Coco vs soil. Why so small??

SnoopyDoo

SnoopyDoo

Well-Known Member
jarvild said:
Yes, fabric pot allow for more evaporation of the feeds before being used by the plants. That's where build-up happens, the water evaporates leaving excess nutrients to remain in the coir.
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I switched from fabric to plastic recently. I think I'm getting better results, but I wouldn't necessarily attribute that to the plastic pots. That said, I'm not paying the premium for fabric pots anymore and fabric pots are messy to reuse. A good plastic pot is cheap, they last forever and they're easy to clean. You still get some salt build up on the walls of plastic pots, but nothing like fabric.

The only real advantage I see to fabric is if you overwater, they dry out faster. I hand water, so it's rare that I over water and even then it's not by much.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
Shaggy78 said:
I was using Epsom salt anyway. But I figured I was going to add it with the Cal Mag? Is that not a good idea
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It just depends on your water. Calmag is very necessary for RO water but natural water likely has enough Calcium in it already. If you have naturally occurring calcium and add Calmag you may end up locking out MAG. I would drop the CalMag, stick with the Epsom salts and just watch how the plants react.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
SnoopyDoo said:
Wow, it's good to know there is one and only one proper way to feed in coco. All these idiots using "plane" water must just be getting lucky.....
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Hey bud, it's amazing what you can get away with. Many people smoke, they don't all get cancer, but they do increase their chances. You can do many things in Coco and get away with them, does not mean it is the best practice. Yes people use plain water, no it is not a good idea, yes they may get away with it and have no ill effects or at least none they notice. It's all up to the grower, don't want to follow the way it was meant to be done than fine. When they are your plants you can take any short cuts you like. That's the joy of being the grower, you can decide what you do.
 
go go kid

go go kid

Well-Known Member
on thinking about it, you make a weak nute solution by adding plane water toany medium that containes nutes, so im still sure about my idea of watering in between feeds when in the seedling stage
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
go go kid said:
just an apology for earlier. i had no intentions of missleading any coco growers. i can understand how aweak solution can help to reduce toxic levels of nutes, but didnt realise that giving plane, ph adjusted water would harm your grow
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Here is a detailed post about the chemistry behind coco, and the reasoning for feeding a nutrient solution each time. It's kind of heavy but all coco users should read this: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=307683
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
go go kid said:
on thinking about it, you make a weak nute solution by adding plane water toany medium that containes nutes, so im still sure about my idea of watering in between feeds when in the seedling stage
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The issue I see with that is you push plain water into the coco which washes out the stored nutes and salts. When done you now have coco with 0 in it, now your plant goes without until you water again.
 
go go kid

go go kid

Well-Known Member
which wont harm a seedling, yet saves it from being overferted by enthusiastic new growers. i agree its not good practice, but i see so many posts and know there are lots of readers having trouble germinating them, that it cant hurt for the new grower to do
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
go go kid said:
which wont harm a seedling, yet saves it from being overferted by enthusiastic new growers. i agree its not good practice, but i see so many posts and know there are lots of readers having trouble germinating them, that it cant hurt for the new grower to do
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I feed my seedlings from day 1 and most people say not to. I look at it this way, soil always has nutes, why would I starve them in Coco. When I put seedlings in my coco plugs I use 1/4 strength nutes and never had a problem. I do agree that many over due it, and technically a seedling should be good the first couple weeks so I keep it light. I think though if we want to help new growers it is better to tech them the proper practice rather than say use plain water in case you mess it up. As I say, enthusiastic new growers are dangerous. Too many believe that they can just nuke the plant with as many nutes as they can buy.
 
go go kid

go go kid

Well-Known Member
if every grower followed the instructions to the letter , there wouldent be a problem, but im aiming it at growers who dont and in there enthusiasm over feed.
its not a big deal realy, but when someone says it cant be done, when clearly it can be, then i have to say something.
but im in agreeance with you, they should be taught the corect way of doing it
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
go go kid said:
which wont harm a seedling, yet saves it from being overferted by enthusiastic new growers. i agree its not good practice, but i see so many posts and know there are lots of readers having trouble germinating them, that it cant hurt for the new grower to do
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Please just stop offering your opinion on the feeding and practices of a medium you've never tried. Just because you don't understand the reason why it's bad doesn't mean it's not bad.

Of course you can give your plants PLANE water every other feeding. You can also harvest your plant at 7 weeks full of white pistils. No one is saying you can't do it, rather it's just stupid.
 
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