Grow Mediums Coco, Hard water, Cal/Mag?

[TexasGrows]

I am going to try a plant in coco and Autopot. I have purchased a 5kg bale from Mother Earth and have a couple question about rinsing and buffering and using cal/mag.

I read that you need to rinse and then buffer the coco with cal/mag. I have also read that you should use cal/mag in pretty much every watering.

Questions:

1. If my well water is 170 ppm mostly calcium do I need to add "extra" cal mag when preparing the coco?

2. With that much calcium already do I need to add "extra" cal/mag to my nutrient solutions?



Thanks for the replies!!!!!!

 

[twentyeight.threefive]

I am going to try a plant in coco and Autopot. I have purchased a 5kg bale from Mother Earth and have a couple question about rinsing and buffering and using cal/mag.

I read that you need to rinse and then buffer the coco with cal/mag. I have also read that you should use cal/mag in pretty much every watering.

Questions:

1. If my well water is 170 ppm mostly calcium do I need to add "extra" cal mag when preparing the coco?

2. With that much calcium already do I need to add "extra" cal/mag to my nutrient solutions?



Thanks for the replies!!!!!!

I'm not familiar with that brand of coco. Most companies prebuffer their coco now If it's a compressed brick of coco you have to hydrate it, so it wouldn't hurt to buffer it again if you aren't sure if it's prebuffered.

I use Canna Coco Professional and it's prebuffered and ready to go into the pot right out of the bag. That being said I still run a very light nutrient solution mixed to 0.4 EC through the starting container so I know the EC level is where I want it to start.

1) It's really going to depend on whether the coco was prebuffered. If you have any doubt then it wouldn't hurt to prepare it in a CalMag solution.

2) Once the coco is buffered and ready to grow in I wouldn't add any extra CalMag to your nutrient mix. Calcium from tap water is usually more than enough for what the plant requires. If you plants start to show calcium or magnesium deficiencies then you have the option to adjust from there.

Excess calcium can cause a magnesium deficiency and vise versa. IMO it's always better to adjust and add more than to overfeed, and possibly cause a nutrient lockout.

 

[TexasGrows]

Thanks for the reply!!!!!!! Your comments have helped settle my thoughts on it.

Mother Earth says it is washed and buffered, but ........

After much much reading here I have done pretty much what you described. I rehydrated using my well water that comes in at 178 ppm. From testing reports most all that is calcium. I let that soak for a day then hand squeezed out the excess and mixed in ~30% Perlite.

I then mixed 2 grams/gal of MegaCrop 1part and PH'd that down to 5.8.

I filled my 3.9 gal Autopot's with my coco an the I poured a gallon of the solution thru each.

The pots have sat overnight and I will plant three Gorilla Glue Autos in them this evening.

I plan to not use cal mag additive as I think my well water and MegaCrop will have plenty.

Anyone see any flaws in my plan please post it up!!!!! I am open to all ideas/methods!!!!!!

Thanks for tye replies!!!!!

 

[Rapha El]

Using fairly hard water myself (when compared to ppl using RO water) I've never needed additional calcium but did require the occasional boost of magnesium or iron to keep them at peek happiness since I'm using LED fixtures.

Espom salt is pretty helpful for magnesium.. you don't wanna use calmag if you have a slight magnesium deficiency. And you also don't wanna use epsom salt preventative as too much sulphur will stunt your plant in height. It's good to have on hand for when it's needed tho.

With iron additives be very very sparing, most are highly concentrated, and again.. only if you have a deficiency. The very very tip of a knife is enough on 5galons of water. Bonus side effect, it'll make your water all fancy and red-like.

 

[twentyeight.threefive]

Thanks for the reply!!!!!!! Your comments have helped settle my thoughts on it.

Mother Earth says it is washed and buffered, but ........

After much much reading here I have done pretty much what you described. I rehydrated using my well water that comes in at 178 ppm. From testing reports most all that is calcium. I let that soak for a day then hand squeezed out the excess and mixed in ~30% Perlite.

I then mixed 2 grams/gal of MegaCrop 1part and PH'd that down to 5.8.

I filled my 3.9 gal Autopot's with my coco an the I poured a gallon of the solution thru each.

The pots have sat overnight and I will plant three Gorilla Glue Autos in them this evening.

I plan to not use cal mag additive as I think my well water and MegaCrop will have plenty.

Anyone see any flaws in my plan please post it up!!!!! I am open to all ideas/methods!!!!!!

Thanks for tye replies!!!!!

Sounds like a great plan. Only do you know what EC/ppm 2g/gal of MC comes out too? It's been a while since I grew with MC but I think that may come out on the high side? GL

 

[TexasGrows]

Thanks for the tip Druid I have Epsom salt on hand for the tomato garden. But like you said will only use IF needed.

 

[TexasGrows]

Sounds like a great plan. Only do you know what EC/ppm 2g/gal of MC comes out too? It's been a while since I grew with MC but I think that may come out on the high side? GL

Thanks for the reply you got me thinking!!!!!

2 grams of MegaCrop 1 part per gal came out to 1.1 ec. including my water starting EC of about 0.280.

Hope I didn't go over board!!!!! We"ll see how it goes.

 

[twentyeight.threefive]

Thanks for the reply you got me thinking!!!!!

2 grams of MegaCrop 1 part per gal came out to 1.1 ec. including my water starting EC of about 0.280.

Hope I didn't go over board!!!!! We"ll see how it goes.

That's going to be way too hot for a seedling. GL

 

[Rapha El]

That's going to be way too hot for a seedling. GL

dunno, I start mine at 1.3 and they're fine. i keep that saturation throughout veg tho and only raise it for flower. and I also put the light on full blast for the first 10 days (until 1 day after topping), then I dimm it so i get some nice internodal spacing in the branches i can train outwards horizontally. so the first 6 primary branches all come out at 2 inches above the soil.

but my tent is only 4foot high so..

I don't use humidity domes (or see through cups), lower intensity light or lower intensity feed for seedlings. If you're not living in az or tx it doesn't make a difference I've noticed. what I have noticed tho is that manufacturer recommendations for feed solution strength is often quite high.

1000ppm/1.3ec is fine for the time from seedling through stretch
ramp up to
1500ppm/2.2ec is the max I go and that only for a short while when the flowers are bushing out.
ramp down to
200ppm/0.4ec for the final days/week.. otherwise the smoke is a bit harsh for my taste

 

[twentyeight.threefive]

dunno, I start mine at 1.3 and they're fine. i keep that saturation throughout veg tho and only raise it for flower. and I also put the light on full blast for the first 10 days (until 1 day after topping), then I dimm it so i get some nice internodal spacing in the branches i can train outwards horizontally. so the first 6 primary branches all come out at 2 inches above the soil.

but my tent is only 4foot high so..

I don't use humidity domes (or see through cups), lower intensity light or lower intensity feed for seedlings. If you're not living in az or tx it doesn't make a difference I've noticed. what I have noticed tho is that manufacturer recommendations for feed solution strength is often quite high.

1000ppm/1.3ec is fine for the time from seedling through stretch
ramp up to
1500ppm/2.2ec is the max I go and that only for a short while when the flowers are bushing out.
ramp down to
200ppm/0.4ec for the final days/week.. otherwise the smoke is a bit harsh for my taste

You must be using an odd ppm scale. Looks close to the 700 scale but still doesn't line up, so I'm a little confused with your ppm to EC numbers.

It's a good idea to reduce feed strength near the end as they don't take up as much nutrients at that point. But if you don't that doesn't create a harsh smoke, that's the result of an improper dry after harvest.