Grow Mediums Coco vs soil for autoflowers?

[low_and_slow]

The poll asked about yield and potency, there shouldn't be much debate there that coco can outperform a lot of other mediums in those two areas when properly optimized, it's sort of just a question about CEC and fertigation rates. I think most people with more than .7 grows under their belt quickly realize that it's not just about yield and potency, and certainly the method that yields the most potent weed might be so time intensive and expensive to setup that it's totally unreasonable for almost all hobbyist growers. </soapbox>

One major pro to coco in my opinion when it comes to autoflowers specifically is that it can stabilize one set of variables in your grow as you roll the dice with seeds. With photoperiod setups, you usually plan around the behavior of your prized strains, and that can often dictate other variables. With autoflowers, I would argue the most successful growers figure out a very reliable, sturdy, consistent grow methodology and then run whatever beans they can get their hands on through that 'machine' and that results in the best results. @Mañ'O'Green and @Mr.Sparkle come to mind, two growers with very closely controlled parameters that allow them to run a wide variety of seeds with great results.

In that sense, coco offers a great neutral platform to really dial in a home grow setup. Bringing a sufficient quantity of soil inside to have a productive, self-sufficient autoflower setup feels almost immediately impractical if you can't compost or grow worms on premises.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Well you left out the winner DWC has for me been the highest best quality and yielding grow method. It just gets too hot here for part of the year to use that method in the space I have available.

I think it is more based on the grower's skills with the media than the media itself. In my mind it is a tie.

 

[NastyN8t]

I see propel saying mix SS with coco. Why? Doesn't that kind of defeat the reason you use SS? SS is a plant and water only method( should be if you use a large enough container, found that out myself and chased nutes the rest of the grow). If you're going to pay the $$ for SS why mess with it?

I make a soil coco blend that serves me well in all organic grows kinda the best of both worlds. If u want a bagged coco based soil mix cocoloco by is awesome and burpee has 1 at menards but its lacking some of the extra goodies in the . I blend coco, in w the coco loco and promix ultimate organic (peat) ,ewc, perilite,composted cow manure and compost.

 

[SOOTDAWG]

me myself have to go with coco...the ability to fix issues and correct them quickly is the plus, especially with the short life spans of some strains..........i rock in coco.......as was said above....the fertigation rates are what makes me able to grow a plant in 1/2 gallon of coco in soda litre bottles that yield more than most people using more medium and a bigger container would do.

 

[North Forge]

I prefer living organic soil. But if you are trying to maximize yield from just a couple plants it's hard to beat the explosive growth of hydroponics. Autos can really blow up in a well tuned coco system

 

[Ryno_nuggs]

I have grown monster photos outdoors in soil. I tried a round of autos outside before switching to autos inside with zero experience with autos.

My first 2 grows indoors were of great quality, but lacking yield. My last grow was in coco with autopots, and both of those plants blew away every auto I have grown in soil except for one of my outdoor auto which was pretty damn big.(photo period cannabis not included! )

Moral of my story, outdoors in soil is different than indoors, which was harder since you have to control the environment. However, when I switched to coco, I saw a huge improvement in yield, quality was pretty close.

I think as @low_and_slow was alluding to, it is so much easier to control the whole nutrient feeding aspect in coco vs soil, unless you are a organic soil wizard.

It is really easy to correct issues in coco vs soil if you have a proper ph and ppm/conductivity meter.

And DWC for the win as man o green said!

 

[North Forge]

Coco on a multifeed isn't very different from DWC. You can get very similarly explosive growth. Coco is nice because it's alot more environmentally resilient.

You don't really begin to see what coco is truly capable of until you are watering atleast 3x a day. I love organic soil but I don't really understand why people compare coco to soil, or treat coco like soil. It thrives as a hydroponics medium

 

[TheFerret]

I may need to do a coco test run with a freebie after reading through some of this. Might try making a soil mixture with a bit of coco as well.

 

[AMG]

I may need to do a coco test run with a freebie after reading through some of this. Might try making a soil mixture with a bit of coco as well.

Definitely give coco a go. Its a big difference in growth

 

[Jackson]

You grow monster plants in coco. This pick is Rocket Fuel a photo on Day 53 in flower