Nutrients for coco coir

generalnyce

Member
I’m in my second grow(...really first, first one failed at germ) and am wandering which nutrients are best for coco. I have an app called ‘BudLabs’ that I think will help me and the only nuits specific to coco is Sensi coco grow a&b and bloom a&b. Is this the only coco specific nutrient and if not is it worth the price? There are also supplements that it says I’ll need (b52, big buds coco, overdrive and voodoo juice), can anyone give me any info on these? Is there anything I’ll need to go w/ them...like Calmag? And this line claims to be ph perfect so does that mean I wouldn’t need ph up and down? Do I need to test runoff still? I’m still in the seedling stage so I have a second before I start feeding, I’m just trying to get a good understanding of which nutrients are right for me.
I need all the help I can get so please follow my grow journal and help out if you can.
Thanx
https://www.rollitup.org/t/lsd-red-diesel-silver-kush-grow-comments-and-advice-welcome.959799/
 

stickyfly

Well-Known Member
Check out Mega Crop, there is a thread in the Advertisement section! Good stuff, pretty much comprehensive and you may not need much more. But I'm a newbie on my first attempt so take it for what its worth.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I've been using VitaGrow to grow in coco for years with excellent results. No supplements just three part VitaGrow. It doesn't have fancy labels or marketing claims but it is all that the plants need. Plus it's a fraction of the cost of the overpriced name brand watered down nutes that spend more on marketing and packaging than the actual product.
Plants don't care about fancy labels, a dozen supplements, or over complicated feeding charts. All you need to do is give them what they need and they'll grow.
 

generalnyce

Member
Thanx fellas
I just checked out all of your recommendations and i have to say im leaning towards Botanicare CNS17. It seems like its simple enough, cheap enough and it has a downloadable chart that i know ill need. Plus 1suplement has to be easier than 4.
LED, could u link in a pick or two of one of your grows that I could check out?
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Silica Blast is just Potassium Silicate. At the recommended dosage it provides about 30 ppm's of silica. I can make 896 gallons of that same solution with potassium silicate that I can buy for about $15 a pound in dry form. I used it a few grows but didn't notice any difference so I stopped bothering with it. So for the price of one quart of silica blast I can make 896 gallons of the same thing rather than buying expensive bottles of water with a fancy label. I understand that some people don't want to hassle with making their own additives. It is convenient to just open a bottle and measure some out. I'm just pointing out the extreme markup these guys are getting for diluted chemical salts anyone can buy. I've got plenty of money but that's because I don't throw it away. I like to keep my money in my pocket. I'm not going to pay for a fancy label, marketing, advertising costs, etc... if I don't have to. It doesn't take a degree in chemistry to mix these things up.
I still have it sitting around. Cost me $15 plus shipping.

 

generalnyce

Member
But, being as tho im growing in coco, ive heard that ill need something to help with calcium and magnesium deficiency. Will the powder you have or silica blast substitute calmag? Or ill need that too?
Lol, I dont have plenty of money. Im definitely on a budget. But this will be the first time ive fed plants, im not sure i should be mixing my own nutes just yet.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
It's best to keep it simple no need to waste a bunch of money on nutes.
^^^

Base nutes for the win.
Cal/Mag is a nice thing to have at hand if needed and that's really going to come down to what is in your water.

I used to run the whole canna range including buying bottles of 5ltr boost for several hundred pound a time. When I dropped it all for base nutes and tiny amount of pk boost I saw no reduction in yield.
In fact I found the less I used the less likely a deficiency and the more likely a plant would be healthy all the way through and thus yields improve.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
But, being as tho im growing in coco, ive heard that ill need something to help with calcium and magnesium deficiency. Will the powder you have or silica blast substitute calmag? Or ill need that too?
Lol, I dont have plenty of money. Im definitely on a budget. But this will be the first time ive fed plants, im not sure i should be mixing my own nutes just yet.
You make a good point about mixing your own nutes just yet. I have been doing it for so long I just take it for granted. You probably should stay with a premixed product so that you can concentrate on growing and not mixing fertilizer. Don't want to make things more complicated than they need to be. I'm sure you'll have good success with the nute line you've chosen.

As for calmag. I don't use it, never have any deficiencies, and grow in 100% coco. I'm not sure about CNS 17 because I can't find any labels showing the ingredients but here is a rule of thumb. When growing in coco if the nitrogen source for your nutrients is derived from calcium nitrate you will not need any additional calcium. There is a myth that you have to add calcium when growing in coco. Calcium nitrate provides all the calcium needed. If the nitrogen source is mostly ammonium nitrate or urea then you will probably need to add additional calcium. Most fertilizers have all the magnesium you need and I believe the cause of a good portion of deficiencies is due to too many additional additives and overfeeding which causes lockouts.

It's all going to come down to what nutrients you are using. Some leave out things from their base nutrients so they can sell you a bottle of an additive. Some have everything you need. Jacks and VitaGrow are very similar in that they both contain everything you need without having to add any additional additives.
 

LEDandCoffee

Well-Known Member
You make a good point about mixing your own nutes just yet. I have been doing it for so long I just take it for granted. You probably should stay with a premixed product so that you can concentrate on growing and not mixing fertilizer. Don't want to make things more complicated than they need to be. I'm sure you'll have good success with the nute line you've chosen.

As for calmag. I don't use it, never have any deficiencies, and grow in 100% coco. I'm not sure about CNS 17 because I can't find any labels showing the ingredients but here is a rule of thumb. When growing in coco if the nitrogen source for your nutrients is derived from calcium nitrate you will not need any additional calcium. There is a myth that you have to add calcium when growing in coco. Calcium nitrate provides all the calcium needed. If the nitrogen source is mostly ammonium nitrate or urea then you will probably need to add additional calcium. Most fertilizers have all the magnesium you need and I believe the cause of a good portion of deficiencies is due to too many additional additives and overfeeding which causes lockouts.

It's all going to come down to what nutrients you are using. Some leave out things from their base nutrients so they can sell you a bottle of an additive. Some have everything you need. Jacks and VitaGrow are very similar in that they both contain everything you need without having to add any additional additives.
_DSC0801.JPG
 

LEDandCoffee

Well-Known Member
I literally just use CNS17 grow, Silica blast, and then switch to cns17 ripe. bloom isn't necessary, just mix grow and ripe for a week or two.

Then I throw in hydroguard cause it's cheap and lasts forever.
 

generalnyce

Member
Ok I’ll check out jacks and vitagrow now...I’m pretty much sold on CNS17 tho. It just seems easiest. A qt. of each (...don’t laugh at me...but that’s about enough for a 3 plant grow, right?) is only about 55$ at my local hydroponic shop. I’ll get the feeding chart and I should be in good shape!
Thanx for the help....shit was confusing
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Ok I’ll check out jacks and vitagrow now...I’m pretty much sold on CNS17 tho. It just seems easiest. A qt. of each (...don’t laugh at me...but that’s about enough for a 3 plant grow, right?) is only about 55$ at my local hydroponic shop. I’ll get the feeding chart and I should be in good shape!
Thanx for the help....shit was confusing
There is nothing wrong with that CNS 17. If your sold on it then get it. It's your grow. You have plenty of other ones in the future to play around and try different things.
If you look at the label calcium nitrate is the first ingredient followed by magnesium sulphate. I doubt you'll need to add any calmag.
 

smokebros

Well-Known Member
I've been really happy with Canna Coco A&B nutrients. I've basically replicated the style that VaderOG has adopted by using it in a flood & drain system on my current grow, but my last run I used A&B in a drain to waste style with a lot of success.

Here are the rules I personally follow - not preaching here but just sharing what adjustments I've made to dial in...

use reverse osmosis water. My tap is in the 200's so I use R/O.
use 100-200PPM calmag. I adjust this based on how much the overall EC of my final water will be.
*if my overall EC is in a lower range (i.e. veg) then I use more calmag, if my overall EC is higher ( i.e. flowering) then I use less calmag. Reason is because there is already calmag in the base nutrients at a 3:1 ratio. When I get up to 8ML/Gal or more I cutout the calmag.
In drain to waste there's no reason to exceed 900PPM or 1.8EC feeding.
In flood and drain I'm dailed into 1.2 EC @ 3-4 weeks into flower - I haven't yet determined how much I'll push it, but likely to 1.4 - 1.6EC max.

 
Top