Converting

[PotSmokinSaint]

Ive grown a few times but only soil. Well I've been experimenting a lot lately with coco fiber and wanted to know would this be good for a hydro grow. Also if I had a plant in soil and decided to switch to coco fiber for a hydro grow how would that effect the plant if it is already working on its 4th nodes? Thanks all!

 

[Lemon Jack]

First off what type of hydroponic system are you wanting to run? Just a little infor could help alot.

As far as moving a plant from dirt to a hydro application such as dwc or something. It just doesn't seem worth it even if it is possible.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Coco is great for hydro growing. I do all my hydro with coco. In my humble opinion, I would recommend going to coco for anyone wanting to do hydro. The only thing that you have to do with coco is get some of the commercially made cocoweave baskets and cut out some to line the bottoms of your planters where the water drains out so that the loose coco doesn't get into the rez and clog up the pumps.

Switching the seedling from soil to coco would be very tricky as by the 4th node of growth the roots have grown to 3x the size of the visible part of the plant and have spread themselves out in the soil. The only way to do it without too badly damaging the roots would be to lay the pot on its side and wash away the soil from the roots with gently flowing water that is at 65-75degrees and then have another container ready with the coco to place the plant back in. Even if you are completely successful with the transplant, you still may get significant transplant shock. I would just complete that one in the soil and take cuttings from it to put in the coco on the next grow.

If and when you go to coco, make sure to mix it at least 3:1 coco to pearlite as coco will compact over time and become more difficult to drain if it is not mixed with an aerator like pearlite. If you want to see a coco-hydro grow just look at either of my grow journals in my signature. If you have any questions feel free to ask

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Unless you are doing some kind of drip, I am not sure how it would work in hydro. When hydrated it has about the same consistency as peat--it is a loose mix.

I have tried to take plants from soil to hydro before and it caused a lot of shock to the plants--I don't do it anymore. Some recovered, some did not. I would not advise doing it.

 

[OGKushman]

I would never want soil in my hydro systems. Yuck!

I have taken rockwool plants and planted them 1/2 way in soil with great success. But never vice versa.