Quick buffering question

[Cwmoore577]

Hello all,

I've done 2 grows in coco now. This time instead of using the Royal Gold Tupur (comes washed and ready to go) I wanted to do plain coco/perlite and bought a compressed brick.

So far I've re-hydrated it and then strained it twice to try to get any dust/coco peat out. Now it's in my 3 gallon fabric pots and I need to buffer it.

I know that I need to use a high EC solution with calmag. The site I read said to use at least 7.5ml/gal of calmag and fully submerge the fabric pot with coco in it for at least 8 hours. It mentioned the solution should be around 1.2 - 2.0 EC (1200 - 2000) and pH 6.2 or higher and should then be flushed until the EC is in the correct range for seedlings.

If I mix a gallon with 7.5ml calmag, the EC is nowhere near the 1.2 - 2.0 range. My question is should I buffer with only calmag solution or should it be buffered with N-P-K as well?

If anyone could give me some tips on how they do theirs, that would be very helpful!

Thanks!

 

[PK]

@Buds Buddy explaind me the other day the way he learned it from a old timer

 

[Buds Buddy]

The bags & bricks of Coco usually say double washed. I usually wash it anyway. I do this by pH-ing my water to 5.8 & flushing out the Coco with it. For a Lg. bag of Coco it usually takes a good 30 gallons of water. When the run off pH comes back 5.8 pH I consider it washed. I let that sit a drain over night. Next day I mix a 5 gallon bucket of Full Strength nutes & 2 ml. of Cal Mag per gallon of water (10 ml. for 5 gallons) & pour that through it. Next day I fill my pots with the Coco & start my grow. Never feed your plants plain water in Coco. Feed once per day the first week or 2 & then feed twice per day after that. About all there is to it.
Some people don't wash their coco. But I learned from an Old Timer & this method hasn't failed me yet.

 

[Cwmoore577]

The bags & bricks of Coco usually say double washed. I usually wash it anyway. I do this by pH-ing my water to 5.8 & flushing out the Coco with it. For a Lg. bag of Coco it usually takes a good 30 gallons of water. When the run off pH comes back 5.8 pH I consider it washed. I let that sit a drain over night. Next day I mix a 5 gallon bucket of Full Strength nutes & 2 ml. of Cal Mag per gallon of water (10 ml. for 5 gallons) & pour that through it. Next day I fill my pots with the Coco & start my grow. Never feed your plants plain water in Coco. Feed once per day the first week or 2 & then feed twice per day after that. About all there is to it.
Some people don't wash their coco. But I learned from an Old Timer & this method hasn't failed me yet.

Thanks for your help.
So you do buffer your coco with a full nutrient solution? It makes sense to me but all the articles I've read only say to use calmag water. I buffered my tupur for my last grow just to be sure it was in the correct ec and ph ranges but I didn't add anything but calmag until a day or two after it sprouted.

Have you had any calcium deficiency or anything when buffering with only 2ml/gal?

 

[Buds Buddy]

Thanks for your help.
So you do buffer your coco with a full nutrient solution? It makes sense to me but all the articles I've read only say to use calmag water. I buffered my tupur for my last grow just to be sure it was in the correct ec and ph ranges but I didn't add anything but calmag until a day or two after it sprouted.

Have you had any calcium deficiency or anything when buffering with only 2ml/gal?

None at all.