Confessions of a coco grower. Coco is in me opinion the best medium for in house growers. Follow the manufactures recommendations.
Soil, unless, prepped up and living is going to be just a heavy medium. Indoor growers are tricksters--controlling an environment exclusively. The trick is a system of light changes not found in nature if one is growing photos, and still with autos one is providing an artificial light/dark schedule for they are already hormonally predisposed to flower--irrespective (remember "irregardless" is not an English word--
) of light cycle.
Living micros based soil needs time to be whipped up into a feeding frenzy thus allowing a partnership between roots and nutrient availability breakdown. Such is why a soil grower, if the soil is dead (applying microbes in powder form still takes time and is easily washed away in overflow) has to and ends up applying chemical fertilizers, otherwise the plant fades away into a marginal existence (quality wise). The organics have to be--cooked up for roots to uptake--that is time to prep up with sugars to allow direct uptake via roots. In fact, as most know lower leaves feed the roots and upper canopy leaves provide flower nutrition--the mobile nutes. Micro nutes follow a different assimilation being immobile. Calcium has some mobile aspects but very little according to pros. So roots grow or are sustained by the lower leaves as a supply station--a two way street feed themselves to grow and, at same time, uptake for upper leaf development and as flower supply stations.
What have learned from personal experience. Follow the manufacture's recommendation in general, and adjust feeding from low to higher limit if necessary.
For years and year, Is' religiously applied either calcium/mag liquid or Epsom salt in initial mix based on flimsy--evidence. Evidence gathered in forums and in, at least, one highly praised grow book. Well--yes--get a good 150 ppm as a starting point for--organic or soil/chemical grows it is necessary. Such is contrary when using Canna Coco products or its one major competitor.
Discovery--last few grows followed Cana Coco directions------------RO water 0> to normally around 40 ppm. RO is never absolutely devoid of PPM (minerals). As opposed, to distilled water which is truly dead water.
What has happened the usual burning of leaves near two/three weeks of flowering is gone. This was a near 100% event. Always--the unfeminine and expected ph out of wank looking burns--some minor most notable. Not sure why this has occurred--logic/deductive reasoning--tells me that extra calcium and/or magnesium shows as a ph burn--in disguise. Scientifically--Me knows little to nothing about this phenomenon just basic common sense--if it keeps happening with cal/mag yet doesn't occur without supplementing then something--good has happened!
This grow is my best looking/aromatic product and shall share a photo in a week or two. Might just put it up here if that is ok.
Lastly, used a modest amount of Rhizo just til roots fully developed within a few weeks. Little Canazym was used for "fabric pots" do a better job of breaking down roots. The product does work to breakdown old roots yet enzymes have not been "formally" studied as an absolutely nor beneficial aspect of indoor cannabis growing.
Did not use--the expensive Canna Boost. Just used some GH Floricious as a last 10 day feed then a few days of flush rinse--I do not reuse coco unless in a pinch.
The real lesson learned----follow the manufactures recommendations. When Canna says--and they know--use RO water with little to marginal PPM they are being--professional. CannaCoco has tested products and as growers we have paid them in effect for the research--the calcium and mag levels are just right. This does not mean on some occasion one will come across a plant in need of cal/mag supplementation.
So--keep it simple. Try to avoid the supplement hype. I wasted $100 of pounds. That is if a new grower avoid my errors. A plant can grow and be gifted with stacks and stacks of trichs with just A and B fertilizers. Indeed--one can grow vegan/organic in coco with "specialized" liquid fertilizers. The difference between such and living soil is that the bottled organics are ready for assimilation and can bypass micro factory chemical breakdown of raw organic material found in soils. In essence they are bottles of pre-processed organics, as opposed, to raw soil organics which need the micros up and active.
Incoming for all your great work and posts!
