I found some coco mulch at a store here and bought it at 9 lbs for 2 dollars. I didn't even care if it was right or wrong I bought 8 bricks. Like 70 pounds of this stuff for 16 bucks. haha. I soaked a brick and the pieces were pretty big so I started breaking it up by hand. took my about six hours to break up one brick into pellet sized to half a rockwool cube sized. it's kinda all sizes but nothing to big. Has a lot of skinny long fiber matting too. I phd it and let it soak and then drained it to see how it drained. It stays a pretty wet but its mostly inside and moist on the outside. Like Rockwool. I know they sell coco croutons right? is this not close to the same thing? Should I maybe mix it 50 50 perlite? I have zero access to anything as I leave in that Baptist town like in Footloose. No dancing allowed. guess who moves town? Dancing boy! It's a grim prospect. I've had all the funny packages arriving at my door past my level of comfort so i'd like to make this work somehow. plus I'm now the proud owner of a lifetime supply. Never grown in coco. finishing my first soil grow next month but I don't see the purpose of soil if im just adding nutes anyhow. I've built a little 2x3 flood and drain and want to start the transition to using it and soilless medium so I can leave the house for more than a day or two sometimes. and want to get in front of what im doing. Does anyone know how to grow in coco croutons? I hear ph fluctuations are a problem? How do I know when to water again? It seems like I should mix heavy perlite with it. but watering cycles have me a little perplexed.
Growing in coco mulch
- Thread starter ross grew
- Start date
That coco mulch is a great way to do hydro or semihydro. With the great drainage you can water often as you want as long as you make sure it doesn't sit in water.
I mix it with hydroton\growstones in a recirculating flood and drain.
Coco has high CEC, can hold a lot of Ca and Mg. The crappier products on the market may be salty. You may need to wash and pre flush with some calmag. But after that its magic.
I mix it with hydroton\growstones in a recirculating flood and drain.
Coco has high CEC, can hold a lot of Ca and Mg. The crappier products on the market may be salty. You may need to wash and pre flush with some calmag. But after that its magic.
Yes, great success!!! I was desperate and rolled the dice. at 2 dollars a brick I had to buy a bunch but wasn't sure how it would pan out. That is great news. Yeah, this is I'm sure the crapier stuff on the market. I soaked in some 5.6 ph but will rerinse and get it to set around 5.9 or 6? if I take it easy on the cal mag I"ll be ok? I'm just using Epsom salt now but if I just flush it every couple of weeks I should be ok , eh? Now this flood and drain I built gets a little pool of water around the drain about 1/4 to a 3rd inch deep. Can I just use some lava or river stone to prop it up out of the water. Do you say keep it out because it wicks so well? and the coco mulch: Do I need to spend six hours shredding little pieces of coco up or is it porous enough for the roots to go through? I only have one small bag of hydroton but have easy access to perlite. for the long haul would bigger pieces of coco mulch mixed with a 50 50 perlite work and is Cal Mag a must? I get mixed responses on the cal mag. some say Epsom salt and tap water for the calcium and iron. Sorry about hitting you with so many questions. I just want to know what I was getting myself into but you say its easy to work with and is all straight forward stuff. You're a life saver.
This stuff seems to hold a lot of water and doesn't seem to fully dry out. will this drown them? it feels relatively dry/damp on the outside but you squeeze it and a decent amount of water comes out. will this drown the plant? how big should the pieces be? it took me six hours to tear up all the big pieces in a 9lb. brick. do I even need to break it up or will the roots grow through it?
Tempe420
Active Member
no. its perfect for growing in coco. lots of breathabilty to coir as it is. adding the croutons just makes it perfect. we now mix 50/50 croutons to pure coir.