So I've been reading up alot on organics and have decided to go all organic this year. i've decided to use coco-coir & an organic potting soil as base. I have read that coco coir is prone to calcium & magnesium deficeinties due to the micro-organism break them down fast. I also read that it is still possible to burn plants with organics. So I've set up a couple of soil formula's one for veg and one for bloom. If some could tell me if there seem good or totally wrong.

First the veg soil formula:

30% Coco Coir
30% Organic potting soil
15% Perlite
15% Feather meal(12-0-0) slow release Nitrogen
5% Green Sand (0-0-3) Slow release potassium & small amounts of trace minerals
5% Oyster shell lime (ca 46% & mg 28%) Also raises ph

Blood meal tea standing by for a fast release nitrogen.

Bloom Soil Formula

30% Coco Coir
30% Organic Potting Soil
15% Perlite
20% Rainbow mix bloom (1-9-2) A mixture of Bat Guano, Sea Kelp, Steamed Bone Meal, Langbeinite, Soft Rock Phosphate, Feather Meal, Cottonseed Meal, Natural Potash with mycorrhizae


As far as the vegatative formula goes it seems all my nitrogen is slow release. I'm not sure how slow, slow really is. Also do you think the oyster shell is necessary due to it being mixed with the potting soil. I'm worried about the ph being raised to much and locking out nutes.

As far as the bloom formula I think I'm pretty good there.
The only thing is I'm going to be vegging inside 2 months then move them outside to finish vegging and flower and it seems my bloom formula is really lacking in nitrogen. Should I add a high nitrogen tea to the bloom formula?

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and gals.

bump......

whoa, bankchips, why are you adding so, much stuff to the coco? have you ran these formulas before? are you new to coco and if so, you can go organic in a much more simplistic fashion? all i run is coco, i'm no expert but, i defintely know my shit and i'll try to help.

yeah im looking for answers to the same type of questions and if im using coir could it be mixed and reused?

Please note that Coco can not and should not be treated like soil by any means. I don't like the idea of slow release anything, you start lose control of the environment.

ok, coco is the best medium for every aspect of growing. coco is hydro, yields better than soil, retains the flavors that are arguably lost in hydro applications and is quite forgiving if you miss a feeding or over feed because, the medium rations and stores nutrients according to need of the plant.

bankchips, there's no way your going to be able to pull off those recipes having never used coco. so, scrap those plans and just keep it simple. why? 1. you have no need to add anything to coco at all, maybe perlite but, thats for extra drainage which doesn't apply to how your planning to grow. 2. soil requires a higher ph (like 6.5 or something), coco is much lower at a range of 5.8 to 6.1(i usually feed around 5.6). 3. all of those amendments in your plans are soil related, coco is superior and doesn't need any of those, just coco specific or hydroponic nutrients to thrive. thats it.

i don't have to monitor ph and it doesn't swing when doing things correctly. do some research before you use coco. it's not complicated you just have to be aware of what your dealing with. with that being said, i keep it very simple. i use 100% coco and handwater. i feed everyday(run to waste) and do a flush every two weeks because, salt tends to build up in coco causing ph issues resulting in lockout but, i've seen excellent grows where the grower doesn't run to waste at all. i just switched to cns17 coco 1 part nutrient grow/bloom which doesn't need calmag. $25 a gallon can't beat it. i bought a bundle pack of calmag, liquid karma, and clearex to cover all the bases in case of deficientcy. i also, use humboldt honey, molasses, mayan microzyme, and superthrive.

so, let me summarize, keep it simple.

-get you some cns17 coco grow and bloom, perlilte if you like(70-30-coco-perlite mix).
-i put my seeds and clones in organic jiffy peat type sponges from my hydro store.
-when they show leaves start feeding(coco has no nutrients until you provide the medium with it but, it rations out npk as needed). then you'll be on your way