Grow Mediums Buffering cheap coco

[MPMacD]

Hello,

About to start my first grow but i'm dead lost on coco. I should have bought pre buffered coco but i honestly didn't know that was even a thing. So I have my coco hydrated and buffering right now. It's been buffering for 6 hours in Cal-mag. I'm hoping for someone with experience to shine some light on how long I need to let it soak in this buffering solution and if I should rinse the solution off before planting my seedlings.

I watched a video on youtube where a guy suggested buffering for 8 hours, then rebuffering again for another 8 hours. I'm just not sure if that's necessary. But my seeds popped much earlier then I anticipated and i'd like to get them in and going asap so they don't mold up or anything in the paper towel.

 

[Need4Weed]

I use 1kg bricks of coco mixed with perlite. All I do is screen my coco under water to remove the finer particles, mix with perlite and let it set in 10 mg of cal/mag per 1 gallon of water for a couple hours. I've never had a problem and I re-use also.

 

[natertots]

I use 1kg bricks of coco mixed with perlite. All I do is screen my coco under water to remove the finer particles, mix with perlite and let it set in 10 mg of cal/mag per 1 gallon of water for a couple hours. I've never had a problem and I re-use also.

You mean 10mg as in weight? I wanna give a pot a go with some coco but I don't use anything but a ph pen.

 

[Need4Weed]

You mean 10mg as in weight? I wanna give a pot a go with some coco but I don't use anything but a ph pen.

My bad. I meant to charge coco I use 10 ml of Cal/Mag per gallon of water ph'd at 5.7 - 5.9

 

[natertots]

Sorry to hijack thread but it's easier than starting my own. I washed half my coco away so I guess it's good lol. Sat in cal/mag all night. Here is where were web confuses me. Some say rinse it again some say dont. What you say Mr. @Need4Weed ?

 

[Need4Weed]

Sorry to hijack thread but it's easier than starting my own. I washed half my coco away so I guess it's good lol. Sat in cal/mag all night. Here is where were web confuses me. Some say rinse it again some say dont. What you say Mr. @Need4Weed ?

I would think she's ready to go. You may see a little extra color in your run off for the first few feedings, (from any left over smaller particles), but it's never affected my grows ... as far as I can tell!

 

[Exotic Flower]

Was looking for more info about this, buffering cheap coco coir for Ca Mg.
Thanks for sharing here, everyone.

I'm going to be using cheap coco, so need to do this.

I recently found this cool site, just for Coco for Cannabis, literally!
https://cocoforcannabis.com/how-to-prepare-and-buffer-coco-coir/

He says:

How to Prepare and Buffer Brick Coco Coir
Rehydrate and Rinse
When starting with a dehydrated brick of coco, it should first be rehydrated in tap water. Rehydration is fast as coco loves to absorb water. The slurry that is produced should then be rinsed over a screen to remove the finest coco particles, known as “coco peat”, which retain too much water. Your goal at this stage is ending up with larger coco fibers. Use a 1/8” mesh screen or a perforated strainer. I use a perforated strainer which you can see me doing in the video above. This is my new strainer, which is perfect for rinsing coco. It is not the strainer I used in the video.

Buffer Coco to Satisfy the Cation Exchange Sites
After rinsing the coco, you need to buffer it prior to use. I recommend double buffering, which ensures that the cation exchange sites are fully satisfied with Ca and Mg. After buffering, cation exchange will no longer interfere with your grow and the plants will take nutrition (including Ca and Mg) directly from the nutrient solution.

To Double-Buffer Coco:​

1. 1. Prepare buffering solution:
      • Tap water may be used for buffering solution
      • Add at least 7.5 ml/Gal of General Hydroponics CaliMagic
      • Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the buffering solution should be 1200-2000
      • pH of the buffering solution should be greater than 6.2
2. Place coco in a fabric pot - and then place that into a 5-gallon bucket
3. Soak coco completely submerged in buffering solution for 8+ hours
4. Raise fabric pot and allow to drain - dump bucket
5. Soak again completely submerged in fresh buffering solution for 8+ hours
6. Drain and it is ready to be mixed with perlite

Mixing Coco with Perlite
Perlite dramatically improves water drainage and aeration in coco. Mixing perlite at the ratios given in the chart below makes it very difficult (but not impossible) to overwater. Also, since it improves water flow through the medium it improves the flushing of unwanted salts. Coco without perlite does not drain as well. However, in small containers, drainage is better, and you can reduce the perlite percentage to increase root space. When following a transplant strategy, perlite percentage should be mixed at ratios needed for final containers.​

Then I found another site, more technical, that said for buffering, anything longer than 15 minutes is a waste of time.

For my own experience, I did one batch a couple of years ago.
I think it was about 50/50 soil and coco, cheap compressed block.
I hydrated in a big old soil sack, punching holes in the bottom to let the water drain.
Then I used GH CalMag solution, can't remember concentration, and poured in.
I left it for at least 24 hrs, maybe longer.
Then mixed for my pots.

Best results were some Ghost Chillis I was growing, they did fantastic!

I think next time I'm going to make a medium with maybe 40%-60% coco,
the rest 40%-20% potting mix, 10% vermiculite, and 10% worm castings,
and through in some other organic fertilizers, mycorrhizae and kelp and stuff.

 

[Exotic Flower]

@Need4Weed -- do you have any thoughts on other ways of buffering without a CaMg supplement?
I have Epsom salts -- Mg but no Ca, and also have a synthetic nute which is high Ca Mg but also has a fair bit of K in it.
And the point of buffering is to remove the K from the coco in the first place...

Is it possible to first wash, to remove the Na.
Then use any high Ca Mg nutrient to change the cation sites from K to Ca and Mg.
Then flush again to remove the now excess K which was pushed out of the cation sites?

Think I need to tag some other coco users...
@blue @Son of Hobbes @Rebel @Slater @budelee

 

[Exotic Flower]

So, if anyone's reading... I asked the guy at CocoForCannabis ...
He said that it's okay to use anything with high Ca Mg for buffering,
even if it's got high K, and then to just rinse out the K,
because the K will then be in the water, having been pushed out by the buffering,
and so it can be rinsed.
Peters high Ca Mg it is, then!

 

[Need4Weed]

@Need4Weed -- do you have any thoughts on other ways of buffering without a CaMg supplement?
I have Epsom salts -- Mg but no Ca, and also have a synthetic nute which is high Ca Mg but also has a fair bit of K in it.
And the point of buffering is to remove the K from the coco in the first place...

Is it possible to first wash, to remove the Na.
Then use any high Ca Mg nutrient to change the cation sites from K to Ca and Mg.
Then flush again to remove the now excess K which was pushed out of the cation sites?

Think I need to tag some other coco users...
@blue @Son of Hobbes @Rebel @Slater @budelee

I've never thought of any other way to buffer. I screen mine under running water and then pot it up. Than I flush the pot out with a solution of 10 ml of Cal/Mag and it seems to do ok for me!