A question about Coco Coir...

[Gronk]

Hi guys. A while ago, a friend of mine gave me a bag of coco coir. After I did a little research on it at the time, I discovered that it was not an easy thing to grow in and not recommended for beginners. So now I have 3 or 4 small grows under my belt, I found this bag of coco coir again. Now my question to you guys is this. It is supposed to be excellent for retaining water and nutes, so can I use it as an additive mixture in my Promix HD soil that I use? Maybe 1/3 mixed in with the soil for extra water retention? Thanks for your help.
Gronk

 

[Dan Ultra]

Coco, does the opposite of what you are thinking. It helps to aerate soil and will increase drainage. So, you will have to water/ feed more often than a straight soil/ perlite mix.

 

[Gronk]

Coco, does the opposite of what you are thinking. It helps to aerate soil and will increase drainage. So, you will have to water/ feed more often than a straight soil/ perlite mix.

Hi UltraDan. Thanks for responding. Here is a cut and paste from a Coco Coir site that sells it. (My underline.)

Growing Indoors - Growing Media = Coconut Coir

COCONUT COIR
Nature's perfect growing media! Coco coir fibers have excellent water retention properties while they maintain structure and trap air.

So now I'm confused because this wasn't the only site to tell me that it has great water retention properties. I came to this site because I heard of the excellent advice given here. And I want to listen to your advice, but when I have read half a dozen or more (of many more than that) search results that say the opposite, I am now, as I said, confused. Can anyone else please corroborate UltraDan's answer for me? Thank you.

Gronk

 

[Dan Ultra]

That's when it's used as a medium all on its own. You can grow in just coco and it does ok holding onto moisture and nutrients. But if you are adding it to soil, then the assumption is that you are adding it to somewhat dilute the thickness of soil. Coco aides in helping soil to drain, but it can be its own media all together.

You should never need add something that helps soil to retain water. This is where mold and rot set in.

I'll unsubscribe from this thread and let someone else take it from here. Too much negativity in your last post that I don't really care to deal with.

Good luck with the next grow.


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[Gronk]

That's when it's used as a medium all on its own. You can grow in just coco and it does ok holding onto moisture and nutrients. But if you are adding it to soil, then the assumption is that you are adding it to somewhat dilute the thickness of soil. Coco aides in helping soil to drain, but it can be its own media all together.

You should never need add something that helps soil to retain water. This is where mold and rot set in.

I'll unsubscribe from this thread and let someone else take it from here. Too much negativity in your last post that I don't really care to deal with.

Good luck with the next grow.


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

I am sorry UltraDan, if there was any negativity taken from my response. There was no intent there for it to be negative. I appreciate your input greatly, I was just looking for a little corroboration to your answer is all. Please don't take my reply the wrong way.

 

[lymp]

sometimes people misinterpret text over the internet, dont worry it's all good. what he said is correct though. stick around and keep reading and asking questions

 

[GrizzWald]

Too much negativity, ???? So the person has to just listen and not be confused when he has opposing/conflicting information... His response is correct regarding the water retention, so I'm here to correlate what his saying but damn that's some thin skin crap.. Fill a pot of dirt and of coir, run water through, sit in dry place and see which is first wetter secondly dries quickest, this will show you what is meant....Welcome to 420 Gronk.. Good place good info. Mj bring the seriousness out of us all and some get paranoid and skittish

 

[solareclipse]

Hi guys. A while ago, a friend of mine gave me a bag of coco coir. After I did a little research on it at the time, I discovered that it was not an easy thing to grow in (----------------and not recommended for beginners---------------).


I realise that unfortunately wth the bad way

 

[solareclipse]

sometimes people misinterpret text over the internet, dont worry it's all good. what he said is correct though. stick around and keep reading and asking questions

yes my friend..this happens a lot especially if the one member dont speak very good english....it happened to me a few times and i hadno intent to insult or to doubt noones knowledge...i feel sorry about that

 

[solareclipse]

Too much negativity, ???? So the person has to just listen and not be confused when he has opposing/conflicting information... His response is correct regarding the water retention, so I'm here to correlate what his saying but damn that's some thin skin crap.. Fill a pot of dirt and of coir, run water through, sit in dry place and see which is first wetter secondly dries quickest, this will show you what is meant....Welcome to 420 Gronk.. Good place good info. Mj bring the seriousness out of us all and some get paranoid and skittish

+10000000

 

[Dan Ultra]

Too much negativity, ???? So the person has to just listen and not be confused when he has opposing/conflicting information... His response is correct regarding the water retention, so I'm here to correlate what his saying but damn that's some thin skin crap.. Fill a pot of dirt and of coir, run water through, sit in dry place and see which is first wetter secondly dries quickest, this will show you what is meant....Welcome to 420 Gronk.. Good place good info. Mj bring the seriousness out of us all and some get paranoid and skittish

Nope, my skin is pretty thick actually. I've just been in the FAQ enough to know where this was headed and I'm not going to go there.

He asked a question, I answered the best I could, and it got compared to a website pulled off of google. I (thought politely) backed out and let someone else step in to do what the OP wanted and give him another opinion.




Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[Robert Celt]

Good morning guys,

UltraDan was not wrong in his statement, but was not entirely right either and that is due to the many forms that are all marketed as "coco coir".

Coconut shells are made up of 3 distinct parts, a soft inner "pithy" shell that is often sold as "croutons" and used by hydro guys for a grow medium. This part will retain water much like a sponge but doesn't help with aeration.

The other 2 parts are the hard outer shell which won't hold water but will help with aeration, and then the stringy hair like fibers over the outer shell that poorly absorb water but will also help with aeration.

So depending on what form of coir you have, you can provide either retention or aeration or both.

I buy blocks of coir that are made from the entire shell that serve to aid in both water retention and aeration and is a great replacement for perlite in your soil.

RC

 

[GrizzWald]

I'm only doing this cause I hate shit like yours. Saying your leaving, why?, but anyway, cry your going but your still here commenting.. Who are you, what makes you think what you say is gospel, whether right or wrong, if I have a nobody telling me that something I thought I knew and had information ( whether I've taking that info right or wrong) backing my thoughts up, of course I'd want others to confirm what you were telling me.. As for you knew where it was going.... so you took it here instead, that was bright of you.. So accusing others of negativity goes as politeness these days does it? Check your manners.. Your were the one that came with negativity. and stop cause this ain't going nowhere and I'll keep at it all night

 

[GrizzWald]

Well cleared up Celt, could have been read that coir had no water retention, lol...

 

[Major PITA]

Everything is relative. If your soil is heavy (clay like), coco aerates. If you are using a light soil (like with lots of perlite or sand), coco aids in water retention.

I know it can be used with great success but I don't like it for reasons unrelated to water holding capacity. The quality seems to be highly variable. Most of it has terrible CEC. Some of it is high in sodium and potassium. The texture/structure is variable. Wash, rinse, buffer, yada yada yada. Meh.

 

[GrizzWald]

Best buds I've ever "seen" have been grown in coir.. Yeah that's right, seen, I haven't grown the best buds I've smoked and I don't know what they were grown in.. Have a look at some of bids organic mineralised coir grows and the buds he was producing..You'll see some healthy coco plants.. many ways to 12+... I've even seen a kit grower recommend osmacote for hybrids, lol..

 

[Gronk]

Everything is relative. If your soil is heavy (clay like), coco aerates. If you are using a light soil (like with lots of perlite or sand), coco aids in water retention.

I know it can be used with great success but I don't like it for reasons unrelated to water holding capacity. The quality seems to be highly variable. Most of it has terrible CEC. Some of it is high in sodium and potassium. The texture/structure is variable. Wash, rinse, buffer, yada yada yada. Meh.

Hi Major PITA. Thank you for the clarity of your answer. I sure didn't want this question to get into some kind of trolling thing. I'm just old, and don't understand things easy. But those two sentences cleared it up for me. I use ProMix HD. It is light and fluffy with perlite in it already. My problem is, and the reason fr the question in the first place, was to find a way that I wouldn't have to water every day. I grow in the bathroom of the trailer I live in. I have 3 - 200W CFL bulbs in there and the only exhaust is the roof vent and fan. I have no fan in the bathroom to move air around, (I'm poor so everything I get is used or homemade). And even tho I made a small screen door for the bathroom to keep the bugs and cat hairs out, it still gets to be about 34 degrees in there. So I am constantly watering/feeding. If anyone has any ideas on how a poor man can keep his grow room cooler, I would stick with just the soil I'm using now, without the coir at all.

Thank you all for your input.
Bud for all and all for bud. (sorry, just watched an episode of The Musketeers)

Gronk

 

[Major PITA]

I'm old and grow in a bathroom (shower) too. I use a fan. I know of no cheaper solution.

 

[Gronk]

I am going to buy an oscillating fan at months end but that will still only be moving 34 degree air around :-(

 

[Major PITA]

Moving air around in a grow room is a good idea, but 34 degree air, might not be great on them. They will transpire even more and dry out more quickly. I was thinking a better extraction fan to help pull cooler air into the room. It sounds like your small BR ceiling fan isn't doing the job (no surprise there).

I much prefer high porosity soils. IMO, the coco isn't going to help you much with watering - at least not enough to matter. Try to fix the cause of the problem, not the symptom.