Mr. Canucks.. Soil Vs Coco Coir.. Growing ORGANIC... Why Not!?

ThatBoyZooted

Well-Known Member
Mr Canucks (The God Father of Indoor Grow) is known for growing organically with Coco Coir ..yet it seems like it's frowned on when someone here post about growing organically with that soil. Can we? Or is he just Lucky? If you haven't seen his grows..they are above impressive. I'm seriously considering growing organically with Coco Coir.
I think coco is more frowned upon because it isn't environmentally friendly just like using bat guano isn't sustainable . But in regards to organic coco grows , I did one myself and yielded some of my highest quality results . if you are interested you can check it out here
 

Billytheluther

Well-Known Member
I got me some giagreen ALOT.. it’s problematic.. but some strains like it..i dont do coco im against it but i have had good results using gia green and ff.. id advise agaist following his recipes to a T though.. hos bud looks mediocre…
 

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
I think coco is more frowned upon because it isn't environmentally friendly just like using bat guano isn't sustainable . But in regards to organic coco grows , I did one myself and yielded some of my highest quality results . if you are interested you can check it out here
Coco has a hell of a carbon footprint. I avoid it. The sale of Bat Guano and Seabird Guano should be banned world wide. It is a finite resource and they are destroying ancient Bat and Seabird colonies to get it.
 

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
I thought coco coir was supposed to be environmentally better than peat for example?
Yes, but that doesn't make it environmentally friendly. It is a by product of he coconut processing industry. But coconuts are grown and processed in far off tropical countries. I live in Northern europe, so that coco has to make a hell of a journey. There are so many sustainable alternatives that can be produced locally.

A group of locally run Garden Centres near where I live have started producing a blended mix produced from locally sourced garden waste and locally sourced seaweed, it is very cheap, very sustainable and so far seems very good. I have been adding 25% Perlite to it. It is sold as a medium for Tomatoes.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
The ProMix is the one I'm looking at, the local shop has the ProMix with the Mycorrhizae in it, not sure if it's peat moss or coco coir.
ProMix makes a lot of different blends and some are coco but we only see teh HP, Veg & Herb and their potting soil mix. The HP has no soil in it or nutes wher the Veg & Herb has time release organic nute and some soil but mostly peat and the potting soil I never use so don't know what's in it.

The HP can be used right out of the bale and soaked with hydro nutes to stick plants in. Lots of perlite so no need to add any and super drainage. Now I'm adding organics to it. My basic recipe is for each 10L of ProMix I add 2cups each of sheep, steer, mushroom manure and 2cups of worm castings. Some crab/lobster shell meal, biochar, insect frass and kelp meal. Plants do fine in that and I'll use some AN 3-part to supplement as needed mainly in flowering. Big Bud and a dash of P/K in the first 5 weeks then just Epsom Salts, and some extra K for the end.

With peat based mixes you let them dry down pretty good between waterings where coco seems to need special care with multiple waterings each day. That right there is a deal breaker for me. In 4gal pots I only have to water every 3 or 4 days. If a plant needs watering every 2 days it gets a bigger pot whether sprout or ready to flower.

:peace:
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I thought coco coir was supposed to be environmentally better than peat for example?
Canada has lots of peat but it's being banned in the UK next year I believe and already hard to get there. Coco uses a lot of fresh water to leach the salt out that it picks up soaking in ponds of seawater where it is processed to soften the fiber. Was used for lifejackets in the old days known as kapok. Still a couple of those old ones up at the cabin. Then they have to ship it everywhere in massively polluting freighters.

I worked at the peat bogs in Ft. Langley, BC way back in the day. They had a big tank of purple gas there I used to fill my Dodge Cornet 440 with when on the night shift or go on the night shift and scoop some then. Half of us did it so they must have been going through a lot of gas. Big barge floating out in the bog with a clamshell digger on it. Other end there was a big fire hose on a stanction that swivelled. Off a fire boat. Big generator on the lower deck to run the digger and a massive water pump for the hose. One guy would scoop up big loads of peat all full of roots and dump it on a screen between the digger and the hose. The peat got pumped thru a 12 pipeline back to the plant about a mile away. Then you wash the peat through the screen and flip a lever to tilt the screen and dump the roots back in the bog. Smoked a lot of pot out there with the digger operator who was the owners son. Drank a lot of booze too and he sunk the barge one rainy night. Clamped on to a mass of roots and kept reeling in and letting go until the barge was rocking so much water was washing onto the lower deck and into an open manhole until it sank enough to keep filling the bilge and down she went with us on it. Only sunk about 8ft and pretty level too so we jumped off onto the peat bog and walked back to the plant. He caught hell but neither of us got fired. Shot some ducks out of the sky with that water cannon one early morning but that's another story. :D

Not the best job I ever had but better than working at the dog food factory.

:peace:
 

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member
I’m may be a bit harsh but I’ve seen his videos. Not all but enough to know camera tricks are real. Nothing is at it seems on YouTube and the half crispy half dead plants turn into sparkly jewels.
thanks for your input, I know some about camera effects, can enhance or take away from the product, does make killer vids, they're the most entertaining that I know of so far. The Coco debate is strong with this group ..I was warned!. :)
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Mr Canucks (The God Father of Indoor Grow) is known for growing organically with Coco Coir ..yet it seems like it's frowned on when someone here post about growing organically with that soil. Can we? Or is he just Lucky? If you haven't seen his grows..they are above impressive. I'm seriously considering growing organically with Coco Coir.


View attachment 5052020
He sucks. He's a crappy grower that grows crappy weed. He's no Godfather that's for sure.

These are screenshots from his crappy videos of his crappy grows of his crappy weed that's overfed and burnt to a crisp. He deserves absolutely no praise only ridicule. People would be best to avoid watching his garbage. And his videos are poorly produced as well. Any grade school child can download freeware and make better videos than that hack.


 

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
thanks for your input, I know some about camera effects, can enhance or take away from the product, does make killer vids, they're the most entertaining that I know of so far. The Coco debate is strong with this group ..I was warned!. :)
My main problem with his style is it goes against soil science. It’s a way to grow but by no means the best organic option for long term sustainability and quality. In my humble opinion of course.
Harness the full soil food web with recycled soils. Compost centered practices and long term food sources is where it’s at. Focusing on soil health above “growing a plant” will give the wheel to the magic of plant interactions to control its own feeding.
Not blinding sssuming that Gaia green flower powder will break down in an innert medium spiked with ph up and down To “activate” the nutrients. Thats not how it works. Food takes a long time to fully break down( not one cycle) and needs healthy fungal networks and beneficial bacteria to keep the food available. Coco just plain and simple isn’t s good medium to promote healthy soil food web.
 

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
He sucks. He's a crappy grower that grows crappy weed. He's no Godfather that's for sure.

These are screenshots from his crappy videos of his crappy grows of his crappy weed that's overfed and burnt to a crisp. He deserves absolutely no praise only ridicule. People would be best to avoid watching his garbage. And his videos are poorly produced as well. Any grade school child can download freeware and make better videos than that hack.


Lol what I’m talking about!!!
He probably blamed ph lockout or not topsressing enough. However to sell more sponsored products
 

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member
My main problem with his style is it goes against soil science. It’s a way to grow but by no means the best organic option for long term sustainability and quality. In my humble opinion of course.
Harness the full soil food web with recycled soils. Compost centered practices and long term food sources is where it’s at. Focusing on soil health above “growing a plant” will give the wheel to the magic of plant interactions to control its own feeding.
Not blinding sssuming that Gaia green flower powder will break down in an innert medium spiked with ph up and down To “activate” the nutrients. Thats not how it works. Food takes a long time to fully break down( not one cycle) and needs healthy fungal networks and beneficial bacteria to keep the food available. Coco just plain and simple isn’t s good medium to promote healthy soil food web.
Now that's a horse of a different color. I see said the blind man ..as he spat into the wind ..it all comes back to me now. Jokes aside, I never really saw it like you just explained it there. Interesting.
 

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
Now that's a horse of a different color. I see said the blind man ..as he spat into the wind ..it all comes back to me now. Jokes aside, I never really saw it like you just explained it there. Interesting.
It’s like a buffet. The bigger the pot the more options at the buffet. The happier the biology the more covers get opened. The plant, giving the opportunity will close some food options itself when it’s full. But we don’t want it to be hungry snd not able to get at the food with closed lids.

healthy plants communicate with the soil and interact to draw or repel the correct microorganisms to facilitate whether it’s hungrier for N and P. Or when it’s flipping to flower P and K. In fact the plant will sway the mediums ph naturally because it knows best.

I’ve documented this numerous times. No different water (8 ph, carbon filter) medium stays 7 ph all through veg.
Flip to flower change nothing medium can drop to 6.3-6.5 in days. Magic. It’s avatar level shit and we need to be humbled by it as cultivators. There’s no super boost, ph magic additive, cal mg super sugar that can help. Add the elements for a kicking soil. Practice recycling, or no till by locking the nutrient cycle.. when I look for advice on how to feed my plants I look at the Forrest year snd year snd forever. The circle is locked snd nutrients are available when the trees want them. Snd the trees all talk and hang out along with the whole spectrum of plant/ animal / insect and microbes. That’s my two cents.
 

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member
It’s like a buffet. The bigger the pot the more options at the buffet. The happier the biology the more covers get opened. The plant, giving the opportunity will close some food options itself when it’s full. But we don’t want it to be hungry snd not able to get at the food with closed lids.

healthy plants communicate with the soil and interact to draw or repel the correct microorganisms to facilitate whether it’s hungrier for N and P. Or when it’s flipping to flower P and K. In fact the plant will sway the mediums ph naturally because it knows best.

I’ve documented this numerous times. No different water (8 ph, carbon filter) medium stays 7 ph all through veg.
Flip to flower change nothing medium can drop to 6.3-6.5 in days. Magic. It’s avatar level shit and we need to be humbled by it as cultivators. There’s no super boost, ph magic additive, cal mg super sugar that can help. Add the elements for a kicking soil. Practice recycling, or no till by locking the nutrient cycle.. when I look for advice on how to feed my plants I look at the Forrest year snd year snd forever. The circle is locked snd nutrients are available when the trees want them. Snd the trees all talk and hang out along with the whole spectrum of plant/ animal / insect and microbes. That’s my two cents.
Thanks, I just copied all that to my notes. Much appreciated.
 

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
thanks for your input, I know some about camera effects, can enhance or take away from the product, does make killer vids, they're the most entertaining that I know of so far. The Coco debate is strong with this group ..I was warned!. :)
I don't think Coco is a bad medium to grow in. I just don't see the point in shipping something half way round the planet when there are perfectly good alternatives available locally.
 

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
I love growing in coco with mineral salts, they've given me my biggest yields and best quality indoors. Environmentally speaking, coco and peat are about equally bad. Canada loses something like 100 times more peat to fires every year than to pro-mix. Peat bogs sequester 10 (or more) times carbon per acre than forests, so society needs to address the loss of peat bogs just as urgently as the loss of tropical forests-but instead we are losing both at record rates. There is no local alternative for a soilless medium, you need to completely change the way you grow and create a living soil if you want to use majority local materials. If you look at the sheer number of posts on this and similar forums by Mr. Canuk's victims, you'll see that his way of growing doesn't work for most people, ESPECIALLY people new to growing. He's done it enough times where he can squeak out a few decent looking harvests from time to time, but even he messes a lot of them up-as you've seen here. Honestly, I wish all noobs would try a simple mineral salt grow with coco or promix first, even if they want to get into organics. Getting a KISS Maxibloom grow under the belt while researching and mixing up a PROVEN living soil mix is the way to go. After that, if they like the soilless grow, look into the 2 part fertilizers like Jack's as a next step, or dive fully into organics. Mr. Canuks just wastes people's time, effort, and money. It is HARD to fix issues in a dry amended grow, but it's EASY to fix issues in a soilless+mineral salt grow.
 
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