Carrying In Promix This Year! Any One Do This?

Damn this thread is full of good info! Happy growing all

Why don't you swap promix out for 5kg compressed coco? After years of hauling bales I switched to coco and cut my workload in half. You can easily carry 4-6 blocks in a large backpack. 2 coco blocks equal 1 bale after they expand with water. If you do the math you can easily carry 2-3 bales worth of medium per trip with coco compared to 1 at a time with bales... Plus it's cheaper. 2 quality coco blocks will cost you 20 dollars compared to 30 for a bale of promix... Just add perlite if required afterwards. To me it's a no brainer. Less than half the amount of work/trips through the bush is not only more efficient but less likely to leave paths or being spotted

Also with the coco if you are ammending with organic nutes you will have plenty of beneficial microbes in the mix as well... I haul in Concentrated microbe tea that I make and give my girls a little boost of beneficials to the roots and I also use as a foliar spray once a week

i love growing in clay... dig a big hole 12 x 12.. 2 FEET DEEP ADD PERLIT add some clay back in put some fert on top let sit for 2 weeks before planting... strw gets hot for 2 weeks when it gets wet. you would need alot of rain to flood tht hole. and if you do soil dig deeper then wider some the water can go down and the top will drain 2 feet wide 3 feet deep ect. you can also drive a steak in the ground 2 inchs round at the bottom of you hole.. drive itanther foot fill with sand or rocks... or fill with cows manure. the bacteri makes the clay obsorb water. mix 1 gallon of poop in 5 gallons of water dump in your hole.. no soil... let it soak in youll see how that works...

@okanaganoutdoor- I have thought about using coco blocks for outdoor as it would be easier to haul. my limited experience with it has kept me from trying as I know how the outcome should be using sunshine mix and wary of changes.

how well does it stand up if you were it use the same holes and coco for a few years? I like to keep my holes and reuse them just throw some compost, ferts and top it of with sunshine mix and good for another season. will using coco handle multiple uses? does it break down more quickly than peat based mixes?
sorry maybe simple questions but I have never used coco but I have thought about it as carrying it would be easier.

@dopeydog... Coco is excellent year after year. It breaks down at roughly the same rate as peat based products would. One advantage I've found is that it retains water better than peat but also has a higher aeration percentage. This is a benefit for me because of the hot dry summers in my area. But if you require better drainage simply mix in some perlite. Each year I bring in a few extra blocks of coco to top off my holes and voila! It's by far the best change I've made in my outdoor ventures

Also from my research and experience the water/air ratio is nearly perfect for optimal beneficial bacteria colonization. This will not only boost yields but overall plant health.

@okanaganoutdoor- sorry to pick your brain but I was wondering how well would coco be to add to holes already made previous years with sunshine or pro-mixes? I'm thinking there wouldn't be any probs but wondering if you have tried doing so ever?
also using coco do you then mix the medium similar to how I would use peat based? that is I would be using mostly dry ferts and teas.
what brands have you used that you could recommend? I had seen bulk coco being sold on e-bay before and it was cheap for a bunch just wondering if there are differences in the material?

after years doing something one way and having it work for me i get hesitant to try new things but I do see how nicely it would be to have less to carry. i'm not getting younger.

@dopeydog yes I mixed coco into existing peat based mix with great results. I would suggest going with general hydroponics coco or grotek cocotek. I have tried cheaper stuff from home depot and it was crap. Many of the cheap brands are full of salts and don't soak up water well. Quality coco will be rinsed free of salts, be ph 7 and I believe have a wetting agent added for quick expansion.

And yes I mix dry organic ferts and use teas with amazing success

Good thread. I have been thinking Coco-blocks for guerilla as well. I'm planning to do a swamp grow with 65 gallon smart pots(2 coco blocks). I'm not keen on hauling any perlite in because it is so bulky. Will coco oversaturate just by the wicking action of a pot sitting on a swamp? I am also concerned about pH issues with using coco, and also the pH of the swamp water being unpredictable. Hopefully I will be safe at roughly 1 cup dolomite per cubic foot.

How high up the plants do you guys use chicken wire? I'm thinking as long as nothing gnaws at the stem then it should be alright? I was thinking a tomato cage around the base and 3 feet of chicken wire wrapped around the tomato cage

okanaganoutdoor said:

Why don't you swap promix out for 5kg compressed coco? After years of hauling bales I switched to coco and cut my workload in half. You can easily carry 4-6 blocks in a large backpack. 2 coco blocks equal 1 bale after they expand with water. If you do the math you can easily carry 2-3 bales worth of medium per trip with coco compared to 1 at a time with bales... Plus it's cheaper. 2 quality coco blocks will cost you 20 dollars compared to 30 for a bale of promix... Just add perlite if required afterwards. To me it's a no brainer. Less than half the amount of work/trips through the bush is not only more efficient but less likely to leave paths or being spotted

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the greatest part is land owners dont like perlite so great advice. rocks make a great sub to perlite and plants love oxygen and heat from rocks. 60lb or 100lb if wet promix bales are heavy

jessica d said:

the greatest part is land owners dont like perlite so great advice. rocks make a great sub to perlite and plants love oxygen and heat from rocks. 60lb or 100lb if wet promix bales are heavy

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Are there any compressed rice hull bricks on the market? I don't know if that exists or if it is even a possible thing to make, but if you could have rice hulls compressed in the way you can have with coco bricks, then that would be a really great product for guerilla growers. Better than hauling 4CF bags of Perlite

sonar said:

I miss the days of being in shape and not having a messed up back. It kind of motivates me to start going back to the gym even though the doc told me I should be lifting anything over 20lbs let alone lifting weights. Just a few years ago I was built like a brick shithouse and would have no problem doing that. Bums me out sometimes. Especially when you are as vein as I am.

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Your telling my life story, lol.

Smidge34 said:

Bro, if you tried that in the bush around here somebody would find it, lol. There ain't a square acre of rural land that ain't hunted and hunted HARD. It would never work.

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was thinking the same

not sure on the rice and no experience so what i can offer is lava rocks work awesome or simple rocks:in the grow area

How many gallons are those "pots"?. And are they just above ground or are they in the ground as well?

i was thinking about mixing promix and coco maybe best of both worlds. and will also cut my carrying time in half but am not ready to dive into coco soley

okanaganoutdoor said:

Also with the coco if you are ammending with organic nutes you will have plenty of beneficial microbes in the mix as well... I haul in Concentrated microbe tea that I make and give my girls a little boost of beneficials to the roots and I also use as a foliar spray once a week

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would you mind sharing the recipe????