Grow Mediums Buffering cheap coco

[natertots]

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!

Y'all should do a coco buffering sticky cause there is a lot of conflicting info on the web.

 

[Exotic Flower]

Y'all should do a coco buffering sticky cause there is a lot of conflicting info on the web.

It's a good idea, but I feel I don't have the actual experience to write one...
Just reading and researching a lot, that's all.

 

[Need4Weed]

It's a good idea, but I feel I don't have the actual experience to write one...
Just reading and researching a lot, that's all.

I'm less than 2 years experience in coco myself!

 

[Rebel]

@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

Sorry Maria I failed horribly when i attempted coco... Wish I could help you out.

 

[Exotic Flower]

I'm less than 2 years experience in coco myself!

Sorry Maria I failed horribly when i attempted coco... Wish I could help you out.

Maybe in the future we can come back and write a nice "Buffering Coco Coir -- all you need to know guide" thread.

 

[Justplaying]

I have always used bagged and not messed with buffering. Never had issues but it can get pricey sometimes with shipping cost.

 

[Tyler_Durden88]

Hey guys i was just gonna make a thread on this subject bc theres alot of people asking me about pre-charging coco and how i do it and what works. Ive had alot of bad exsperiences in this area but seem to have it down now. I used canna coco for a long time and it never needed to be biffered but its to exspensive for my size grow now. So now I buy the bricks from Gereral Hydroponics and exspand them. And this is the process I get the best results with

1. When I exspand them I do so with Ph'd water with 50ppm calmag added.
2. After it's risen and exspanded I mix my perite in at a 50/50 mix. I like 50/50 so I get easy runoff and can feed more often.
3. Then I take it and put it in my pots that I plan to use without the plant. And mix a solution of 250ppm calmag with a ph around 5.7. And water thoroughly. Usually around 1 gallon per 3 gallon pot and let it drain.
4. I water with it 2 or 3 times each pot. That washs the coco coir of any residual salts from manufacturing and satisfies the coco CE sites of its appitiite for calmag so it dosent leech it from your nutrient solution early on in grow weeks 1 and 2.
5. At this point the coco coir should be ready. I check by testing the runoff. If I get around the same ppm coming out as going in that means it's perfectly ready to go and can be planted in. And it's already in the pot your going to be using.

Also I highly reccomend using a coco coir specificly designed nutrient line. To prevent calmag defiency and pottassium toxicity in late flower. If not using a coco based nutrient line add 50ppm of calmag before adding your base nutrients to your solution.
Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions just ask.

 

[natertots]

Hey guys i was just gonna make a thread on this subject bc theres alot of people asking me about pre-charging coco and how i do it and what works. Ive had alot of bad exsperiences in this area but seem to have it down now. I used canna coco for a long time and it never needed to be biffered but its to exspensive for my size grow now. So now I buy the bricks from Gereral Hydroponics and exspand them. And this is the process I get the best results with

1. When I exspand them I do so with Ph'd water with 50ppm calmag added.
2. After it's risen and exspanded I mix my perite in at a 50/50 mix. I like 50/50 so I get easy runoff and can feed more often.
3. Then I take it and put it in my pots that I plan to use without the plant. And mix a solution of 250ppm calmag with a ph around 5.7. And water thoroughly. Usually around 1 gallon per 3 gallon pot and let it drain.
4. I water with it 2 or 3 times each pot. That washs the coco coir of any residual salts from manufacturing and satisfies the coco CE sites of its appitiite for calmag so it dosent leech it from your nutrient solution early on in grow weeks 1 and 2.
5. At this point the coco coir should be ready. I check by testing the runoff. If I get around the same ppm coming out as going in that means it's perfectly ready to go and can be planted in. And it's already in the pot your going to be using.

Also I highly reccomend using a coco coir specificly designed nutrient line. To prevent calmag defiency and pottassium toxicity in late flower. If not using a coco based nutrient line add 50ppm of calmag before adding your base nutrients to your solution.
Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions just ask.

Awesome info. Seems the info about soaking the coco in cal/mag for a long time is not needed. I like the info about checkng the runoff. Do you rinse between steps 4 and 5? And I reckon if you already have some coco rinsed you could check the ppms to see if it is actually rinsed well. Thanks!

 

[Tyler_Durden88]

Awesome info. Seems the info about soaking the coco in cal/mag for a long time is not needed. I like the info about checkng the runoff. Do you rinse between steps 4 and 5? And I reckon if you already have some coco rinsed you could check the ppms to see if it is actually rinsed well. Thanks!

Yea forgot that part thanks for reminding me. Between steps 4 and 5 before you plant your plant water it thoroughly with the nutrient solution you will be using for the plant. Soaking it dosent hurt but I like to rinse it at the same time and coco holds alot of the water so its both soaking and rinsing at the same time. Checking runoff when growing in coco is the most useful tool I have. I can see how much the plants eating and if she needs more food or less and it prevents overfeeding. It's a very overlooked aspect of growing in soilless mediums.

 

[Exotic Flower]

Hey guys i was just gonna make a thread on this subject bc theres alot of people asking me about pre-charging coco and how i do it and what works. Ive had alot of bad exsperiences in this area but seem to have it down now. I used canna coco for a long time and it never needed to be biffered but its to exspensive for my size grow now. So now I buy the bricks from Gereral Hydroponics and exspand them. And this is the process I get the best results with

1. When I exspand them I do so with Ph'd water with 50ppm calmag added.
2. After it's risen and exspanded I mix my perite in at a 50/50 mix. I like 50/50 so I get easy runoff and can feed more often.
3. Then I take it and put it in my pots that I plan to use without the plant. And mix a solution of 250ppm calmag with a ph around 5.7. And water thoroughly. Usually around 1 gallon per 3 gallon pot and let it drain.
4. I water with it 2 or 3 times each pot. That washs the coco coir of any residual salts from manufacturing and satisfies the coco CE sites of its appitiite for calmag so it dosent leech it from your nutrient solution early on in grow weeks 1 and 2.
5. At this point the coco coir should be ready. I check by testing the runoff. If I get around the same ppm coming out as going in that means it's perfectly ready to go and can be planted in. And it's already in the pot your going to be using.

Also I highly reccomend using a coco coir specificly designed nutrient line. To prevent calmag defiency and pottassium toxicity in late flower. If not using a coco based nutrient line add 50ppm of calmag before adding your base nutrients to your solution.
Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions just ask.

Thanks for sharing!