What are folks using for coco coir?

Paratwice

Active Member
Looking to do a sampling of straight coco. Coco users consuming 18-24 cu ft per set any recommendations? Looking to pay in the range of 10$-14$ per cu ft.
Thanks very much for any feedback.
 

trambles

Well-Known Member
I use coco/perlite mix. I'm not set on any brand and I've used them all with equal results. Grow shop near my house has 10 bucks per bag specials, different kind every month so I just get whatever is on sale. It all works the same.
One thing I wont use are the coco bricks. They're too hard to break up and re hydrate, takes too long. Then again I'm buying 24 bags of dirt at a time so..
 

Creature1969

Well-Known Member
Canna bricks. Haven't had an issue in 3 yrs so haven't felt a need to switch.
Usually cheaper if you find it local unless you're buying a lot.
No perlite in the coco for me.
 

Paratwice

Active Member
Yeah, looking for straight coco. 3 or 4 cubic foot compressed bales would be ideal. That would yield approximately 45-60 gallons loose. Trying not to break the bank. Ty for the ideas.
 

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
Currently using Botanicare in bags, I like it as much as canna, both are good during the winter when I don't want to deal with soaking bricks outside.
 

Dape Green

Well-Known Member
I recently tried the house brand from the hydro store here, Mo’koko. I actually really like it. Well buffered, doesn’t come hot at all. Can put a seed Or fresh cutting right into it. I haven’t used canna since I tried mokoko.
 

2klude

Well-Known Member
With your price range you can pick really any type of coco you want... it's like your budget for a 50l bag of Canna is $20-28 dollars USD, I pay $20 Can.
I haven't really used a bunch of different brands, but Canna is really nice. Comes right out of the bag nice and fluffed up, clean and precharged.
If you end up running coco and want to save, research into running smaller pots with small more frequent feeds. Also run pond enzymes and reuse your coco for a few cycles.
 

Paratwice

Active Member
You you say reuse it for a few cycles? How do you go about cleaning the bulk of the old root mass out? Sure enzymes will help to break that stuff down but to what extent?
Oh yeah and as far as price I’ve been looking around quite a bit and I found a 27 cubic foot tote for $228. Just over $1 per full volume gallon. Coco loco I think it’s a ff product.
That’s more along the price point I’ve been looking for. What’s nudging me in this direction as I’ve been doing to see if green for the past couple cycles with decent results. My only issue he’s having so many plants out automated irrigation some get more so I’m get less. And I end up overwatering the ones that get enough To make up for the ones that don’t. Therefore I’ve been hand watering some and it’s a real pain in the ass. I am using homemade drip rings and they are pretty darn consistent but I’m thinking of just running a quarter inch T at the end of my feed line and splitting off two little pieces of quarter inch off the tea and handing them on either side of the pot so it waters from two points. I’m in 3 gallon pots currently. Everyone I know running larger pots say 5 to 10 gallons even 25 gallons all of them use 1/4 inch open ended feeder line which to me seems crazy. A lot of the time do you have a side of the park farthest away from where the feed line is there’s a little dryer. After a while though it seems to average out what is the route mask it’s really hard the water kind of percolate in there slowly and spreads out. The medium is sunshine number four with coco. A medium with any more drainage than that though I think they’d have half the pot dry resulting in issues to the root mass in the plant growth. Everyone swears by it though probably because it’s so damn easy I can’t bring myself to it though. I will use a drip steak and a 2 gallon pot or an open ended feeder line but generally no larger pot than that. From what I can tell I can’t see Any negative effects the plants grow great. I can’t quite bring myself to follow suit. So I am thinking since the Coco holds more air in a waterlogged pot when anything containing Pete does that might really work out well for me and my set up. Any advice or things to add to this? I I am wondering if I can get away with two weeks veg time and 2 gallon pots and flower? Any input from your experience?
 

Paratwice

Active Member
Upon closer inspection about 27 gallon tote the minimum order is to which is OK I guess if I plan on switching everything over. I did however see something somewhere else I just can’t remember exactly for a smaller amount but in that same price range just over a dollar a gallon. It wouldn’t even be a big deal except I have lotsOf pots to fill. Oh yeah by the way Irrigating through just open ended quarter ounce tube feed line for each site there’s way more consistent throughout all of the sites. I take pains to build my homemade drip rings Each exactly the same but it’s never going to be perfect . With fewer plants that’s no problem but getting upwards over 80 sites it’s different call. Therefore I’m thinking open ended lines with no restrictions I’m going to deliver the same amount for each plant site. All other aspects of the irrigation set up being what they should. My only concern is it’s running through too fast. Maybe stacking the waters in one minute increments or something? Do people do that for Coco?
 

2klude

Well-Known Member
@TintEastwood What issues are you having with the irrigation setup? That manifold hard to dial in? I find a loop, even length 1/4" lines all on a nice level surface is easier to dial in than a manifold with valves.
 

2klude

Well-Known Member
@Paratwice Yes, I reuse my coco. I've been doing it now for about 4 cycles with great results. All I do is step on the root ball, hold the stalk in my hand and shake the root ball. About 20-30% will come loose without any roots. At this point I will take my free hand and gentle shake the root ball... another 20-30% fall out. At this point there arent a lot of roots in the fallen coco, most of the root ball stays intack. I don't try to get more coco out of the root ball, not worth the time and if I did, roots would start to break off from the root ball and end up in my clean pile. I toss the root ball and end up having to add back about 30% new coco back per cycle.

3 weeks ago I took some old roots and put them in two shot glasses. I put API pond enzyme in one glass and Cannazyme in the other. In 3 weeks there was some breakdown of the roots but its not like the roots disappeared. I will say that I could tell the API pondzyme was working a little better. The pondzyme also cost me only 35 bucks to treat 16000 gallons.
 

TintEastwood

Well-Known Member
@TintEastwood What issues are you having with the irrigation setup? That manifold hard to dial in? I find a loop, even length 1/4" lines all on a nice level surface is easier to dial in than a manifold with valves.
It does take some fiddling, but only if I need a different flow rate for ports. Different pot sizes. Otherwise wide open. I have a valve in front of each manifold as well.

I also hand water at least once a week.

Worth a peek.

For cocoholics only. Lol
 
Top