After taking a couple year heiatus on coco i went back to basics to soil but soil has been pissin me off and am about to go to coco again.i loved coco but since i made the grow a tad bigger i thought flushing the coco once a week would be a pain in the a** but is it really necessary to flush once a week. i veg in 1 gal pots and flower in 3 gal and im sure one flush at end of veg is good but how often during flower should i flush?? i just thought that using nutes every hand watering would creat a big salt buildup.Now i always just flushed my 3 gal pots with just 1 gallon so nothing crazy but they would look good after the flush.but when i watered i didnt go until runoff. if i water till runoff will that give me more time between flushes.like say a flush every couple weeks instead of every week?? thanks for any info guys.im excited to get back to coco
I just ran across this. http://forum.grasscity.com/coco-coir/620656-askeds-coco-guide.html It suggests flushing only once a month.
Yeah..after reading that guide I'm pretty sold. I've got a DWC and a soil grow under my belt and I'm convinced coco will give me the best of both worlds.
yea i used to do coco a few years back and had great results.then i started having problems and went back to soil which hasnt shown the results im looking for and is a bitch to have indoors..just heavy and dirty and attracts bugs.
i have noticed that by using Great White, you don't need to flush ever almost. I just finished a 3 month cycle (including veg) and i did not flush once. I dont have pics to show, but let it be known taht by using Great White, you don't need to flush....ever. The beneficial bacteria in the Great White eat up the salts.
What I've decided to do is wait for the coco to become charged. Days 1 to 15 are spent in a small seedling tray, increasing in size, low nutrient levels. Days 16 to 30 are spent in a larger planter, up to 1 gallon in size. Days 31 to Harvest are spent in the final container, 10L to 3 gallons in size. The solution used during the first 40 days in the final planter will be the highest ppm I run for the entire grow. Since the last 60 to 100 days are spent in those 3 gallon-ish planters, and most of it is high ppm, I begin "refreshing" the coco every 15 days, just like it would be if I'd transplanted to new media. Refreshing: A single watering of RO water, pH balanced to 5.8 to 5.9, saturated to run-off (and removing the run off from the drain pan as well). I aim for 500ml to 800ml of run off water when adding about 3500ml of filtered water. Some nutrition will remain in the coco but the stuff does rinse readily and easily. This is a good thing as we don't want to have to recharge the coco again or induce a deficiency in the mean time but we also want to remove the excess build up. The bi-weekly refresh should keep salt buildups to an absolute minimum; especially if in combination with an occasional 10%-20% strength feeding (every 3rd or 4th). I think of it like bugs on your windshield. A refresh is like using your windshield wipers and sprayers to clean those squished gnats off your glass. It isn't a full car wash, it isn't even really a squeegee at the gas station... Because you'd have to pull over and stop to do that. This way the job gets done so you can see the road again even if there is still a little debris left around the edges. Same kind of concept.
cool.thanks for the info guys.ive never heard of great white but i ll definitly have to check it out.do u use this product with every watering? since you guys pretty much never flush...everytime you water do u have some sort of runoff into a saucer or drain in a tray??
We do not flush much at all anymore. If you go organics then it is just not needed unless there is an issue (too hot a mix). We have run some with nutes though that did not have a final flush and turned out fine.