Grow Mediums RE - USE COCO COIR

[Dobbie Dude]

I re use all coco coir 3-4 times an dont have any issues,
I use 100% Coco Coir these days in 7 ltr fabric pots growing AUTOS only...
I do not use and microbes as I find they they are a waste in COCO and they suit soil mixes best(my view only)
When I harvest I leave the pots out side to the weather for a week or so(just been lazy), then empty Coco into a old bath tube and fill with water and let it drain , I will leave in the bath for 1 week exposed to the weather.
After 1 week put back in fabric pots flush them 3-4 times with rain water PH 6.5 and let dry out for a couple days then put 1 gallon of PH 6.3 water and 4.5 grams of Mega Crop
Done ready for Autos- this works for me I grow 6 auto plants per grow - get approx 15-18 oz dry on average, so it works well for me - remember we are growing a weed and it will grow
So does anyone else re-use Coco Coir and if so what brand and how - interested

 

[Trichome farmer]

I re use all coco coir 3-4 times an dont have any issues,
I use 100% Coco Coir these days in 7 ltr fabric pots growing AUTOS only...
I do not use and microbes as I find they they are a waste in COCO and they suit soil mixes best(my view only)
When I harvest I leave the pots out side to the weather for a week or so(just been lazy), then empty Coco into a old bath tube and fill with water and let it drain , I will leave in the bath for 1 week exposed to the weather.
After 1 week put back in fabric pots flush them 3-4 times with rain water PH 6.5 and let dry out for a couple days then put 1 gallon of PH 6.3 water and 4.5 grams of Mega Crop
Done ready for Autos- this works for me I grow 6 auto plants per grow - get approx 15-18 oz dry on average, so it works well for me - remember we are growing a weed and it will grow
So does anyone else re-use Coco Coir and if so what brand and how - interested

thats pretty cool iv never done it myself but im curious to try it

 

[GeorgeCloney]

You're taking the time to rinse out the old and buffer for the next grow.
I think this is smart. Why not reuse it?
The admin of cocoforcannabis has a decent write up on this subject.
Some of what he says is questionable and some is quite decent.

 

[Dank Nuggets]

with the lock down soil or coco has gone from£10 or £12 a bag to over £30 for a 50L bag I'm gona use canna flush on my old coco then try to use it again tried with soil n coco mix before and ended up with sick plants

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I've reused my coco quite a bit in my now defunct vegetable tent.

Since it was always the same 1.0 EC I would just cut the old plants and reseed with the same nutrient/microbes/enzymes in the same pots with 50% of the pots volume. 5.5 pH to start and I would let it swing between that and 6.2.

I partially don't do coco anymore because after repeated uses it would become dusty and break down faster than I like. I was using Botanicare coco.

 

[andreas]

oh dear lol :smoking: I have been using cocoa that is 4 years old ,I decided to use it as i didn't want to be seen carrying bags around , I have my routine to reuse it and haven't had any issues , do occasionally think where did that sand come from? after a pre wash soak ,, only added perlite to it ,and the small stuff goes gets washed out during buffering for re use leaving the big fibers

 

[Groff]

I re use all coco coir 3-4 times an dont have any issues,
I use 100% Coco Coir these days in 7 ltr fabric pots growing AUTOS only...
I do not use and microbes as I find they they are a waste in COCO and they suit soil mixes best(my view only)
When I harvest I leave the pots out side to the weather for a week or so(just been lazy), then empty Coco into a old bath tube and fill with water and let it drain , I will leave in the bath for 1 week exposed to the weather.
After 1 week put back in fabric pots flush them 3-4 times with rain water PH 6.5 and let dry out for a couple days then put 1 gallon of PH 6.3 water and 4.5 grams of Mega Crop
Done ready for Autos- this works for me I grow 6 auto plants per grow - get approx 15-18 oz dry on average, so it works well for me - remember we are growing a weed and it will grow
So does anyone else re-use Coco Coir and if so what brand and how - interested

If is highly beneficial to add Trichoderma, especially in coco. If you're feeling adventurous, you don't need to do all that.

Just flush a few times with pH water and EC of 0.3 (tap water) - NEVER use RO water, or rain for that matter. Not advisable.
In theory it leeches everything out leaving on the bound cal and mag cations, which is not available to the plant. This will highly
screw the cation buffer capacity of coco. Of course, you can fix this by flushing again with a great buffering watering

I suggest right after harvest to flush a few times with pH 6 and EC 0.3 - 0.6 (nothing except tap water, or added cal mag, and last flush with Trichoderma)
Just cut out as much of the root ball as you can with a pruning scissor (go deep!) and refill the pocket with fresh coco. You can now simply drop a seed in and get going, without even needing to remove the coco from the pot.

However, if you do this it is highly important you supplement with enzymes, mycos and bacteria, to promote a healthy environment against root rot. Enzymes, mycos and bacteria will decompose those left over roots, and actually use as feed for the plant. I've had occasions where I did not add nutes to pure coco grows until week 4

 

[RandomTask30]

Yep, I re-use mine. I just flush it, buffer with some calmag, and I pop my seeds for next grow!

 

[GeorgeCloney]

If is highly beneficial to add Trichoderma, especially in coco. If you're feeling adventurous, you don't need to do all that.

Just flush a few times with pH water and EC of 0.3 (tap water) - NEVER use RO water, or rain for that matter. Not advisable.
In theory it leeches everything out leaving on the bound cal and mag cations, which is not available to the plant. This will highly
screw the cation buffer capacity of coco. Of course, you can fix this by flushing again with a great buffering watering

I suggest right after harvest to flush a few times with pH 6 and EC 0.3 - 0.6 (nothing except tap water, or added cal mag, and last flush with Trichoderma)
Just cut out as much of the root ball as you can with a pruning scissor (go deep!) and refill the pocket with fresh coco. You can now simply drop a seed in and get going, without even needing to remove the coco from the pot.

However, if you do this it is highly important you supplement with enzymes, mycos and bacteria, to promote a healthy environment against root rot. Enzymes, mycos and bacteria will decompose those left over roots, and actually use as feed for the plant. I've had occasions where I did not add nutes to pure coco grows until week 4

I like the explanation you gave, sounds interesting.
Can you do this 2 or 3 times?
I'm gonna grow for meds this summer (80-100 plants).
I'm considering going with as much coco as possible, for an outdoor grow, some will be in promix.
Please elaborate on the Trichoderma...you've got my attention...
Cheers, and stay safe (2 meters /7 feet)...

 

[Groff]

I like the explanation you gave, sounds interesting.
Can you do this 2 or 3 times?
I'm gonna grow for meds this summer (80-100 plants).
I'm considering going with as much coco as possible, for an outdoor grow, some will be in promix.
Please elaborate on the Trichoderma...you've got my attention...
Cheers, and stay safe (2 meters /7 feet)...

I would consider this a mid to high-level experience. It mimics how living soil works, except you need to keep the inputs in check all the time.

You absolutely can harvest a crop and just pot in a clone or seed into the same coco. First, that coco needs to be properly flushed, with very low EC water (tap water ideal, if you live in a good area). NEVER flush or clean coco with RO or distilled water, you will thrash the cation exchange potential and take weeks to re-establish.

Coco for plants is usually inoculated with Trichoderma (unlike reptile bricks), its a fungal species that thrives is coco to help colonize roots as well as a #1 preventative for the nasty fungi. The only brand I know and use is Canna AkTivator. REALLY expensive, but you'd be a fool to just powder the coco with it. Just use teaspoon into a AACT tea, and water it to the coco - don't let it get done dry, and you're golden. Adding enzymes helps accelerate root decomposition.

The added AACT bacteria will decompose the left over roots from the previous grow, and turn it into the absolute best readily available nutrients for your girls. I have gone 4 to 6 weeks without adding nutes with this method. The secret is in knowing how to brew a great aerobic tea.

After 3 to 6 times re-use, depending on your skillset, I wouldn't recommend reusing. However, this now becomes a fantastic amendment for regular soil mixes for better aeration and drainage. A million times better that perlite. As example, my current grow uses 50% reused coco, 25% All Mix and 25% Light Mix.

If you think and treat coco just like living soil, it will run a LONG way. I once emailed Biobizz to ask it I could use their line and feeding schedule in coco, and they highly advised me not to do it. Guess what, I did it, with great success.

They key is to be ultra geek with all your parameters. Temperature, RH, pH, VPD, foliar prays, tea quality, time of feed, consistency, etc.

Hope it helps
_