I'm about to harvest my first grow. Can I flush the medium and start over ? or should I use a new brick?
I have heard you can reuse coco coir, but I could never figure out how, as mine always had hella roots in it, to the point it was very ridiculous seeming to try to reuse it. At $13 a bag, the Botanicare Coco I use is cheap enough for me that I don't attempt to recycle it, and it has all kinds of good qualities:
haha alright, it sounds like a pain in the ass and I already have extra bricks anyway. was just trying to be economical
you can use coco up to three times but it is a pain and I wouldn't use it more then twice use a rubbermaid tote put coco in and fill with water let soak drain haha I use a special made 5 gal bucket with hundred mesh screen in the bottom to drain then repeat, but as long as you had lots of runoff during grow one rinse should be fine. but I don't reuse anymore to much work and I can see difference in the 1st and 2cnd grow with used coco slight reduced yield nothing big thou if ur in a financial bind go for it.
I get it locally in CA from a hydro store that stocks the same inventory and is affliated with ehydroponics.com They have it online for $18 a bag, in the store it was $13 a bag. It may have been a sale though, they do random sales on random things, so I'll find out next time I go in.
yea i only use it once.pretty pointless to reuse..especially since i just got a 5kilo brick of cocotek for 11 bucks lol.
Seriously, do NOT reuse coco, however you clean it, your plants will never grow as healthy as they did with the fresh stuff! It's so cheap! Canna CoCo (the BEST shit) is $35.00 for 50L... Don't skimp on grows or don't bother growing (IMO)
The answer is simple... It has nothing to do with inert or not. Put it this way, is your bong water ok to drink after a few days worth of cones, even if you filter it, purify it etc? No... regardless of EVERYTHING, there is nothing that can get out 100% of roots, fungus, mould or any thing else that may have grown in the soil. Shit, if people are growing crops and wanna skimp on the medium or ANYTHING for that matter (especially PH and TDS metres), why the hell do people grow for? Seriously, just go to a dealer and buy weed. Growing is an art form. Not everyone can do it properly, and it should be used as a means of focus and relaxation. Patience is needed, which some people don't have. Cannabis is a lovely girl when treated with respect and can make you a lot of money and she can give you MANY good times, but if you don't treat her like the gem she is, she will give you back what you put in. I don't get it. I remember back when I first started growing, I spent 4k on everything I needed and got the best of the best at the time, and THEN learnt everything I needed to know piece by piece. When I knew what everything did, and what could be done properly with certain items, I then started growing. I have NEVER had a bad harvest. EVER. Silly people.
I've done grows while reusing coco and using new coco. Really haven't seen much difference in harvest. All of my harvests have been outstanding. But, I do now use new coco for the very reasons you mentioned. I also recharged my used coco with new marine cuisine,lime, and bat guano when I did reuse it.
plus a lot of the bigger coco companies inoculate there coco with microbs and stuff. when you rinse they go bye bye
^ I can't source that one here in Australia, so honestly I can't comment. From what I HEAR from mates in CA, it's nice enough to use.
what do you mean by source? where it came from or just can't find info on it or just can't get it downunder.
HAHAHA, Sorry mate. I meant I can't get ANY Botanicare products in Australia. They don't supply down this way... It's annoying, cause i'd like to trial some.
I have changed my opinion here. DON'T USE CANNA OR HOUSE AND GARDEN! The best CoCo is Nutrifield or Cash Crop.