Coco Growers Unite!

[evlme2]

Not so fella and i get my info from the Canna web site cheak it out. The coco bricks do need to be bufferd, the loose stuff dont. Also it is recomended that a good wet dry watering routine is the way to go. www.canna.com
The coco experts.

Canna doesnt grow MJ, I do. And I have NEVER EVER buffered ANY coco I have ever used, thats botanicare, GH Coctek and Sunleaves. Nor do any of my friends buffer coco.
If you want to waste your time and nutrients because Canna tells you to, then be my guest.
But I am here to tell anyone who'll listen, Coco does not have to be buffered!
Shall I put up more pics of trees grown in unbuffered coco?
We can go back/forth on this, proof is in the pudding.
Here's my pudding...

Mosca's C99 BX, the Pineapple pheno.
52days, in unbuffered Botanicare coco, fed Maxibloom and tap at 3/4tsp/gal. Ph5.9
This plant was 3' tall and yielded a quarter pound.
Go to Icmag's coco forum, they'll laugh at you at that buffering b.s.

 

[jberry]

canna only tells u to buffer the cogr coco........ most coco comes buffered.

 

[evlme2]

im gunna agree with eyeco on this one..........

also, the bcuzz coco can be very high in salts......... ive seen run off from brand new bcuzz coco come out as high as 2000 ppm's.

What does that tell you about bcuzz coco?
I just checked the runoff of some fresh Botanicare coco and it's 535ppm.

 

[bender420]

runoff isnt necessary its just the way most peeps do it. i water by hand just enough each day, no run off and so far no problems

Same here and both Don and I are getting terrific results. CHEERS.

 

[bender420]

i start around 800 ppm for rooted cuttings and work my way up...

weeks 4, 5, and 6 is when i try to pump them up then i taper down to nothing for week 7...

and my max. peak is around 1350 ppm

If I am running an EC of 3.1 and the plant still show no signs of nute burn, is this fine.

A lot of folks are running much lower EC then I am, am i just wasting money or is it actually working since there aren't any signs of nute burn.

I am growing for my first time so I would appreciate if someone could drop some knowledge.

 

[evlme2]

No, runoff is not mandatory at all. But no matter how hard I try I always get at least a cap full out the bottom.

For everybody else, allow me to introduce myself, I'm evlme2 and I have been growing in coco for a few years now.
I have gone thru the usually fuck ups and tribulations that everyone else goes thru, wasted alot of $$$ along the way but have gained a wealth of knowledge in return.
So I wish only to pass on what I have learned so that others can see for themselves how easy it is to grow in in coco and how dramatic the results can be.
So let me pass on what I know about cal/mag...
It has been my experience that when you use 100% r/o water then you will MOST LIKELY* have to add cal/mag. *Some strains can handle lesser amounts of cal/mag. *Some nutrient brands have more cal/mag than others and some hardly have any at all
OR, and this is what I do, you can mix enough tap water to your r/o to bring your ppms to 100.
If you choose the cal/mag route then mix that in BEFORE you add nutes. No more than 150ppms is needed.

 

[evlme2]

If I am running an EC of 3.1 and the plant still show no signs of nute burn, is this fine.

A lot of folks are running much lower EC then I am, am i just wasting money or is it actually working since there aren't any signs of nute burn.

I am growing for my first time so I would appreciate if someone could drop some knowledge.

When all the meters and test strips are done, its the plant that tells you the most.
If your running ec's that high and your plants are responding positively, then your fine.
Is is a waste? Not if your plants are healthy. They will only take but so much, and you'll know pretty quickly when you've crossed that line. It doesnt take long for plants in coco to react to nutrients.
Just watch them carefully.

 

[jberry]

What does that tell you about bcuzz coco?
I just checked the runoff of some fresh Botanicare coco and it's 535ppm.

tells me i wouldnt use it.... bcuzz is also the most expensive.

i would also concider your 535 ppm a high number, not a low one...
but i did use botanicare for a while and that would be my second choice

when my canna coco is new, it usually has a run off of like 30-70 ppm's.

 

[bender420]

No, runoff is not mandatory at all. But no matter how hard I try I always get at least a cap full out the bottom.

For everybody else, allow me to introduce myself, I'm evlme2 and I have been growing in coco for a few years now.
I have gone thru the usually fuck ups and tribulations that everyone else goes thru, wasted alot of $$$ along the way but have gained a wealth of knowledge in return.
So I wish only to pass on what I have learned so that others can see for themselves how easy it is to grow in in coco and how dramatic the results can be.
So let me pass on what I know about cal/mag...
It has been my experience that when you use 100% r/o water then you will MOST LIKELY* have to add cal/mag. *Some strains can handle lesser amounts of cal/mag. *Some nutrient brands have more cal/mag than others and some hardly have any at all
OR, and this is what I do, you can mix enough tap water to your r/o to bring your ppms to 100.
If you choose the cal/mag route then mix that in BEFORE you add nutes. No more than 150ppms is needed.

You are right bro, that seems to be the consensus here about cal-mag, RO, and coco.

As for me, I am using COCO, RO, and no cal-mag, I have OG and Himalayan Gold, and both are Mg hogs.

Since my base nutes contain calcium, and I use Sweet I have not used any cal-mag and my plants have been lush green through out veg and now about to start their 4th week of flower.

welcome to the forums. we are all here to learn and teach others via sharing our experiences.

 

[bender420]

tells me i wouldnt use it.... bcuzz is also the most expensive.

i would also concider your 535 ppm a high number, not a low one...
but i did use botanicare for a while and that would be my second choice

when my canna coco is new, it usually has a run off of like 30-70 ppm's.

I have 3 plants in canna and 3 in botanicare, and there is no difference whatsoever. If anything the botanicare is even more airy than the canna.

 

[bender420]

When all the meters and test strips are done, its the plant that tells you the most.
If your running ec's that high and your plants are responding positively, then your fine.
Is is a waste? Not if your plants are healthy. They will only take but so much, and you'll know pretty quickly when you've crossed that line. It doesnt take long for plants in coco to react to nutrients.
Just watch them carefully.

Thanks mate, I watch them very closely every freakin day waiting for them to finish.

Sounds good, i came across an old school grower and he said he has ran 4.5 EC on plants like Himalayan Gold with tons of main/ semi main colas. The OG's nugs aren't that big and it seems to get a bit og burn over 2.5 EC but for the gold i have fed them upto 3.2 EC for a few day and they looked healthy and grew quick as hell.

So I will keep pushing the EC. on the HG to see how it goes.

 

[jberry]

If I am running an EC of 3.1 and the plant still show no signs of nute burn, is this fine.

A lot of folks are running much lower EC then I am, am i just wasting money or is it actually working since there aren't any signs of nute burn.

I am growing for my first time so I would appreciate if someone could drop some knowledge.

i wouldnt go any higher and u may get better results by backing it down a bit...

3.1 is pretty high for a coco grow....

a high EC can definitely disrupt your coco's microbiology in a negative way.... you should try not to disrupt your beneficial bacterias because they are one of the main benefits of using coco as a medium.

plain water is also disruptive.

 

[jberry]

I have 3 plants in canna and 3 in botanicare, and there is no difference whatsoever. If anything the botanicare is even more airy than the canna.

the difference is the salt content that the coco starts with......... it may not cause a problem, but i prefer to start with as low of a EC as possible. But most of the good coco is all coming from the same area in inland India...
the difference is how it is processed and how much salt is left behind in the finished product and weather it was steamed, aged, ect. ect.. but most of it is pretty similar and therefore gives pretty similar results (especially when the coco is fairly new)

i like canna personally because it has trichaderma mixed in and is always clean and consistant...... but as i said i would go with botanicare next and have used it in the past as well.

 

[evlme2]

i wouldnt go any higher and u may get better results by backing it down a bit...

3.1 is pretty high for a coco grow....

a high EC can definitely disrupt your coco's microbiology in a negative way.... you should try not to disrupt your beneficial bacterias because they are one of the main benefits of using coco as a medium.

plain water is also disruptive.

I completely agree here. Especially with the plain water. I only flush during the grow if it's an absolute emergency. Otherwise, I only commence flushing at the end of the plants flowering period.
How old are your plants now? And how are you liking that Sweet? I have a Grapefruit/Blueberry in coco that I'm experimenting on with bloom boosters and what not and was thinking of using Sweet towards the end of flower.
At what point did you start using it?
In fact, is anybody else here using Sweet? I'd love to hear some feed back on it.
Btw, Canna coco is probably the best of the best when it comes to coco, for sure. I stumbled onto Botanicare because all the shops around me carry it. I'm not brand loyal in that department, any of the top 3-4 major brands do me justice.

 

[bender420]

I completely agree here. Especially with the plain water. I only flush during the grow if it's an absolute emergency. Otherwise, I only commence flushing at the end of the plants flowering period.
How old are your plants now? And how are you liking that Sweet? I have a Grapefruit/Blueberry in coco that I'm experimenting on with bloom boosters and what not and was thinking of using Sweet towards the end of flower.
At what point did you start using it?
In fact, is anybody else here using Sweet? I'd love to hear some feed back on it.
Btw, Canna coco is probably the best of the best when it comes to coco, for sure. I stumbled onto Botanicare because all the shops around me carry it. I'm not brand loyal in that department, any of the top 3-4 major brands do me justice.

i been using sweet grape during the entire grow. I have no idea which of the ingredients in my mix are working since i have no prior experience growing. All I know is that everything is working in harmony at the moment.

 

[JackRabbitSlim]

Is anyone on here using the coco in the 2 week harvest set up?

 

[jberry]

sweet is just flavored magnesium sulfate.
i got some Grape Sweet for free from botanicare.net, it was only enough to do a few plants for the last few weeks....... this is something i would never buy personally but i'll let you know if i notice any results.

my friend has used the berry sweet and said it worked pretty good in his opinion.

i have also heard that all those products make all your mj taste like cotton candy... they say even when u grow different strains, they all end up tasting the same.... IDK if thats good or bad but i will probably take a pass.

 

[waz666]

Hey guys more questions, first off I am growing from seed in botincare, my first issue is i have a seedling that is almost 4 inches tall but hasn't got the seed shell off of itself and there ARE no real leaves yet, all my other seedlings are shorter and have leaves, should I try to get the shell off its really on there, or should I let nature take its course? Second question is since all my seedlings are 1-4 inches should are start adding my nutes now or wait, and if I should wait how long?

Once again any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[bender420]

sweet is just flavored magnesium sulfate.
i got some Grape Sweet for free from botanicare.net, it was only enough to do a few plants for the last few weeks....... this is something i would never buy personally but i'll let you know if i notice any results.

my friend has used the berry sweet and said it worked pretty good in his opinion.

i have also heard that all those products make all your mj taste like cotton candy... they say even when u grow different strains, they all end up tasting the same.... IDK if thats good or bad but i will probably take a pass.

I will continue to use the SWEET and then the next grow I will drop it, to see how the plants do without it. I will of course let you know too.

 

[bender420]

Hey guys more questions, first off I am growing from seed in botincare, my first issue is i have a seedling that is almost 4 inches tall but hasn't got the seed shell off of itself and there ARE no real leaves yet, all my other seedlings are shorter and have leaves, should I try to get the shell off its really on there, or should I let nature take its course? Second question is since all my seedlings are 1-4 inches should are start adding my nutes now or wait, and if I should wait how long?

Once again any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

last i had a 2 incher w/ the shell on it didn't make it. in another case i tried to remove it, it also didn't make it.

GL to you man, I am sure someone more experienced than me can shed some more light.