Very specific coco question

3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Has anyone here that grows in coco, fed with compost tea?

My medium is 50/50 coco and my compost.

I'm wondering if ph really seems to matter. I've fed my tomatoes from 5.5-6.8 in an attempt to get it straight before pushing my ganja plants hard.

So far, I haven't seen any issues. Growing quite well. Runoff is staying steady .2-.3 above what I put in (only feeding at 90ppm).

Just wondering if anyone has done this. Hempy and regular pots.
 
S

Saltyfloat

Member
Are you wondering if you can only feed with compost tea, or are you wondering if you can feed it compost tea?
I would say if you're looking to only feed with compost tea you will run into some problems (deficiencies) even if you have great compost at home.
If you're just wanting to feed a batch of tea, go for it.

I believe pH still matters, but less so when you're not running 100% coco. 6-7 is probably fine with that medium. Maybe try for 6.4ish.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Saltyfloat said:
Are you wondering if you can only feed with compost tea, or are you wondering if you can feed it compost tea?
I would say if you're looking to only feed with compost tea you will run into some problems (deficiencies) even if you have great compost at home.
If you're just wanting to feed a batch of tea, go for it.

I believe pH still matters, but less so when you're not running 100% coco. 6-7 is probably fine with that medium. Maybe try for 6.4ish.
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That's all I've been feeding but they are still seedlings, so no definitive "tea is all I can or can't give them" yet.

What kind of deficiencies do you think I should expect? I've always used my compost in soil with coco amendment and been fine, but there was soil to buffer.

Tea comes out at 6.6, if that matters.

I'm finding that the compost doesn't really seem to buffer at all, which I didn't expect it to, but I would expect a 6.8ph in seedling stage to show something not good, no? It's only been a week trial of pushing 6.0+.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Perhaps I should also elaborate that it is not a "true" tea like most. It's the drippings from the bin. I just call it tea.
 
S

Saltyfloat

Member
Well you're taking 50% soil, which has nutrients and humic acids, etc. and replacing that with an inert medium. So you've got a few things to replace there.
I think you should plan to get some other nutrients in there before you have problems (proactive) rather than expect certain problems and wait for them to happen.
I'm sure Nitrogen, Phos., or Calcium would be likely, I really don't know.

I don't really know what you're asking in that last part. Maybe someone else can chime in. What you should do is add 1/3 aeration to that mix, plus some organics nutes and you've got yourself a winning solution right there.

Check out 'Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast' if you'd like to learn from experts with experience. KIS Organics also sells various 'nutrient packs' that you could use with your compost/coco/aeration mix that would dang near guarantee you good results.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Saltyfloat said:
Well you're taking 50% soil, which has nutrients and humic acids, etc. and replacing that with an inert medium. So you've got a few things to replace there.
I think you should plan to get some other nutrients in there before you have problems (proactive) rather than expect certain problems and wait for them to happen.
I'm sure Nitrogen, Phos., or Calcium would be likely, I really don't know.

I don't really know what you're asking in that last part. Maybe someone else can chime in. What you should do is add 1/3 aeration to that mix, plus some organics nutes and you've got yourself a winning solution right there.

Check out 'Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast' if you'd like to learn from experts with experience. KIS Organics also sells various 'nutrient packs' that you could use with your compost/coco/aeration mix that would dang near guarantee you good results.
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Not to toot my own horn but my compost does pretty good lol.

It's definitely got plenty of NPK and calcium. There's about 20 DOZEN eggshells in there lol. Keeps everything quite airy. Kind of looks like perlite with the pieces that aren't all the way broken down yet.

I'm not looking so much for new stuff as I am to see if this will work. I'm not a new grower so I can adjust on the fly if necessary, just trying something new since I found hempy buckets. I don't imagine soil to do well in them.

I appreciate the input and agree with most of what you said, but I'm not looking to buy anything or switch anything up.

I guess I'll just try it and see what happens. They're only tomatoes lol.
 
S

Saltyfloat

Member
Yeah I'm all for not spending money when you don't have to.
I'd still check out the podcast if you want to learn more. I've learned something every episode, and it's applicable to all gardening/farming.

Look up Clackamas Coot's recipe...You may have some ingredients already lol
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Saltyfloat said:
Yeah I'm all for not spending money when you don't have to.
I'd still check out the podcast if you want to learn more. I've learned something every episode, and it's applicable to all gardening/farming.

Look up Clackamas Coot's recipe...You may have some ingredients already lol
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I don't know how to do podcast.

I've been dicking around with it since I posted. Slurry test, flushing, runoff, etc.

I think I settled on how it's gonna work and what I'm going to do.

I can post all the info if desired.

I appreciate the info though. Maybe I'll see if the kids can find what you are telling me about. Thanks.
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Bluntroll86 said:
Yes
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Do you run any other supplementation for anything? Do you have to run a coco ph?

With the compost mix, I'm hoping to avoid supplement issues. So far, I've been feeding the runoff from my compost bin and that's all.

I ran a shitload of diagnostics last night to see what I could see.
 
Bluntroll86

Bluntroll86

Well-Known Member
3rd Monkey said:
Do you run any other supplementation for anything? Do you have to run a coco ph?

With the compost mix, I'm hoping to avoid supplement issues. So far, I've been feeding the runoff from my compost bin and that's all.

I ran a shitload of diagnostics last night to see what I could see.
Click to expand...
I run pro grow,liquid karma, calmag, vitamin and compost tea ph to 5.8 run off every feeding
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Bluntroll86 said:
I run pro grow,liquid karma, calmag, vitamin and compost tea ph to 5.8 run off every feeding
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I'm hoping to avoid feeding nutes. I'm hoping that with the compost blend it will give it slightly better nutrient holding capacity so I can just run tea. Any thoughts on that?

Also, I'm wondering if I can run a higher than coco ph. So far, I've pushed it to 6.8, runoff 7.0. Nothing seems to be bothered, growing well.

The only reason I'm concerned with that is for the hempy reservoir.
 
Bluntroll86

Bluntroll86

Well-Known Member
3rd Monkey said:
I'm hoping to avoid feeding nutes. I'm hoping that with the compost blend it will give it slightly better nutrient holding capacity so I can just run tea. Any thoughts on that?

Also, I'm wondering if I can run a higher than coco ph. So far, I've pushed it to 6.8, runoff 7.0. Nothing seems to be bothered, growing well.

The only reason I'm concerned with that is for the hempy reservoir.
Click to expand...
Experiment man that's the Joy's of growing your own but some metals turn toxic if not in the right ph and lockout can occur if the ph isn't right.. I would at least run cal mag best of luck man keep me posted
 
3rd Monkey

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Bluntroll86 said:
Experiment man that's the Joy's of growing your own but some metals turn toxic if not in the right ph and lockout can occur if the ph isn't right.. I would at least run cal mag best of luck man keep me posted
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Yea that's what I've been doing, experimenting lol.

I'm familiar with nutrient pickup at ph levels.

I have my compost heavily amended with magnesium and calcium (I consider them macros regardless of them being labeled micros). I've noticed the high amount of calcium keeps the compost very airy, which I love.

That's how I'm hoping to dodge supplementing calmag. If not, I guess I will have to pick some up but I'm going to give it a go without first.

I appreciate the input. I have some 3 day old seedlings (cannabis) that are about to start being fed the tea.

I'm aiming for a 6.0-6.5 ph for feeding. I will update every week in my journal or post back in this thread if I run into an issue.

Thank you.
 
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