Having Mixed Felling On My Medium, Please Help!!!!

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
so i started out using Sunshine Mix Advanced #4. so far its been good. not great, not awesome!! but my plants look great!! and my yield was not bad at all for my first grow. numbers aren't completely in, so i can comment on that at this point. but when i went and purchased my bag of mix i was told it was coco and for me to treat it as such. well, that was dead wrong!! and im not happy with that situation at all!! needless to say, i won't get into that story. but i found out its a peat based medium that is "coco-charged" im not sure what that means, but im super confused now. i was using hydro nutes from Botanicare. within the last few weeks i have increased the ph from 6.0 to 6.6. the plants seem to love this new change, but i am super confused on how to treat my plants now. whats PEAT? how should i treat this stuff? like soil or like hydro? can i add more coco and go back to treating my plants as if they are in hydro? am i completely confused or what?? im on my third set of plants (1 harvest, 1 set in flower and 1 set in veg-perpetual growing). can someone please tell me what i am doing wrong or right? much appreciation in advance!!
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
thanks for the unhelpful advise.
I'm your guy! I exlusivly use sunshine #4 and I swear by it. So here's the deal. Ots basically hydro. Its a quasi soiless/hydroponic mix. I use earth juice organics in it and don't have to worry about ph. The medium also has dolomite lime, so it will buffer the ph for you, but putting it in at what you want is best. Id say 6.7. Read the labels on the bale, it says nothing about coco if I'm remembering correct. DO NOT TREAT IT AS COCO.

For your other question peat is a type of moss. Sunshines uses canadian peat moss. It retains moisture well but also allows for good air flow to the roots. Peat is good shit. Any more questions?
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
you are very helpful. maddog can learn alot from you!!!

one thing... im in SUNSHINE MIX *ADVANCED* #4...i think there is a huge difference. what color is the bag you use???

ok, i was told it IS "coco-charged" and it does say something about coco on the bag for sure. im having mixed feelings about it. and thinking about switching to Roots Organic. my first grow, i grew about 22 plants. none of them had any signs of distress for about 3-4 weeks. then i went to the hydro shop, and shit got fucked up pretty bad! thought dude was helping me, he was not. live and learn. i use Botanicare line of nutes. i was using the hydro stuff at first. then i was using the soil (was told to switch to the soil stuff 5 weeks into flower, basically the last 3-4 weeks use the soil stuff). i have been getting BETTER results by upping the PH to 6.6. lots of less leaf loss, less leafs turning copper rust color and falling off like last grow. first grow had awesome buds, and yield, but who knows how much better it could have been? i see better results by just adjusting my PH, but i want to know what are the exact nutes and additives i can use too. (may just start another thread, been rather stoned).

thank you very much for you HELPFUL advise.
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
It sounds like a lot of your problem probably came from switching the nutes up like that. And sorry about guy at the hydro store, many of them are just stoners who know a guy that hired them.

And I see now that you are on the advanced line, which I am unfamiliar with. I use the black bag. In any case I suggest the regular number 4, but like I said I'm also interseted in trying out the roots organic. I know a lot of people who suggest it.
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
Also with these pro mixes you can use almost any nute line succesfully. Just don't jump around like it sounds like you did.
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
And the copper rusy leaves is a disease. Plant rust. Can't remember the cure. But it has nothing to do with your medium or nutes if it is what I think it is. Not only cannabis gets this.
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
nah, i didn't jump around. i just use the Botanicare. that is it! nothing else. the stuff i use is geared for soil, coco and hydro. same stuff does all 3. a lot of people love Botanicare and i do to!! so far i had a awesome first grow!! what i did do is switch from the hydro to the soil in the flower stage. as directed by dude in store. and he wasn't like that. he knows his shit. he has some skills, i just think he was confused, but im holding it against him due to his "12 years experience". 12 years and employment at the hydro shop, he should have known well what he was talking about, and he led me into darkness. luckily i found out some things before harvest. or i possibly wouldn't have had a harvest. but as far as the RO, i really want to try that stuff or Botanicares COCO-based premix. i heard good good things about that stuff.

so how should i be treating my medium? how can i treat peat moss?
 

gotigers0420

Active Member
you are very helpful. maddog can learn alot from you!!!

one thing... im in SUNSHINE MIX *ADVANCED* #4...i think there is a huge difference. what color is the bag you use???

ok, i was told it IS "coco-charged" and it does say something about coco on the bag for sure. im having mixed feelings about it. and thinking about switching to Roots Organic. my first grow, i grew about 22 plants. none of them had any signs of distress for about 3-4 weeks. then i went to the hydro shop, and shit got fucked up pretty bad! thought dude was helping me, he was not. live and learn. i use Botanicare line of nutes. i was using the hydro stuff at first. then i was using the soil (was told to switch to the soil stuff 5 weeks into flower, basically the last 3-4 weeks use the soil stuff). i have been getting BETTER results by upping the PH to 6.6. lots of less leaf loss, less leafs turning copper rust color and falling off like last grow. first grow had awesome buds, and yield, but who knows how much better it could have been? i see better results by just adjusting my PH, but i want to know what are the exact nutes and additives i can use too. (may just start another thread, been rather stoned).

thank you very much for you HELPFUL advise.
I swear by the Roots Organic soil, but after about 4 weeks in 5 gal smart pots I start feeding them their other food. FYI
 

PeyoteReligion

Well-Known Member
I never used coc so I don't know how to treat it. but I treat my sunshine nice. Make a tea from the earth juice line and get feedin! It sounds like you are on the right track now after the little scare. Soilless is the shit.
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
yeah!! a buddy of mine who i grew up with learned how to grow weed when he was 8 yrs old. he lived on a hippie commune for a few years between Grateful Dead shows. he always told me..."Soiless-mediums are the way to grow". and it stuck with me ever since. i seen pictures of his first garden at 8. hahah!!! kid had some fucking skills!!the nutes i use are Botanicare. should i be using the ones for soil or for hydro? my ph is at 6.7 and they seem to like that. so i am guessing soil?
 
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