What's the best nutes for drip to waste.

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
My medium is going to be Coco and I'm a first time Coco guy. I was thinking of using croutons but I'm accepting opinions on that. Looking for a good balanced 2 part nutrient that has low salt buildup and doesn't clog drippers as bad that also produces quality plants.
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
Also if anyone has recommendations on feeding times that would be great. I assume the Feeding time changes with the different types of Coco. One more thing, I have a RO system that connects to my res and inside is a float valve to keep the level in the res the same. My question is should I let it constantly top off my res since that will change my PH/EC often or should I only manually refill once a week to keep everything consistent.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Mills A-B is excellent, but a little pricey.
GH also just came out with a new coco line. A lot of people love to hate GH but I have found that their products work very well and are reasonably priced.
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
I have been using the 3 part GH nutrients for soil and RDWC and I haven't seen very good results compared to the Dutch masters A + B or the Technaflora Pura Vida. The GH products tend to fluctuate PH alot and cause alot of salt buildup.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
I have been using the 3 part GH nutrients for soil and RDWC and I haven't seen very good results compared to the Dutch masters A + B or the Technaflora Pura Vida. The GH products tend to fluctuate PH alot and cause alot of salt buildup.
No way! You use Technaflora Pura Vida??? That's one of my favorite nutes! I didn't know you could use it in hydro. It's mostly organic (seaweed, kelp, alfalfa, molasses, etc). I use it to supplement organic soil during bloom and it's perfect.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Have you ever you canna products?
Nope. I only ran coco one time.
But I'm probably going to do another one very soon! Gonna go with 5 gallon cloth pots w/100% coir & bottom feed Mills AB. Gotta dial it in perfect since there won't be any runoff.
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
I dont use Pura Vida with drip system, I just hand watered with it in soil and used it in RDWC bubble buckets.
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
That bottom feed sounds interesting but I would only do that if your all organic because chem nutes will cause bad salt buildup due to no runoff. It may work if you do a weekly just plain ph'd water flush so you have some runoff. That just sounds like it will be a recipe for disaster if you never have runoff using chemical nutrients.
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
I plan on keeping my nutrient solution as low as possible on ppms so that I can use beneficial bacteria once a week by hand watering. I'm thinking 1gal per 5gal pot of a beneficial tea including subculture and mycorrhiza and molasses. I plan on keeping a 10gal container brewing tea at all times and use that 10gal once per week between 8 plants in 5gal buckets. I will only use this method every 2 weeks in veg and every week in flower. I am looking for a good nutrient for low salt buildup that is produces quality. I'm thinking of using H3ad formula.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
That bottom feed sounds interesting but I would only do that if your all organic because chem nutes will cause bad salt buildup due to no runoff. It may work if you do a weekly just plain ph'd water flush so you have some runoff. That just sounds like it will be a recipe for disaster if you never have runoff using chemical nutrients.
I never had a problem with salt build up with Mills AB, but if I'm running soil and need a boost, Pura Vida is my favorite.
What I'll probably end up doing is alternating nutes w/PHed water. I know it's not optimal for coco, but it works.
I'm still undecided. Yield is not my priority so I could actually do a quick mix organic soil that doesn't need to cook. I've already got everything. Hmm...
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
I plan on keeping my nutrient solution as low as possible on ppms so that I can use beneficial bacteria once a week by hand watering. I'm thinking 1gal per 5gal pot of a beneficial tea including subculture and mycorrhiza and molasses. I plan on keeping a 10gal container brewing tea at all times and use that 10gal once per week between 8 plants in 5gal buckets. I will only use this method every 2 weeks in veg and every week in flower. I am looking for a good nutrient for low salt buildup that is produces quality. I'm thinking of using H3ad formula.
There's a big difference between nutrient tea & microbial tea. You can do them together but it throws off the timing. Also, mycorrhiza will be eaten in microbial tea so you want to add that right before you use the tea. There's a lot of good info on this site about teas. I like to do a "double whammy" with microbial tea by giving them one dose after 17 hours of brewing (fungus dominant), then another dose after 48 hrs of brewing (bacteria dominant).
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
I add the mycorrhiza about 30min before application for that reason. I add subculture after 24hrs off brewing. I also add liquid seaweed to my tea during veg and I add some other secret ingredients during flower + a small amount of seaweed.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
I add the mycorrhiza about 30min before application for that reason. I add subculture after 24hrs off brewing. I also add liquid seaweed to my tea during veg and I add some other secret ingredients during flower + a small amount of seaweed.
We all have a few "secret ingredients". :wink:
What kind of seaweed do you use? I like maxicrop powder in teas, and use Neptune's Harvest like ph down when I'm mixing nutes.
 

IgrowUgrow

Well-Known Member
You ever used vitamin B or composted kudzu? You find some Kudzu and and mulch it up, then build a compost pile. Once it has composted put some in a stocking and let it sit in your brew for 12hrs then remove and continue brewing for another 36hrs. Be careful though you have to add half of the normal amount of everything else if you use Kudzu because it's hot. That 12hrs will raise your ppm around 400-500 so make sure you have the mix set at around 200-300 before you add the kudzu so it will finish between 800-1000ppm.
 
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