Questions On Coco Coir

I received some seeds from a friend and I'm wanting to grow in coco coir, but before I invest money in growing supplies I need to find some things out. Now bear with me, I did do some of research before posting this. I plan on buying the General Hydroponics Flora Series nutrients.

• With coco coir when do I start adding nutrients? I have read after the 3rd set of leaves and right away.
• On the nutrient chart I saw online it says add 0.5 ml of this, 0.5 ml of that, etc. per gallon. I'm obviously not going to water a whole gallon at a time, so what I do?

I hope those aren't stupid questions. Thanks.

Don't start seeds in coco.

Start feeding a weaker strength veg when you transplant your seedling (thus the third internode suggestion.)

Mix a gallon and use it as needed.

SnapsProvolone said:

Don't start seeds in coco..

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Why not? Not having a go, just curious. I always start my seeds in coco with a very high success rate. My tap water comes out with no ec reading so i give the 0.2 ec of formulex when they pop up gradually building up to 0.6 over the next few weeks. Always works for me.

NoMids said:

I received some seeds from a friend and I'm wanting to grow in coco coir, but before I invest money in growing supplies I need to find some things out. Now bear with me, I did do some of research before posting this. I plan on buying the General Hydroponics Flora Series nutrients.

• With coco coir when do I start adding nutrients? I have read after the 3rd set of leaves and right away.
• On the nutrient chart I saw online it says add 0.5 ml of this, 0.5 ml of that, etc. per gallon. I'm obviously not going to water a whole gallon at a time, so what I do?

I hope those aren't stupid questions. Thanks.

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They're not stupid questions.

Like i said in the above post i start off with forumlex, great for seedlings & clones. Are you planning on getting an ec & ph pen? you can get away without a ec stick/pen if you are hand watering but you're definitely going to need a ph pen. If you have no ec stick i would start with a 1/4 strength nutes of what it says on the label & see how they react to that.

sonicboomboy said:

Why not? Not having a go, just curious. I always start my seeds in coco with a very high success rate. My tap water comes out with no ec reading so i give the 0.2 ec of formulex when they pop up gradually building up to 0.6 over the next few weeks. Always works for me.

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The ph is why I don't start in coco.

SnapsProvolone said:

The ph is why I don't start in coco.

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I still dont understand why not. I adjust my PH to 5.6 & i have almost 100% success rate, been doing it that way for years. Threres no reason why you cant start seeds in coco

NoMids said:

With coco coir when do I start adding nutrients? I have read after the 3rd set of leaves and right away.

• On the nutrient chart I saw online it says add 0.5 ml of this, 0.5 ml of that, etc. per gallon. I'm obviously not going to water a whole gallon at a time, so what I do?

Click to expand...

you start nutes in coco the same as with everything else. your medium has nothing to do with when you begin feeding. i usually start feeding at 1/4 strength on around day 11, or when i have 3 alternating internodes, whichever comes first. for me, 1/4 strength is around 250 ppm. if you mix a gallon, and have some left over, just use it the next time you feed. the ph of coco (5. makes no difference in starting seeds/cuts....

NoMids said:

I received some seeds from a friend and I'm wanting to grow in coco coir, but before I invest money in growing supplies I need to find some things out. Now bear with me, I did do some of research before posting this. I plan on buying the General Hydroponics Flora Series nutrients.

• With coco coir when do I start adding nutrients? I have read after the 3rd set of leaves and right away.
• On the nutrient chart I saw online it says add 0.5 ml of this, 0.5 ml of that, etc. per gallon. I'm obviously not going to water a whole gallon at a time, so what I do?

I hope those aren't stupid questions. Thanks.

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Don't do it! Coco *sucks* so bad. Just smell it.. go on. Stanks of chemicals. If you really want to use something shit-brown and soggy, use real peat-moss. if you are hell-bent on 'pure' hydro loveliness, Perlite/Vermiculite will give you the wet-weight, moisture, texture AND aeration to the roots just gawd *anything* but that cheap nasty coco crap.

Dribbles said:

Don't do it! Coco *sucks* so bad. Just smell it.. go on. Stanks of chemicals. If you really want to use something shit-brown and soggy, use real peat-moss. if you are hell-bent on 'pure' hydro loveliness, Perlite/Vermiculite will give you the wet-weight, moisture, texture AND aeration to the roots just gawd *anything* but that cheap nasty coco crap.

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just because you choose not to grow in coco doesn't mean it sucks if it did why would so many of us use it with great results only 2nd to hyro.
please try not to give people bad advice when in fact your opinion that coco sucks is just that an opinion.

To the OP you can put your seeds straight in coco, I do it all the time and have a 95% germ rate(sometimes you just get a dud) If i am out of root cubes this is exactly how i sow my seeds. IMO i think it is better than the paper towel method so i do not have to disturb the tap when transplanting.

as for nutrients no the seed has enough to make it a week or so in coco after sprouting. Sometimes i water with a drop of micro per quart. Untill your seedling is about 2 weeks old i would just water once every 2-3 days just untill you get a small amount of run off. Remember you can't over water coco but you can drown an infant plant in it if the roots aren't developed enough.

and your bottles should say5ml a gal on flora series?? not 0.5 so if you are only using a quart of water mix 1.25ml per quart or about 12drops IMO

Dribbles said:

Don't do it! Coco *sucks* so bad. Just smell it.. go on. Stanks of chemicals. If you really want to use something shit-brown and soggy, use real peat-moss. if you are hell-bent on 'pure' hydro loveliness, Perlite/Vermiculite will give you the wet-weight, moisture, texture AND aeration to the roots just gawd *anything* but that cheap nasty coco crap.

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LOL, what in the he#% are you talking about?!?!? i don't know what kind of coco you used/smelled, but it smells like rich soil to me. i've been in coco for over ten years, and i'll never go back to soil! granted, unless you automate, coco is more work than soil, but the results are amazing. being able to feed "full strength" nutes every day equals awesome growth. also, coco isn't all that cheap either, lol...

urban1026835 said:

with great results only 2nd to hyro.

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coco is hydro... i feed every day, after i'm about 8" or so. and you don't want a small amount of run-off, you want a good 10-15%. try it, you'll see a difference.

Coco is soiless i wouldn't consider coco hydro.

i consider it hydro because of the ph factor. i don't think you have to be dwc to be hydro, but that's just me. i think the growth rates are the same, explosive, lol!

Coco is a hydroponic medium. It has no real nutritional value. If you wanna prove me wrong grow in coco using nothing but soil stuff like peters or miracle grow (you will lack micro nutrients)

urban1026835 said:

Coco is soiless i wouldn't consider coco hydro.

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Growing in coco is growing hydroponically.

i guess we can all agree to disagree although yes i guess if you wanna use the definition that your growing in a nutrient free environment, i just don't consider how i grow (smart pot coco/perlite hand water to waste) would exactly be considered hydroponic though i do agree it's a which came first chicken or egg kind of thing.