Mr.Wakenbake
***Organic Grower***
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2007
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Okay to start things off though I want to list some things that are important that has to be done to your coco ,coco/other soiless like perlite ect. mixes before you can plant in it and also note the main differences between soil and coco and why the coco is getting to be the preferred method of growing indoors.
1. No matter what brand of coco you get I would flush it out as much as humanly possible with HOT water. Hot water will dissolve the sea salts that has built up in the coco and it will leach out of the bottom of whatever container you decide to do the "flushing" in.This decreases your chances of a too saline medium.
2. Coco is best mixed with either hydroton or perlite at a rate of perlite/hydroton to coco of no greater than 50/50. 70/30 or 60/40 coco to perlite/hydroton is the most commonly used method.
3. You MUST buy yourself some epsom salts or a Calcium/ Magnesium supplement! This is IMPORTANT because the coco witholds Ca/Mg and releases (K).
4.Any good fertilizer line will work with coco.(Botanicare, Metanaturals, Fox Farms..ect.) There really isn't a need for coco specific nutrients.
5. Before planting small seedlings or anything into the coco it is suggested that you pre-fertilize with 1/4 strength nutrient solution with some epsom salts/CalMag mixed in as the COCO is barren of all nutrients.
6. Try not to let your COCO completely dry out between waterings.
7. It can be treated like either soil or hydro and has the benefits of both as you can water as much as once to twice a day(treating it like hydro) you can get tremendous growth as the coco ( if mixed with perlite/ hydroton) pretty much can never be overwatered...ever.
8. Or you can treat it like soil and water it every 2-3 days.
9. When mixed with perlite/ hydroton the mix has an almost perfect air/water retention ratio of 50/50.
10. Keep your ph between 5.5 and 6.0 to avoid too many problems if you are using the coco as hydro. 6.5-6.7 if you plan on treating it more like a soil.(i.e. adding amendments and watering on 2-3 day schedule)
1. No matter what brand of coco you get I would flush it out as much as humanly possible with HOT water. Hot water will dissolve the sea salts that has built up in the coco and it will leach out of the bottom of whatever container you decide to do the "flushing" in.This decreases your chances of a too saline medium.
2. Coco is best mixed with either hydroton or perlite at a rate of perlite/hydroton to coco of no greater than 50/50. 70/30 or 60/40 coco to perlite/hydroton is the most commonly used method.
3. You MUST buy yourself some epsom salts or a Calcium/ Magnesium supplement! This is IMPORTANT because the coco witholds Ca/Mg and releases (K).
4.Any good fertilizer line will work with coco.(Botanicare, Metanaturals, Fox Farms..ect.) There really isn't a need for coco specific nutrients.
5. Before planting small seedlings or anything into the coco it is suggested that you pre-fertilize with 1/4 strength nutrient solution with some epsom salts/CalMag mixed in as the COCO is barren of all nutrients.
6. Try not to let your COCO completely dry out between waterings.
7. It can be treated like either soil or hydro and has the benefits of both as you can water as much as once to twice a day(treating it like hydro) you can get tremendous growth as the coco ( if mixed with perlite/ hydroton) pretty much can never be overwatered...ever.
8. Or you can treat it like soil and water it every 2-3 days.
9. When mixed with perlite/ hydroton the mix has an almost perfect air/water retention ratio of 50/50.
10. Keep your ph between 5.5 and 6.0 to avoid too many problems if you are using the coco as hydro. 6.5-6.7 if you plan on treating it more like a soil.(i.e. adding amendments and watering on 2-3 day schedule)