extensive list to help newcomers out.

First-
you should buy coco coir bricks. Doesn’t really matter the quality because you will be doing something called buffering anyways. 1. You want to soak the bricks in hot/warm water for about an hour. 2. Get a metal strainer (with fine holes, don’t want them too big) and begin straining the coco coir with warm water. You do this because you only want the larger fibers, not the dust which will become waterlogged and compacted. 3.Once this is done and all coco coir is strained and into a bucket you want to “buffer” your coco. This is done by soaking it in distilled water that has been treated with a cal/mag solution. 10ml per gallon. You also want this solution ph between 5.8 and 6.2 ( but anything between 5.5 and 6.5 will usually suffice) You want this to soak for 8 hours covered in a dark area (I just close my shower curtains and let the bucket stay in the tub) and then repeat once more with a fresh batch of cal/mag ph distilled water for a total of 16 hours. 4. Now that your coco is buffered all you need is to add your perlite. I do 30-40% perlite mixed in for optimal air flow to allow oxygen to the roots for growth and nutrient uptake.

Now you’re ready to put your seedlings in once germinated.

Now for nutrients and feeding/watering schedule.

I personally use fox farms trio of nutrients and they work just fine, but there are several brands you can choose from that will give satisfactory results. Just do a little research and pick your favorite but all the advice I’m about to give is based of fox farm nutrients so beware.

When putting germinated seed in coco I have noticed when I use a rooting powder product it helps the seedlings be a little stronger so I also recommend dusting the hole you will be placing the seed in with a rooting powder


The first week or two you don’t really need to water with nutrients ( I’m counting weeks one and two as the immediate weeks once it pops it’s head out the soil) due to the seedling having all the energy it needs from within. You only want to water with ph distilled water mixed with cal/mag. 10 ml per gallon. Just enough to wet the soil a few inches deep. You’ll have to do this probably twice a day as coco dries fairly quickly.

After a couple weeks I begin feeding like this

-3ml big bloom
-1.5 ml grow big
-*optional* 1 drop Superthrive ( this stuff is fantastic when used in extremely small doses and I wouldn’t put this in every nutrient mix. I would put it in every OTHER nutrient mix. So every other week)
-Cal/mag 10 ml

1. You will feed as follows
Nutrient ph mix in distilled water until you get some runoff out of the pot that you can test ph of (you want 20% of the water you pour in to be runoff. So depending on pot size you need to adjust how much you pour in)

2. No water or feed

3. Water with just distilled ph water with cal/mag

4. No water or feed

Repeat

As your plants get bigger, so will their nutrient requirements. You’ll want to slowly go up from 3ml of big bloom to 6ml of big bloom per gallon every week. I would go up by half a ml for weeks 3 and 4 and then on the 5th week go up a whole ml and same on week 6. With grow big you will go from 1.5 ml to 3 ml per gal and going up half a ml per week is fine.

In flower you will keep the same amounts but also add tiger bloom at 2 ml per gallon in only these weeks I specify. When you begin noticing preflowers (so technically maybe in veg?) , 1 week after switching to 12/12 lighting as well as the one directly after, and then every 2 weeks until 2 weeks before harvest.

**NOTE!!! As plants get bigger you need to water more often. Regardless of how often you water, only feed every 5 days max. 7 minimum

When two weeks before harvest comes, you will only be watering with distilled ph water. This will allow for the nutrients left in the plant to be metabolized by it and get out any nutrients in the buds for a cleaner and smoother smoke.

Another note:you will see all kinds of things people swear by like adding blackstrap molasses to get fatter more resinous buds and all these little things... THIS DOES NOT WORK IN COCO!!!!!! Unless you add organic materials into your coco to basically create your own super soil... adding this and other sugar based products that promise this effect will not work. They only work because the sugars feed the microorganisms in the soil which then make nutrients more easily available to the plant to take in this creating danker buds. Coco without additives does not have this. You will waste your money and actually just create problems for yourself if you do this. However if growing in SOIL or any other super compost/soil I highly recommend doing this. It will make a major difference in the quality of your bud.


Also another tip I have is to use smart pots/fabric pots instead of traditional pots. They provide a lot more airflow and oxygen to the roots as well as allow the coco to properly dry throughout. You will notice the difference in health of your plants as well as their upkeep being easier if you get these.


If you ever have a dying plant that you can’t seem to fix no matter all the flushing and re ph and nutrient changing you do.. there is one last hope. Mix about half a ml of Superthrive mentioned above with a gal of ph distilled water and it will 75-80% of the time bounce back and even healthier than it was before it started getting sick. I 100% have done this over a dozen times to sick and dying plants I couldn’t figure out how to fix no matter what I did and out of 20 times at least 15 have come back stronger than I could have imagined and the others may just have been too far gone. With that being said you do not want to use this as a foliage spray. It will cause the plant to stretch if applied that way (a little on the leafs won’t hurt so don’t be scared but if you notice an excess be sure to spray off with clean water), apply directly to the soil around the roots. Again. This should ONLY be done if you have already tried remixing nutrients to a different level (in case of over or under feeding) and you have tested runoff ph and it is in optimal range (and waited a week between your fix for any changes better or worse) and found either no change or change for the worse still. It is a last option only.


If you have ANY questions please reach out to me. I am here for you. I remember how hard it was for me and I hope to alleviate that for any of you.

Happy growing!

 

Brick coco or treated coco makes no difference... Brick coco just means you treat and buffer it yourself is all‍♂️‍♂️ And sure thing I’ll have to get on my cpu when I get home to do that though, no pictures on my phone for security reasons.

But I’d like to know what else you disagree on. I’ve found this to work for me very well so far with no nute burns or underfeeding either. And buying brick coco coir is more of a preference for me cause I like to buffer it myself vs getting one pre treated

 

The only thing that could be changed is maybe that you can begin feeding nutes as soon as they pop up due to being in coco coir but they wouldn’t use the nutrients you’re providing anyway or it may cause nute burn. The seed provides the first week or so of energy and then you need to provide after

 

I did mention ph. I said I use 5.8-6.2 range (personally will stay at 6.0) but said 5.5-6.5 is usually acceptable..

Also just because this schedule works for me does not mean it is the ONLY one that can work my friend. You should note that isn’t what I’m claiming-more so that if you’re new to coco and have no idea where to start, this will be a good place to begin and experiment from there.

You can definitely feed nutes til run off every feeding but I’ve noticed from my own runs that when I don’t and just give cal/mag ph water my plants a a darker healthier green as well as bushier.

On the cal/mag note you might not be having an issue because most nutrient lines actually have some cal/mag in them and it could be adequately buffering your coco since you water with your nutes til ro every day anyways.

And when I say let the coco dry I don’t mean bone dry-just the first few inches or so. I should have specified on that. But that was why I mentioned as the plants grow you definitely need to water more often.

And your grow looks fantastic my friend. The only difference I would point out in mine when I get to upload them is that you will notice the leaves on mine are more emerald/a shade or so darker (not purple or anything that implies defficiency). But again.. just because my method works and yours works doesn’t make either of us right or wrong. It means we have both found to ways that work

 

Let me upload what I’m growing now as these Are the only photos I have on my person. They’re only a couple weeks old however but you may still be able to see what I’m talking about

 

These are the two chocolope sativa I am growing at the moment along with some black widow and a silver haze auto. They’re maybe a little over two weeks? Been on about a week of nutes and such.

 

That is actually where I learned most of what I know and then honed it into what works for me. again I wasn’t trying to act like I know everything, just simply be able to give a newbie some help they may be searching for

 

Thank you. And yes but I try not to keep many photos of my cannabis on my phone (I keep them on my laptop) and I happen to just be on break right now from work so I won’t be able to upload for a few hours. But if you follow the thread I will upload ASAP!