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Soil & Coco

GrumpyOldMan

GrumpyOldMan

New member
I'm able to grow 4 plants legally, so I plan to grow two in soil, and two in coco,

I'll be using FoxFarm soil - Foxfarm FX14053 Ocean Forest Plant Garden PH Adjusted 12 Quarts Potting Soil Blend Mix for Containerized Plants
And for coco - MOTHER EARTH Coco Bale 5 kg, 100% Coconut Coir Fibers.

I understand that the soil already has nutrients in it, and the coco does not. I assume that I will have to add the nutrients from the beginning in the coco, but NOT the soil, which brings me to my question;

How will I know when the soil needs nutrients, I've read that I can measure the PH of my runoff water to see if it's within limits, and adjust the PH accordingly.
Does that mean if my PH is off, my plants need nutrients?

If not, is there a method to determine if they need to be added.

Thanks
 
Hello, pick up a bag of perilite for lighter soil with the coco. I mix coco coir, coco peat, perilite and worm casings but you'll learn as you go. I also reuse that soil an refresh it with new worm casings. Weed sprouts don't need much food to get going more about the temp & humidity, small amount of light just to get them above ground. Keep the mix light for good root growth, use lots of perilite to all those soils.
 
Sorry, forgot to mention I'm getting Espoma PR8 8-Quart Organic Perlite to go in the soil/coco, thanks for the tip on the perlite,
I will be using 4 - 5 gal fabric containers (16 qts.), so I was going to split the bag 4 ways, 2 qts for each container, along with 14 qts of soil.
Is that enough?

Here's what I've got:
4'x4'x80" Maxsisun tent
2 - MF2000 Maxsisun 230w LED lights
4 - 5 gal fabric containers
FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting soil
MotherEarth Coco bale 100% coco
RapidRooter plugs
100 CFM exhaust fan
 
I have used Fox Farm ocean Forrest in the past and it has about a month worth of nutrients in it right out of the bag. The way I check to see if Fox Farm needs more nutrient is to test the ppm and the ph of the runoff water. Take a measurement when you first water and use that as your starting point. I have had FF start at over 2400 ppm. When you runoff water gets down to 500 ppm it’s time to fertilize. Or you can start your seeds in smaller 1 gallon pots and then transplant your plants into 3 or 5 gallon pots filled with fresh Fox farm soil and you may not have to fertilize at all.

I always water with ph balanced water and that will normally take care of any ph problems in Fox Farm.
 
O.K., I plan to germinate using the wet paper towel method, start in RapidRooter, transplant to 1 gallon, then to 5 gallon.
I plan to test the PH of my water every time, I'm getting Up&Down for that.
I've heard about testing for ppm - Parts per million of Total Dissolved Solids (?)
I've found some testers on Amazon, links from this site, so I'm good there.

Anyway, I appreciate the tip on the runoff water, I've read some on PPM and how to work with it, so I'll be asking some more questions as soon as my seeds get here...
​​​​​​​Thanks,
 
Don’t transplant. Germinate then go right to your final pot, way to much stress on auto plant.
 
O.K., I'm on board with worm castings, so how much would I put in my 5 gallon fabric bags (16 qts), and do you recommend any specific name brand?
Thanks
 
Hey Grumpy, I just mixed a new batch of five 5 gal pots. I used Nature Grow worm castings and extra Harris Premium 8qts Perlite. Mine already had about 25% perlite but I wanted closer to 40% so I added this and it is just right. Were I you I would add 2 bags or 16 qts to your mix. You will need the extra because the castings hold a lot of water. About $20 each on Amazon. My base was Coco Loco which already has some of each but in this case I was going by more is better!
 
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Hi, Tokabigone,

Yeah, I've already added a couple of bags of perlite to my next order, but I have a question about cal-mag, I've read a little about it, and from what I read, it's necessary with coco, especially the first couple of weeks. Any input?
Thanks
 
Of course this issue is like most, it depends. Did you pre buffer the coco from the bale with Calmag? A reasonable size dose every time throughout the grow will do more good than harm. Coco naturally locks up these elements making them unavailable to plants so extra is generally good.
 
Tokabigone,

I haven't gotten the coco fiber yet, so would you please elaborate as to how/how much cal-mag should I be using - I'm only growing 2 - 5 gal fiber pots with coco, so I don't need to treat the whole bale, but I do need enough for 32 qts of coco.

O.K., here's what I have in my cart...please go over this and give me any recommendations before I place the order. I've got plenty of time to get everything set up since my seeds won't be here for another couple of weeks, so I can make any changes needed.

NatureGrow Earthworm Castings -15LB
Bloom City Professional pH Up + Down Control Kit for Optimal Nutrient Uptake (Two 1 Quart Bottles) 64 Total oz
Espoma PR8 8-Quart Organic Perlite
Botanicare HGC732110 Cal-Mag Plus, A Calcium, Magnesium, And Iron Plant Supplement, Corrects Common Plant Deficiencies, Add To Water Or Use As A Spray, 2-0-0 NPK, Quart
FoxFarm FX14050 Big Bloom, Grow Big & Tiger Bloom Liquid Fertilizer Nutrient Trio Hydro-Formula, 3/32-Ounce Bottles
Fox Farm FX14049 Liquid Nutrient Trio Soil Formula: Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom (Pack of 3 - 32 oz. bottles)

Just trying to do it right...my "Boss" wants to see a good return on her investment.;)
Thanks to All
 
Hey GrumpyOldMan Have you read this: https://www.growweedeasy.com/coco-coir

About the bricks of dry coco. It must be re-hydrated, then drained and rinsed, and fines removed, and sand and rocks removed, then saturated with calmag and drained, and mixed with perlite. What I am getting at is imo it is a royal PITA. I did it once and never again. A 5kg brick took the majority of the day with a lot of heavy lifting. What I am getting at is, get pre-made coco/perlite mix. So much easier to just pour into your pots and saves you time and manual labor that could be better spent elsewhere. Just my $0.02.
 
I might look into that, I'm going to need about 24 qts for the fabric pots (5 gallon) I'm planning to use, and it says that it makes 60 liters (qts in my case...) from a 5 kg bale, so I don't think I would need to process the entire bale at one time. But then you have the hassle of the mixing, cleaning, so...
 
Well hydrating and mixing is the thing. Might as well do the whole brick, doing 0.5 will just double your work when you do the second 0.5. If you have leftovers it can be stored but should be dried out as much as possible to avoid mold growth. Then again if you do 1 brick and are short 1 pot's worth now you have to start over again.
 
I agree with CK 1 bag of Mother Earth loose coco is your best bet to begin. Already cleaned and buffered with calmag and it will fill 4 five gallon pots perfectly with the castings added plus a couple gal left over. You're doing a great job of planning things out well before you go out with card in hand. Let's talk a little about your environment. Good choice on tent, plenty of room for expansion. Lights are da bomb..more than you need for 2 plants but again looking forward to future. What about temp and humidity control? Study that part again...it's that important. I'll follow to see how you do, happy to help!
 
Have you thought about how you are going to handle runoff? You will need a tray or rack that allows the pots to drain, then allow removal of the runoff. If you want individual trays I suggest:

https://www.amazon.com/square-farme...32940133&sprefix=square+farmer,aps,179&sr=8-5

I prefer to get a flood table like this:

https://www.htgsupply.com/products/hydrotek-black-4x4-xtray/

I put the flood tray on 2 x 3 with one end raised by a second 2x3 so there is a pitch to the whole tray. The thing about the flood tray is it is a bit pricey, but the shipping is absurd. The size excludes it from carriers like UPS etc. so truck freight like $200.00 for shipping. So If you have a local supply store that you can pick it up yourself that makes it more economical. Now if you get the 4x4 tray, it will not fit in a 4x4 tent. You will have to go up to a 5x5 tent. If you want to stick with a 4x4 tent, then get a 3x3 tray.

Some people get creative with things like wire racks and cement mixing tubs form home cheapo. All depends on your budget. I got the flood tray and it saves me loads of time removing the runoff. Local store had it, otherwise I would not have paid so much to buy and ship it.
 
CkBrew,

I'm not EXACTLY sure what route I'm going to take, I want to be able to monitor the water runoff for each plant, so I'm going to probably go with individual trays of some sort.
Being a retired contractor, I'll probably make individual pans out of old 10 gal buckets or something.
 
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