Coco Coir

lusidghost

lusidghost

Well-Known Member
Wastei said:
You don't have to have runoff with coir at every watering and you don't have to feed multiple times a day. Coco coir lasts longer than peat and is in many ways more sustainable because you can reuse the medium for many grows successfully.

Coco nuts grow year around while it take years and years for peat to grow and age to be usable for growing.
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I used old coco around my yard to fill in holes that my dog digs and around a big bush that had a little mosquito pond under it that I filled in when I moved into the house. It looks really pretty now. That's the biggest downside of rockwool. It all goes to the dump.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
speedwell68 said:
My problem with coco is one of cost and it not being very good for the environment. 90L of organic peat free soil ready to go is £10. 60L of coco is £15 + delivery. Plus, living in northern Europe means wherever that coco fibre was produced was a very long way away.

Then there is the increased water and nutrient costs. At the moment I can go at least 4 weeks on plain water, if I pot them up I can go 8 weeks on plain water. If I used coco I'd be feeding multiple times a day from the off. That would increase my workload. At the moment I am watering 3 times a week.

People claim that coco is the best medium ever, but in reality it is a compromise, just like any other medium.

Using coco gets faster growth rates over a traditional soil mix, however the trade off is more work and higher costs. Soil is super cheap and minimises workload, but the trade off is slower growth.
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I understand coco might be hard to get in some places and more expensive than other substrates. But I don't know how it can be bad for the environment when it's a byproduct that used to be just left as garbage. The coconuts are going to be grown. At least with coco coir another part of the coconut farming process is being used.
 
speedwell68

speedwell68

Well-Known Member
Wastei said:
You don't have to have runoff with coir at every watering and you don't have to feed multiple times a day. Coco coir lasts longer than peat and is in many ways more sustainable because you can reuse the medium for many grows successfully.

Coco nuts grow year around while it take years and years for peat to grow and age to be usable for growing.
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I don't use peat. It is being banned from sale in the UK, so I couldn't get it if I wanted to. I use an organic peat free compost mix and reuse it in my garden, it makes a great mulch for veg and flower beds.

I don't know anywhere that even sells it near me and would have to have it shipped in. Yet I can get my choice of soil mixes from my local horticultural supplier delivered for free.

I get that coco is a great solution for some, just not for me.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
lusidghost said:
Use whatever works best for you. To me 3 gallon pots are a perfect balance for coco. At least with fabric pots. I've used 5 gallons and they were chronically soggy, even on elevators. I've never tried Air Pots, but @twentyeight.threefive seems to like them a lot. I'm running rockwool slabs now, but if I do decide to go back to coco they will be 3 gallon pots. Or those plastic net pots that Bk uses. They seem like the best of both worlds.
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I wouldn't trade my air pots for any other container and this is not even after a full run in them. The root system formed from the partially grown plants I had to cull was impressive. Not only that but up potting to something bigger is super simple.
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
do you use mycos when you up-pot? i was gonna try bontone rooting powder to transfer my seedlings in rapid rooters to coco. thoughts?? it's only IBA in it
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Yes I use Great White. They seem to love it. At least that is my skewed opinion on it. I haven't conducted any scientific trials proving it works or not. If only we had a member that could link a study on the use of them...
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
PJ Diaz said:
I haven't tried air pots yet, but I've always been worried that they would dry out too fast around the edges like fabric pots do. The Active Aqua pots seem to have the perfect amount of aeration for my needs with coco/perlite.
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I'm currently getting away with feeding my 2.2 gallon Air Pot plants in 100% coco during full flower only once a day at 1.8 EC. They are only showing slight signs of nutrient burn. Obviously the situation isn't ideal but it's the I can't manually feed more than once daily. Got to hop on that automation train.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
twentyeight.threefive said:
Yes I use Great White. They seem to love it. At least that is my skewed opinion on it. I haven't conducted any scientific trials proving it works or not. If only we had a member that could link a study on the use of them...
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i just tried the rooting powder on the 2 seedlings. we'll see what happens. last time i didn't use anything and they seemed to handle the transplant ok.

i take it you aren't fond of a "theoretical grower"?
 
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