Buffering, but not rinsing coco?

NeWcS

NeWcS

Well-Known Member
So I have been growing for years with very few issues, using coco bricks with some perlite mixed in. But I keep reading about buffering and rinsing. I have never done either of these with my blocks. Being that I live somewhere that gets extremely cold I have never been able to rinse my coco,. I just add 4.5 gallons of tap water and go.

I have since moved and am now using RO water. I am not sure whats in the tap water(~300ppm) as it well water that's been ran thru a whole home filter system.

So I guess my question is; first, if I am unable to rinse my coco, is buffering it even a good idea? Second, should I use RO with calnit in it to hydrate the bricks? or just RO? Again, not being able to rinse. And if Ro and calnit are recommended; how many ppm of it is considered buffering strength?

Any input is great. Thanks all
 
Mountainfarmer

Mountainfarmer

Well-Known Member
Have you ever taken an EC or PPM reading of the water after hydrating the coco? I do on all bricks i use and the water is always at 400-600 ppm. Thats a lot of salt! Also there is a lot of sand in the coco as well. The high salt and sand content is most likely due to the processing of the coir near saltwater and sandy terrain. I always hydrate, rinse and then buffer or "charge" the coco with a 1/4 strength nutes and 10-15 mls of calimagic. GL
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
Nwecs,
Seriously...you should consider soil. If you cannot rinse your coco...how on earth can you possibly run a drain-to-waste system. Or were you going to skip runoff?
JD
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I rinsed coco years ago before using it but that was back when it was half sand and full of garbage like gum wrappers and bottle caps from setting out on the beach or however they were storing it. Coco hasn't really been a popular medium until fairly recently. The stories of it being full of salt and sand are true but those stories are old. Any decent coco today has already been rinsed and buffered. I use Botanicare Cocogro 5kg bricks and all I do is rehydrate with 1/4 strength nutrient solution and fill the pots. It's already been rinsed and buffered.
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I rinsed coco years ago before using it but that was back when it was half sand and full of garbage like gum wrappers and bottle caps from setting out on the beach or however they were storing it. Coco hasn't really been a popular medium until fairly recently. The stories of it being full of salt and sand are true but those stories are old. Any decent coco today has already been rinsed and buffered. I use Botanicare Cocogro 5kg bricks and all I do is rehydrate with 1/4 strength nutrient solution and fill the pots. It's already been rinsed and buffered.
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Mostly true xtsho...but guys will sometime buy cheapo pet store coco bricks that were never meant for growing. Sure, it can be used...once you rinse and buffer it. I don't know where his coco came from.
JD
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
JohnDee said:
Mostly true xtsho...but guys will sometime buy cheapo pet store coco bricks that were never meant for growing. Sure, it can be used...once you rinse and buffer it. I don't know where his coco came from.
JD
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That's why I stated decent coco. But I should have stated decent coco for plants. I assumed that's what most people would be using but I should know better than to assume anything when dealing with cannabis growers. :bigjoint:
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
That's why I stated decent coco. But I should have stated decent coco for plants. I assumed that's what most people would be using but I should know better than to assume anything when dealing with cannabis growers. :bigjoint:
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Like you, I've been growing for a long time and remember when coco was first gaining popularity. Loads of dead seedlings and failed grows. But yes...any decent coco should be rinsed and buffered and usually should say so on the bag.

Totally agree about our newb brethren...nothing surprises me anymore.
JD
 
MickFoster

MickFoster

Well-Known Member
I don't understand why it can't be rinsed indoors. All it takes is a couple 5 gallon buckets. Especially with brick coco - lots of dust in it.
Just fill a bucket 2/3 full with water - put in some coco - stir it a bit and the powder will sink to the bottom. Then just scoop what's on top and put in another bucket with a cal/mag solution for charging overnight.
 
NeWcS

NeWcS

Well-Known Member
MickFoster said:
I don't understand why it can't be rinsed indoors. All it takes is a couple 5 gallon buckets. Especially with brick coco - lots of dust in it.
Just fill a bucket 2/3 full with water - put in some coco - stir it a bit and the powder will sink to the bottom. Then just scoop what's on top and put in another bucket with a cal/mag solution for charging overnight.
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An 11 lbs brick won't fit in a 5 gallon bucket, not even close...
 
S

Serverchris

Well-Known Member
Buy roots organic coco, every brick I've ever had didn't raise ppm more than 50ppm when rinsing. Canna which is supposed to be good always raised about 800ppm when rinsing.
 
10WeekFlushBro

10WeekFlushBro

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I rinsed coco years ago before using it but that was back when it was half sand and full of garbage like gum wrappers and bottle caps from setting out on the beach or however they were storing it. Coco hasn't really been a popular medium until fairly recently. The stories of it being full of salt and sand are true but those stories are old. Any decent coco today has already been rinsed and buffered. I use Botanicare Cocogro 5kg bricks and all I do is rehydrate with 1/4 strength nutrient solution and fill the pots. It's already been rinsed and buffered.
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Yea another +1 for this. Just test what you buy and dont waste your time "rinsing" lol...
"Just bought a 50L bag of premium coco, now before I use it let me run 400L of water through it" Hahaha.. lord

listen guys if you have such little trust in your medium there are plenty of options that are better for you, which don't need to be washed out or compacted, or all the stupid ass stuff people think is necessary with coco. Over half the people posting about this shit don't know anything to be honest. You can grow this plant in a pot of spaghetti
 
Jypsy Dog

Jypsy Dog

Well-Known Member
10WeekFlushBro said:
Yea another +1 for this. Just test what you buy and dont waste your time "rinsing" lol...
"Just bought a 50L bag of premium coco, now before I use it let me run 400L of water through it" Hahaha.. lord

listen guys if you have such little trust in your medium there are plenty of options that are better for you, which don't need to be washed out or compacted, or all the stupid ass stuff people think is necessary with coco. Over half the people posting about this shit don't know anything to be honest. You can grow this plant in a pot of spaghetti
Click to expand...
Your dumb enough to go on ignore...
 
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