Just made a trip to the local hydro shop and this is what the guy sold me:

50 liter canna COCO medium
COGr VEGA A&B nutes
Rhizotonic (.6-.2-.6) root stimulator


A set of coco pots


The guy said that I could just plant using the medium in the pots and treat it like a soil system. Just water it with the nutrients when necessary.

I am wondering if this is really the best setup or if you would recommend an ebb&flow or other type system. He claimed that ebb&flow and DWC were inefficient and difficult.

Welcome to the forum. He works at a hydro shop and he things its too difficult??? He hasn't done anything wrong, he is just underinformed. Everything he said will work so he didn't waste your money. Read some of the journals on here for yourself, maybe get a book on Hydro-growing. It will of course require more of an investment. I think it's worth it. I'd also look for another Hydro Shop. I depend on mine to give me good advice, yours isn't doing that. VV

Well there were DWC and ebb n flow systems in the shop so Im sure he knows about them, I think he just sensed my newbieness and thought coco would be an easier medium for me as a first timer.

My question is what I should do with what I have here. First of all, I am guessing the coco medium drains faster than soil. What should I do with the nutrient soaked water that accumulates underneath the pots. Since the pots are coco as well they are very porous and would reabsorb the water underneath possibly leading to overnute?

Second, can the coco medium be used in a net pot as part of a DWC system. Are the COGr nutrients useful for a hydro setup like DWC or are they coco only?

I don't know of an easier system then a flood and drain table using net pots filled with clay pellets.. One pump, one timer, so simple...It may not be the best, but it is easy..GL

I agree thats what I run!! Happy and easy!! gl

What the hydro store guy is suggesting is a hydro system, using coir as a medium, and feeding with the nutes. I assume that he's talking about a drain-to-waste system, and you'll have to water at least once/day. You'll need to buy more nutes for later stages of growth.

HTH

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Right...I read in another thread that drain to waste is a typical setup for coco medium. I also read that it is particularly wasteful and that the nutrients can get dumped down the drain.

Can you explain drain to waste? Do you just dump the water that comes through the bottom of the coco-tek pots? Do you water everyday with the nutrient solution or some days with just plain water?

First of all coco retains water as well as any medium out there. The ideal run to waste system is supposed to be a 10% overflow. You have to check the amount of runoff and water accordingly or waste a lot of nutes. The reason for the run to waste with coco is a high concentation of salt if it wasn't processed properly. Most sources now have fixed that problem by using more coco from inland instead of close to the oceans. This is the favorite medium of the guy that owns the hydro shop I visit. He has been in this business since 1983. My first grows where with coco, still have some in coco using flood and drain. I only switched to rockwool cause the shop ran out of coco and I couldn't wait for it to come in. Last harvest was just under 500grams from 20 plants, 600 watt equivelant light. VV

Some definitions please:

What does 10% runoff mean? The water that comes out the bottom should be 10% ppm of nutrients?? Can you detail how a flood to waste system works with coco?

Also if I do flood and drain system instead, what type of container would the coco be put in so it doesnt break away and drain off?

Im kinda doing the same thing, but with 6" rockwool cubes for my first grow.

I have a 14 site hydro system but the box I will be flowering in is very small. Therefore, to keep the plants the smallest possible, I will be flowering from clones.

I am starting them off, watering the mothers by dunking the bottom third of the cube in my nutrient solution. Right now they only need water every few days, as the rockwool holds water quite well. Im sure this will increase as they get larger.

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