Growing in coco? Why would you?

[redeyedfrog]

Growing in coco? Why would you?
Just wondering why people bother with it.
I have seen numerous posts with people having issues growing in coco, I have used it in my soil mix but never as my main growing medium. I am not knocking it but more curious than anything.
So why would you choose coco over good old fashioned soil? I am sure you more experienced growers can help me figure out why people go this route.

 

[Fast50]

No particular order.. Its more sterile from start for an indoor op. Faster growth potential. More water capacity. Badass root growth.

 

[angryblackman]

Just to do something different. I went with coco on one plant a while back just to see what I could do with it. It's not as forgiving as soil but you almost never have to worry about it drying out if you are watching it.

This season I will be adding it to my soil just for water retention.

 

[redeyedfrog]

Ok those points make sense, that's exactly why I added it to my soil, for drainage and retention.

 

[Flash63]

Coco is a far superior substrate to soil as far its ability to hold water,and air.....once a plant has a established root system overwatering is almost impossible.i regularly pull over a pound from a 5 gl air pot.You need to use coco specific nutrients as well...i have used both canna and h&g with great success..r/o water as well.

 

[skunkd0c]

i think some folk see it as being in between passive hydro and soil
they get many of the benefits of hydro but with a more natural medium

 

[redeyedfrog]

Great replies, thank you!

 

[squarepush3r]

Its kind of like best of both worlds for hydro and soil.

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

coco is hydro. you can feed full strength, every day, and the growth is awesome. i wouldn't mix it in soil myself. soil doesn't need any help with water retention. the ph's of coco and soil are different. here's a cut and paste job from g. low's book, "integral hydroponics."

COCO COIR

is a product derived from the husks of the coconut.

Visually it looks like peat.

It's air capacity is about 30%.

Coir is most suited as a run to waste medium.

Coir can become saturated and it is not truly inert medium.

This means that the nutrient will change over a short period (due to the nutrient collecting micro and macro elements as it passes through the coir.

Coir tends to release potassium and to withold calcium.

For this reason it is desirable to use a nutrient that is blended specifically for coir.

Coir has a remarkable capacity to protect the plants root system in times of heat.

It also tends to promote vigorous and healthy root development.

Plant growth tends to be very consistant with coir.

Coir is very tolerant of over and under watering, which makes it a very forgiving growing medium.

Coir has a very strong cation exchange ability, which means it can hold and release nutrient elements based on the plants needs.

Coir tends to retain nutrient salts. because of this, less nutrient (lower ec) is required.

On a less positive note, coir can also contain high levels of sodium (salt)....

If your growing in coir be aware that this can be a potential problem.

Either purchase a pre-flushed coir product or flush ph (5.5-6.0) stabilised water through the coir prior to use.

Measure the ec of the water and then measure the ec of the run off.

When they are the same, it is ready for use.

Large amounts of potassium are naturally present in coir.

Potassium competes with calcium and magnesium... buffering and plant nutrition needs to compensate for this!!

For this reason there are several nutrients that are specifically formulated with the coco coir's unique characteristics in mind.

By using a nutrient specifically formulated for the coir based system, you are ensuring that your plants are receiving the best possible nutritient package.

 

[Flash63]

^^^good advice..

 

[curious2garden]

Growing in coco? Why would you?
Just wondering why people bother with it.
I have seen numerous posts with people having issues growing in coco, I have used it in my soil mix but never as my main growing medium. I am not knocking it but more curious than anything.
So why would you choose coco over good old fashioned soil? I am sure you more experienced growers can help me figure out why people go this route.

Because it's a renewable resource and does the job nicely.

As for issues growing in coir, they are no more nor less than learning to grow in any media. Every substrate has it's own peculiarities and if you wish to grow you learn them. We often forget we were all new once, so you forget what that initial learning curve was like.

 

[redeyedfrog]

Because it's a renewable resource and does the job nicely.

As for issues growing in coir, they are no more nor less than learning to grow in any media. Every substrate has it's own peculiarities and if you wish to grow you learn them. We often forget we were all new once, so you forget what that initial learning curve was like.

That's true, I've only ever grown in soil. I may try a little experiment with coco next season to see how it goes.

 

[curious2garden]

That's true, I've only ever grown in soil. I may try a little experiment with coco next season to see how it goes.

Exactly! It all seems so complicated in the beginning but after awhile the challenge of learning something new becomes appealing. I've always been in hydro and I've been considering soil.

 

[rob333]

Growing in coco? Why would you?
Just wondering why people bother with it.
I have seen numerous posts with people having issues growing in coco, I have used it in my soil mix but never as my main growing medium. I am not knocking it but more curious than anything.
So why would you choose coco over good old fashioned soil? I am sure you more experienced growers can help me figure out why people go this route.

i was just on the soil bandwagon after 7 years of growing with coco and 2 years test of soils they work really good if u spend the coin but coco is just dope prob best shit i have grown in

 

[rob333]

coco is hydro. you can feed full strength, every day, and the growth is awesome. i wouldn't mix it in soil myself. soil doesn't need any help with water retention. the ph's of coco and soil are different. here's a cut and paste job from g. low's book, "integral hydroponics."

COCO COIR

is a product derived from the husks of the coconut.

Visually it looks like peat.

It's air capacity is about 30%.

Coir is most suited as a run to waste medium.

Coir can become saturated and it is not truly inert medium.

This means that the nutrient will change over a short period (due to the nutrient collecting micro and macro elements as it passes through the coir.

Coir tends to release potassium and to withold calcium.

For this reason it is desirable to use a nutrient that is blended specifically for coir.

Coir has a remarkable capacity to protect the plants root system in times of heat.

It also tends to promote vigorous and healthy root development.

Plant growth tends to be very consistant with coir.

Coir is very tolerant of over and under watering, which makes it a very forgiving growing medium.

Coir has a very strong cation exchange ability, which means it can hold and release nutrient elements based on the plants needs.

Coir tends to retain nutrient salts. because of this, less nutrient (lower ec) is required.

On a less positive note, coir can also contain high levels of sodium (salt)....

If your growing in coir be aware that this can be a potential problem.

Either purchase a pre-flushed coir product or flush ph (5.5-6.0) stabilised water through the coir prior to use.

Measure the ec of the water and then measure the ec of the run off.

When they are the same, it is ready for use.

Large amounts of potassium are naturally present in coir.

Potassium competes with calcium and magnesium... buffering and plant nutrition needs to compensate for this!!

For this reason there are several nutrients that are specifically formulated with the coco coir's unique characteristics in mind.

By using a nutrient specifically formulated for the coir based system, you are ensuring that your plants are receiving the best possible nutritient package.

said it like a pro

 

[redeyedfrog]

coco is hydro. you can feed full strength, every day, and the growth is awesome. i wouldn't mix it in soil myself. soil doesn't need any help with water retention. the ph's of coco and soil are different. here's a cut and paste job from g. low's book, "integral hydroponics."

COCO COIR

is a product derived from the husks of the coconut.

Visually it looks like peat.

It's air capacity is about 30%.

Coir is most suited as a run to waste medium.

Coir can become saturated and it is not truly inert medium.

This means that the nutrient will change over a short period (due to the nutrient collecting micro and macro elements as it passes through the coir.

Coir tends to release potassium and to withold calcium.

For this reason it is desirable to use a nutrient that is blended specifically for coir.

Coir has a remarkable capacity to protect the plants root system in times of heat.

It also tends to promote vigorous and healthy root development.

Plant growth tends to be very consistant with coir.

Coir is very tolerant of over and under watering, which makes it a very forgiving growing medium.

Coir has a very strong cation exchange ability, which means it can hold and release nutrient elements based on the plants needs.

Coir tends to retain nutrient salts. because of this, less nutrient (lower ec) is required.

On a less positive note, coir can also contain high levels of sodium (salt)....

If your growing in coir be aware that this can be a potential problem.

Either purchase a pre-flushed coir product or flush ph (5.5-6.0) stabilised water through the coir prior to use.

Measure the ec of the water and then measure the ec of the run off.

When they are the same, it is ready for use.

Large amounts of potassium are naturally present in coir.

Potassium competes with calcium and magnesium... buffering and plant nutrition needs to compensate for this!!

For this reason there are several nutrients that are specifically formulated with the coco coir's unique characteristics in mind.

By using a nutrient specifically formulated for the coir based system, you are ensuring that your plants are receiving the best possible nutritient package.

That's excellent information mate, thanks for taking the time to enlighten me with it.
To be honest I thought using coco coir was a complete waste of time and energy, because I read on here with probs people have and don't really see folks talking about the benefits of using it.
So how do you think it performs outdoors?

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

i don't know about outdoors at all, never done one. i'd imagine it would do well outside. maybe more work than soil since you need to do the ph thing. run-off is very important, so you might need to be in containers. i think the folks who have probs. probably don't use coco specific nutes, which eliminates most probs. i did my first 2 grows in soil, tried coco and never looked back. that was over 10 yrs. ago. h&g is what i use for base nutes. i use a couple of their supps. and never have had issues. you really need a ph and ppm meter to do it right. it's well worth the investment.

 

[Vnsmkr]

I used it outdoors in a few pots last year and I scrapped it half way through season. I find soils more forgiving, but that's my preference.

It is mixed with my soil though and works great for that purpose

 

[Vnsmkr]

and the reason I scrapped it was because I like to KISS. No need to worry of ph meter and what ppm I am going with in my soil. My soil is similar to rols where I feed teas, coconut water, & aloe. Simple

 

[curious2garden]

said it like a pro

Of course he did he just didn't credit it. That's from:

Integral Hydroponics: Indoor Growing Principles for Beginners and Intermediates
By Grant Low

Check out page 38, it's on Google Books.