Peat moss or coco

painINda@ss

Active Member
I allways used peat as the base of my medium. They are all outdoor grows. Has any one notice a difference between the two?
 

SCARHOLE

Well-Known Member
Coco is suposed to hold water much better.
My experience is Miracal gro moisture control vs MG potting soil.
Mg moisture controll has lots of coco coir in it.
It holds water WAY better than petemoss regular MG.
 

Uvalax

Active Member
I used peat moss last year and it did really well but now that i think of it, it didnt hold water too well...maybe adding some coco coir into the mix would help a little. Both have good qualities to them.
 

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
actualy peat holds more, coco dont hold water hardly at all. is why we use it as an amendamant to get better airation in other mediums. add vermiculite to hold water. perilite or coco to airate it.
i ran multip[le tests at diff rations of adeded coco, the more i had the faster it dried from more airation.
 

Turtlehermit

Well-Known Member
So not to steal anyone's thread but I got a question. Would buying Miracle Gro moister control be a bad idea to grow a plant in? Seeing is how u say its got cocoa.
 

grassified

Well-Known Member
Coco is suposed to hold water much better.
My experience is Miracal gro moisture control vs MG potting soil.
Mg moisture controll has lots of coco coir in it.
It holds water WAY better than petemoss regular MG.

I suppose a test needs to be done, but I was told that peat holds MORE water than coco does, and is good for outdoor growing in that aspect. also, peat degrades quicker than coco, these are the only two bits of information I can remember.

Sorry I was trying to remember where I saw it, but somewhere online there is a big thread discussing coco vs peat moss and lots of good info, I suggest you gooogle coco vs peat moss and look around.
 

painINda@ss

Active Member
Wow thanx for the reply. I add around 1/3 perlite in my mix for areation. So peat is better outdoors. I googled peat moss vs coco and a couple diffrent discisions came up. Will update when finnished reading them.
 

painINda@ss

Active Member
Here is some facts and opinions I found. Please help out with comment or experince.

coco
Pros
less acidic
decomposes more slowly than peat moss
free of bacteria and most fungal spores
holds around 1000 times more air than soil
re-wets well from dry
pH - 5.5 to 6.5
Coco peat can be re-used up to three times
Cons
may be contaminated with animal manure
is not fully decomposed when it arrives and will use up available nitrogen as it does so
Poorly sourced coco peat can have excess salts
PEAT
Pros
soak up to 20 times its own weight in water, which it releases slowly
cost less
better over-all as a soil amendment, especially for for sandy soil

Cons
pH of 3.5 to 4
More acid
takes 25 years or more to naturally renew
 

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
you dont use plain peat so all the info wont help here. peat, as you can see is way to low in pH, its why its only used as a base in soiless forumlas, then the other ingredients added to it in the bag are higher to ballance it out a bit, then they add a set amount of lime, depending on what the final ph is and this will buffer it to roughly 6.8 as new, thats what ph buffered means, some think it means no need to ph what we feed or water in it..thats not true. look up what buffer even means for those that still dont believe, the word alone means to slow or cushion in a way. not meaning its set ph. set would mean no need to ph. buffered means it wont go up n down as much as non limed soil mixes is all.


actualy heres what that means ......Chemistry A substance that minimizes change in the acidity of a solution when an acid or base is added to the solution.
 

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
persobnal preff realy, for my situation i dont have the time to keep up on all the extra needed waterings in coco. as it dries up faster than soiless or a peat based mix. and you must use calcium in coco and no need to in other mixes,. it is wise to use it in the others but not a needed element as we have cal in other food sources we use. i did do a 30% cut of coco to a soiless pro mix hp and wasnt to bad. helped airate it more
 

painINda@ss

Active Member
My mix has peat as the main part of my medium. Then add about 1/3 perlite for air and water. I live on a rock mt. that forces me to grow in buckette and that results in water every day. Sucks donkey dick. This year going to try to dig holes some how. So I can come home from 10-12 hr day and not have to water every day. That the 2nd time I read coco dries quicker. Making it not ideal for outdoor use. I will stick with peat and leaf compost had for years.
 

Hopsnmalt

Active Member
How about part peat, part coco? That way you serve your aeration needs and your water holding needs as well. If I remember correctly from horticulture classes, peat has a fantastic CEC, which means it makes nutes easily accessible to plant roots. Add a little oyster shell flour (cheap as hell and an excellent source of Calcium) and balance your Ph to your liking.

Hops
 
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