Indoor Soil vs coco

[Think]

I've probably opened a can if worms asking this but ive always grown in soil and fed daily. I'm wanting to set up a automatic feeding system which pumps nutrients to each pot daily. I don't know whether to use soil or coco? With coco I know you have to pre charge it and it holds onto salts quite well so a flush every 4 weeks or sooner will be needed, which will be a pain. what do you guys think would be best?

 

[talkative]

For this automatic application I would prefer straight coco because it is all more uniform than soil. However, after a few grows the coco becomes the start of soil so same thing over time. Autos require so few nutrients I can't imagine a need to flush at 4 weeks. Your liquid nutrients or minerals or bio stimulants are mostly water already. If you need to flush I would question if not perhaps you are giving the plants way more than they need. IMHO soil needs to dry out more between waterings and coco prefers to stay moist and requires a lot of water to get it back to usable form if it drys while plants in soil often thrive when the soil goes almost bone dry and plants roots don't seem tp like a constantly moist soil which is what you may end up with to give soil enough water to saturate it thouroughly and also feed it daily. Maybe a drip system which gives a lot every three days or so for soil. Coco is fine with daily or even more feedings with water.
I started with coco simply as a substitute for peat and have really liked using it in my worm bins and mixed with soil as a peat substitute. But I am only starting attempting some experimental grows with pure coco so I am no expert. My initial mixed coco and soil grows have been wildly unsuccessful for the plants with yellow leaves galore, But they do grow good talkative pot I guess, or so it would seem this morning. Coco takes some adjustment that's for sure.

 

[flynfish]

Hey @Think I've grown in pure coco for the last year with great results. I hand water my plants. I did use ffof soil and it burnt my plants causing the switch. I soaked my coco in ph'd water with calmag before use. I have found its more forgiving than soil for me

the only time I will be easy is when I'm killed by death

 

[BigD1128]

I'm still a beginner. 2 soil grows under my belt and halfway through my first coco grow. I am blown away by the explosive growth using coco. I actually enjoy being able to feed my plants daily. It allows me to keep a close eye on them.

 

[flynfish]

I'm still a beginner. 2 soil grows under my belt and halfway through my first coco grow. I am blown away by the explosive growth using coco. I actually enjoy being able to feed my plants daily. It allows me to keep a close eye on them.

Bigd man I agree totally with you. I love the daily feedings as well. I just grabbed a 5gal dwc setup and soon as this grow is gone it's going into rotation so I can see the difference. Happy growing

the only time I will be easy is when I'm killed by death

 

[MeefChief]

@lilm00re14 can probably chime in on this as I believe he uses a self feeding blumat system

 

[P J]

With great power, comes greater responsibilty....
Coco is basicaly hydro, with more root support, so you can tailor design your nute everyday,get much better results,bigger root, thicker stalk meanning much higher yield, but your errors affect the plant much faster as there is no soil buffer effect.
Coco must be amended with perlite or similar inhert aerating agents.1/3 seems the magic number for me.
Coco MUST be buffered before use. Meanning being washed and soaked in calmag for 24hrs to replace the Na present with Ca.
Coco must stay wet(not soaked neither dry) as ph of coco change radicaly when dried.
Except for the beginning of root formation after seedling when slight dryness promotes the search for water of the roots.
Plants in coco need higher calmag supplement through their life than those in soil or hydro.
Depending on your coco age you might need more or less flush as even if you dont overfert(which is hard for me even after 10 years of pro grow! Lol) coco releases Na as it decomposes.
All that being said, my three best grow related decisions has been: coco, 1000w hps lamps and house and garden nutes. Specially root excel, drip clean and amino.

Good luck

 

[Think]

Hey @Think I've grown in pure coco for the last year with great results. I hand water my plants. I did use ffof soil and it burnt my plants causing the switch. I soaked my coco in ph'd water with calmag before use. I have found its more forgiving than soil for me

the only time I will be easy is when I'm killed by death

Hey dude. Okay that sounds good. How long do you soak the coco in Ph'd water with calmag? Also what ph is best for soil? Someone said plants need a lot more calmag when using coco so how much should you bump the dosage up by? I always use 1ml per liter

 

[flynfish]

Hey dude. Okay that sounds good. How long do you soak the coco in Ph'd water with calmag? Also what ph is best for soil? Someone said plants need a lot more calmag when using coco so how much should you bump the dosage up by? I always use 1ml per liter

I soaked my coco brick in 5gal of water with 5ml of calmag. I only soaked soil long enough for it to break down was only like 20 mins. I'm growing a blue dream photo now and she is taking 5ml of calmag per gallon. I feed a little more calmag due to me using leds. The plants tell you everything. As far as soil I fought the pH. Ffof soil I got was literally crap.

the only time I will be easy is when I'm killed by death

 

[AutoWonders]

My current run is once again Canna coco and Fox Farms coco Loco with some perlite. When I grew in soil, I never fed every day. I'm kind of surprised that your plants didn't burn up.