media Anyone Grow in Pure CocoPeat?

[joeknowsjolokia]

Doesn't ProMix BX have some nutes? Hell, I've only begun to fertilize my plants in promix, and they were at 6 sets of leaves when I moved them to 5 gallon containers.


They look like this now...

Those white toes are going to get sun burned!

 

[Silver_Surfer]

Doesn't ProMix BX have some nutes?

Yup, and some micro organisms as well. There's a post about it somewhere around here.

That plant should be in the dictionary under "picture perfect health".

 

[FiveStar]

Thanks SS, I give it all up to the ProMix. They've had a little Tomato Tone and a splash of neptune's harvest once. I'm starting to get my first pollinated flowers, so pods are forthcoming!

 

[Blister]

That is one fantastic looking plant FS. I would love it if my plants looked like that!

Anywho, here is the start of my coco coir/peat growing comparison.

I may start another thread on this to document the progress as these two grow, but for now the Bishops Crown on the left is growing in a peat based soil mixture from our local nursery. The BC on the right is growing in a Coir and perlite soil-less mixture. Other than perlite I didn't add anything to the coir. Both plants were germinated within a day of each other. Both plants were potted the same day (June 24, 09) in the same fashion (removal of the peat pellet and dropped into a pencil hole in the growing medium when seedlings had sprouted first true leaves). Both plants have been sprayed with a foliar feeding of VitaMax nutrient formula. I have recently given them both a bottom feeding of GrowProd's 10-52-10 (mixed at 5ml/Liter) to stimulate root growth. They are both under 24 hours of light (standard 4' floro's)

I was thinking of doing this again with some of the Dorset Naga's I just had sprout. They need to be planted into pots, except this time I think I'm going to add some blood and bone meal as well as a small amount of dolopril to the coir mixture. The peat based potting soil claims to have everything needed so I think I may leave it as is.

 

[ZanderSpice]

I'm growing a dozen plants (peppers & tomatoes) in coco coir this year. It's great stuff, but takes some getting used to. The best plants were either transplanted from potting mix or peat pellets into coco as I haven't had much luck starting seeds in straight coco. Also, some plants grow great in coir while others don't seem to like it as much. In coco I feed with every watering and so my peppers get the same nutrients as tomatoes. I think its a little strong for some of the peppers and has caused some problems. I totally recommend giving coco coir a try. It's a really good medium but definately more complicated than a premium potting mix.

Cmpman, I'm wondering if this deal you found may be for a product designed as a mulch. I've used a product called the "mulch block" which is great as a mulch, but I don't think it's the right texture for a plants roots and also needed to be washed repeatedly. If the stuff you found is for growing, it sounds like a great deal. Keep in mind that hydroponic/coco nutrients are expensive and you may need to set up a drip system too. Also, especially with bargain coco coir you will want to rinse it many times to wash out any salts.

When I have some extra time I'll start a thread about my garden this year and give some extra details about my coco coir plants. It's my first year with coco coir, but I think it's going pretty well thanks to all the great info online.

 

[Blister]

Hey Zander, I would appreciate it if you started a thread about growing in Coir. I'm JUST getting into this stuff and have been looking everywhere for information. So far the only places that seem to have anything to do with coir are the pot growers. I'm not overly familiar with hydroponics and don't plan on starting that sort of thing up in the near future.

I have just recently (and I mean within the last few days) tried mixing some coir with bone and blood meal as well as soaking the coir in VitaMax to help enrich the medium. I'm not sure how it'll work and am curious if you've tried anything similar.