That link does not mention coco once.all I can see it saying is bark and soil.
Looks like a load of bollocks if you ask me!
And your telling me that nitrogen is completely washed away? So every time I water to runoff,ALL of my nitrogen is washed away...that's bollocks too my friend.
Right here's more bollocks then:
Substrate, watering and fertilization is an overall complex, the parts of which cannot be seen individually. Every part is connected to the others and so it becomes quite extensive. Be it a coniferous tree, pepper, or even cannabis, there are so many variables within a garden. Is there a clear answer at all?
Well yes, but you have to read carefully, understand and then do EVERYTHING. It makes no sense to accept one information and ignore the others. Thus it is for example Quite dangerous to fertilize by my method, but to ignore the substrate and watering. There are always people who reject this "absolutist claim". Sorry, that's the way it is.
First, I would like you to forget everything that is written in the literature on the subject in general. New technologies and knowledge open up effective methods and products that go far beyond the boundaries of tradition. There is a new age in the nursery, but many have not noticed this yet. Even if you could achieve some degree of success with the old methods, they also created big problems. Every standing gardener "knows" that proper watering is pretty much the most difficult thing; easy to produce root rot with too much watering, that little or no chemical fertilizer should be used, that use of nitrogen should be extremely economical, Everything from yesterday, forget everything. Whoever mixes old methods with modern ones can cause great disaster.
Substrate
Good substrate should have the following characteristics: approximately the same particle size (ideally about 4mm), the ability to absorb, store and release water, no fine particles and also no organic matter, they must not easily disintegrate should be as light as possible when dry, preferably inexpensive and an aesthetically pleasing appearance is also in demand. This would be: lava, pumice, baked clay, expanded clay, zeolite, coco fibers, bark pieces, styrofoam pieces (no joke) and a few more that you can find yourself once you understand the principle. Some of these materials may not be available in your region. But there are always substitutes.
The following substrates, which were previously recommended, are not suitable: any kind of natural soil, garden soil, compost, stones, sand etc. Plants grow naturally in soil and sand but for our purposes this is certainly not a suitable planting medium. Many scientific studies have clearly shown this.
All substrates can be mixed at will and there is almost no difference. They can also be recycled and reused. But make sure that the recycled materials do not contain any organic or dusty components. You can simply place the old substrate in a bucket, half full, fill it with water, stir, pour the water away. Doing this several times the substrate is clean and can be reused. Too much is written about the "best" mix. There is no such thing as the "ideal substrate". There are, in fact, thousands of ideal substrates. I believe that it does not matter what you use and in what mix, as long as they are modern substrates.
The modern substrate is water permeable, it stores water, but the solid particles, which are approximately the same size, form stable spaces, through which the water reliably run off. It will always get rid of everything that is too much, no matter how much you pour. Exactly this drainage function is destroyed by the addition of soil or fine coco particles. Earth fills the spaces and the drainage effect no longer works. By the way, a drainage layer is no longer necessary, the entire substrate is a drainage layer. There is still too little talk about the fact that the roots always need a fresh oxygen supply. Only when they are constantly receiving oxygen, they remain functional. The roots that suffocate will die; Then they rot. The gardener said the tree had died of root rot. But he was already dead before.. and after that the roots are rotten because they were in the swamp. No matter! This is reliably prevented by a modern substrate. The drainage of the substrate simultaneously fulfills the requirements for continuous air and water supply.
Since modern substrates contain no soil, they have little or no life. They dry quickly and you often have to water several times a day when it’s hot. Therefore, I add coarse peat in addition to the aforementioned substrates. This is the type of peat that is harvested in high-moors and is available in the natural coarse form. Be sure not to use too fine particles of peat, even if it is described as "dust-free". If coarse peat is not available, small bark pieces or coarse coconut fibers can be used. These organic components should occupy 15-20% of the total volume. If instead of peat coco is used, Fulvic acid should be added when fertilizing, but more in a further article on cheap KISS fertilizer.
The potted plants around my house and peppers/tomatoes in tubs are placed in exactly the same substrate.
These organic materials are good for maintaining the humidity and for supporting the settlement of useful micro-organisms in the soil. There are also research results that show that the peat moss contains plant hormones that are beneficial to plants. The additives mentioned are organic materials which are normally not found in a substrate but which can last for about five years before they decompose and become harmful. The organic material should also be screened or washed from any substrate that is recycled.
I use the same substrate for all plants. This can vary in the course of the year from the exact composition, because I again and again use old substrate and also mix several different substrate parts indiscriminately. I am not at all concerned with the exact composition, but only pay close attention to the fact that only modern substrates are used; Without soil.
Since I’m adjusting things a bit for cannabis and you good AFN folks I would suggest the use of coco fibers. These fibers should be sifted with a household screen though. Only the large particle should be used. Were you to mix in the small ones to the inorganic substrate they would clog up the spaces and render it basically the same as rocky soil.
Watering
With a modern substrate, everything you know about watering is obsolete. One can hardly pour too much, but one can underwater easily. One does not have to worry about individual plants, but the entire stock is evenly poured through. Indoors I water almost daily. This is regardless of whether the plants seem too dry or not. In early veg when growing from seed I might water less or skip a day. If it is hot, I water twice in a day. Not large amounts mind you. Half a Liter twice a day has shown itself to be better than a Liter a day. I also don’t trust electronics with the watering so I always water by hand. Very small pots, 10 Liters or less, must be irrigated more than twice a day depending on the plant size. All plants are watered the same. The only deviation are seedlings less than a week old; Those get watered the same but fed at half strength. Individual irrigation is not required if all your plants are in modern substrate. It is also no longer a problem to travel and to bring a trustworthy person to do the pouring. Every half-hearted person learns this in five minutes. Everything must be thoroughly drenched. It also does not matter what type of water is used. Water with which you cook, which the dog drinks, can always be used for pouring. Tap water is very suitable for all plants, even if it is hard water. I have one of the hardest waters in Europe in my garden (23 ° DH). Nevertheless, I use it for everything. I pour with a garden hose, at full speed, but quite finely atomized. I do not shoot single trees, but entire garden parts, just as you water a flower or garden. You can also water with rain water. This is not that much better than tap water as many may think. On the contrary, you have to supplement it with lots calcium and magnesium. In tap water are many minerals, in rain water there is nothing. Except for sulphates in acid rain.
This type of irrigation can also be called aggressive. That means everything gets very wet, the whole plant from top to bottom. The water must drain over the substrate’s surface and from the drain holes. The area is wet and it often takes hours until everything evaporates, which again creates a good microclimate for vegging. With modern substrates, overwatering is almost impossible. Many plants suffer or die because they sit in a modern substrate and are watered according to the old methods - they are clearly watered too little and almost die of thirst.
Fertilizing
With modern substrate and aggressive watering, fertilization is no longer a secret. Almost every normal fertilizer is usable, whether organic or mineral (chemical). Fertilizer for cannabis must definitely contain nitrogen, a lot of nitrogen. Only plants with nitrogen can grow. It is an eternal misunderstanding that the plants should not grow as high as possible and should therefore be fed low in nitrogen. In fact, you can only train cannabis, that grows well so you can always cut away something that has grown; Namely fanleaves occluding lower bud sites. This requires more fertilization than other plants. An ideal ratio of the final nutrient solution is 1:1:2.
I mainly use liquid fertilizers, which I buy at our cheapest general discount market. Any liquid fertilizer available for normal use in garden centers can be used very well for our plants. In addition, I use the solid fertilizer, which is offered in granules in boxes. The solid kinds are the cheapest and I’ll give a few samples and comparisons for a KISS line at the end. For all my plants, I use the same fertilizer.
In the past, much thought was given to what kind of tree needed which fertilizer at what time of the year. However, the tree knows best and takes what it needs. If aggressive fertilization and watering is applied, it is rapidly washed out and no salt can accumulate in the substrate. It is ok to fertilize with the same fertilizer in veg and flower as long as it covers “everything”.
How much? MUCH MORE THAN YOU THINK! I fertilize 20 to 60 times more than the average bonsai guy. Every day with three to four times the recommended dose. In the case of larger plants, I pour mainly on the substrate's surface, and for smaller ones on the whole thing. This is not harmful as long as you do not do so in bright sunshine. Watering and fertilizing every single day at high concentrations you can understand why I claim to fertilize 20 to 60 times above average. Every day, for example, I give my plants 0.11-0.15g of nitrogen and potassium and ~0.25g kalium.
Now, of course, most of you think that what I am doing is too much and there must also be disadvantages. It is not too much, and everyone can get a picture in my garden at any time. Many recognized graduate gardeners and bonsai gardeners have already praised the health of my trees. So now I’m applying what I learned to this fun little plant. It’s also cheaper as I’ll demonstrate later.
Mineral, i.e. chemical fertilizers, are essentially salts. People are therefore often dissuaded from using them because salt can accumulate in the soil and thereby make it toxic. Too much salt in the substrate is almost impossible if you aggressively water every day. At each water pass, the excess salt is washed away. That is why you have to fertilize so much more!
About fifteen years ago, "super-fertilization" was a concept that quickly died again. The expected results have only been partially observed and many trees have suffered and even died. What I recommend is similar. Well, it is similar, only in that I insist on aggressive watering parallel to aggressive fertilization and the use of modern substrates. Simply fertilizing aggressively without taking the other parts into account can be very dangerous.
You can make fertilizing a science and do everything meticulously according to regulations and with records and equipment and a lot of effort. Well, you can also make food a science. But most people still enjoy it without scientific tables and a variety of devices.
Summary
All three components must be fully considered. Unfortunately you have no other choice. If you apply one of the parts but do another as before your plants will suffer. Whoever aggressively fertilizes with a lot of chemical fertilizer, but has soil in the pot, will kill his trees. Whoever uses modern substrate and therefore needs to water daily, but fertilizes as before, starves his plants.
