Coco is my favorite medium, so it’s biased by default. I will try to don’t omit anything in the flow, but there is the reasons why i favor coco coir over anything else since a long time :
-
It’s clean : It look stupid but for an indoor space and its intensive cleaning routines, it make a big difference for me. No dust, no dirt, no “juice”, no black nails, no odor and no bio-activity. Also you can bone-dry it and stock it in a corner for later, without decreasing the quality of the medium.
-
It’s neutral and stable : There is nothing inside but coco coir and is pretty stable in PH. A bit less buffered than a well made soil (than i never buy, i use more supermarket ones) but enough to let me grow PH free (no regulation) and i love that. I still don’t understand how some people can miss their PH with it, it’s a lot easier to drive than cheap soil. I’ve theorized that in thinking than these people think than they are in pure hydroponics with the absence of nutrients in the medium. So they drive the coco coir like rockwhool (which is a no-no).
-
“easy” yield : Instead advanced hydroponic methods than add a layer of “supervising” in the grow routine to keep a good quality/quantity ratio, coco coir need nothing more than rationnal cares for that. The inherent type of this medium permit to accomplish very decent yield without headaches, and in the same move to fool a bunch of connoisseur on the method used to grow the weed than they’re tasting ^^
-
storage : I’ve tryed many brands, even coco mix (often with perlite) too … and on the plant’s side i’ve never really stated than the additionnal cost gived me something back on the nuggets side. So i’m pretty on the coco bricks side for a lot of reason : you can stack 500 liters of medium easly in most of cabinets with bricks, i like theyr fine calibration (short fibers) for transplanting and root mass density, it’s clean and no smell (again) and can last long even outside the packaging in a clean place.
-
water retention type : for sure it handle water as hell, so by extension you can overwater your plants more often than with soil. But it’s also more aerated, making the cycles more short and the roots more happy. But i appreciate particularly the manner than this medium have to suck the water : homogeneous. A lot of people use the drains of theyr pots and “bottom feeding” (me included) because it make the things more easier than it’s allready. But even if you water by top with little quantities, you’re insured than it will go deep in the root ball. With blumat it have tendancy to create a “root mountain” just behind the dripper tube. Better to cut a plastic tube to let the drops fall more deep. This caracteristic is a the point than generally at middle of bloom stage, i water a bit by the top to attract the roots at the surface to gain a couple of dry grammers lol With ebb&flow system, the top of the pots have tendancy to don’t be used by the plant (so not used to produce) … appear picky and shameful to won some grammers but it express well the particularity of this medium : it’s an highway for roots.
-
no printfoot on weed : well drived you simply can’t specifically recognize a weed pushed in coco. Which is not the case with pure hydro or supersoils by example. Not a qualitative statement at all, it’s on the “printfoot” only.
-
recycling : the process is not specially easy and pleasant, but it’s possible to cycle your used coco. Specially with the fine calibration of the bricks. It exist many schools : cold bleaching, boilers, sun … i personnally don’t do that because i use mainly mineral and organo-mineral nutrients line, and also because it’s enough cheap to don’t add this additionnal job in duties of my crop.
The cons
-
Fungus gnats : when you get some, you’re barely doomed. They love it and know how to resist to hard dry cycles than hit your yields, refugees in the root ball … hitting more your plants than without hard dry cycles. Buy only pure coco and use it pure, and you will be fine. Without trichodermas enrichment than attract them as hell.
-
cycles to learn : at the begin it’s disturbing and it’s why you can taste so much overfert weeds pushed in coco coir. Spanish growers have the tendancy to mix their coco with organic amendment for that, i’m not from this school because i love sterile, dead and neutral things in my indoor ^^ But it lower the risk to enrich too much your coco because the frequent dry cycles. It’s btw another thing bad understanded by common growers, you use more water, the roots are more massive and by extension you have to regulate your feeding chart considering that. Trust the green of your plant more than your EC meter to choose what dose you want to give and all will be fine. Don’t fear the yellow too in coco, the inherent quality of this medium compensate a lot the habit to flirt with carencies for final quality reasons.
-
hand watering is an hell with small pots : the frequency of the dry cycles can make it a nightmare with a good number of plants (50-100). Near a full time job to prepare the solution and feed the plants lol
-
community i guess : you’re no longer in the hydroponic club, you’re no longer in the soil club … you’re only in the coco club ^^
The tips
- don’t prepare your bricks with plain water : Use always a root booster at least. Make your solution and drip the brick in your solution. I’ve documented my manner to do that here, if any.
I use supermarket soil than i treat in an industrial microwave, it permit me to transplant fresh clones and seedlings in this soil and have some time the very first days until i’ve to play with bottles. Then i transplant these “soil carrots” in the coco coir later. But it’s a biased choice than involve my second hobby : breeding. It standardize the “starting block” of the specimens, this way i’m able to compare with more accuracy.
But it stay stupid for a grower ^^ You can prepare different bags of coco for different stages :
- coco bag 1 : root booster + NPK 2-1-2
- coco bag 2 : root booster + NPK 1-3-1
- coco bag 3 : root booster + NPK 2-4-3
- coco bag 4 : root booster + pest prevention + NPK 2-0-3
- …
Virtually you don’t have any limits … but do that with high grade nutrients only if you juggle with bottles. Or in little quantities (pain in the …) to limit the time of the storage with cheap ones.
- don’t forget than coco coir offer a lot of advantages, and freedom is one : little pots, big pots … it doesn’t matter anymore you’re in coco. Only five minutes is enough to water any pots volume in ebb&flow, enjoy this freedom and build a strategy than is optimized for your cop.
Cannabis in coco with fast and numerous cycles in small pots grow like hell, cannabis in coco with long and decent dry cycles in medium-big pots grow like hell. Even over-watered it grow like hell with enough light. Just don’t drive your nutrients like you was in soil, and you will never smoke spinach.
There is no margin like in soil, if you give too much the plant will not take it and let it in the coir. Next watering it will stack and make the things worse exponentially, even if your EC meter say than everything is allright and than you’re stuck to improve the things : Just throw it and read the plants instead, trust their green quality. It will solve the problem within one round. And no, one time for good, there is no more “salts paranoia” to have with coco coir more than any other system : just give what the plant need, nothing more. If you think than the plant don’t eat enough, just add lights.
You can smoke spinach too in growing with rockwhool and deep water ^^
- don’t mix stuff : i will not say one second than the spanish weed i’ve smoked with organics mix was bad or less potent or anything else this way. But you have to understand than if you put manure in your coco, you’re building your own off chart medium. Obviously the drying cycles necessary for a pure coco pot and a mixed pot are totally different. Water an organic amendment + coco like a pure coco, and for sure you will be not happy by the performances compared to a super soil grow ^^
My advise is not “don’t explore that”, but explore it only when you master the coco as it is. Twos or three rounds is enough, not big deal. No matter if you want to go the spanish way or mix others mediums in it (perlite, vermiculite, whatever …).
- never dry your coco pots like you dry your soil pots before : i generally lift the pots to determine the watering level, and if your coco pots are so light than the plant can easly fall it’s way too dry. If the pot is pretty light but the gravity keep it enough stable, it’s ok you can water.
I think i’ve covered the main traits than i consider important but this : Coco coir simply rox ! 