What up DGC?! Love the show and everything you guys are doing! I’m still in the planing and research stage of getting a grow together and was wondering about using coco coir in place of peat in a coots based living soil recipe. Has anyone tried this with success?
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They’re pretty much one in the same. Should be no issue.
Hey man,
Interesting, I am at the same stage with similar thoughts.
Will listen in for good advice here.
Isn’t it pretty much how Rev’s recipe is though?
A base of equal parts;
soil
Coco
Perlite
Worm castings/compost
I think this is the base I’m going for, and then amend it.
I was also thinking of using half worm castings and half rabbit poop and compost.
you need more calcium and potassium when you use coco. Build a soil makes a mineral pack the is meant for this or you could just add a little more gypsum to your mix and langbeinite for extra potassium.
THIS is solid advice! Coco and peat are not the same and recipes need to be adapted for whichever one you’re using to come out with a balanced mix that will operate how you hope.
Yes absolutely, I build my own mix based on the Coots Build a Soil nutrient and mineral packs. You dont need to buy it from Build a Soil, but showing them love never hurt, they have all the info you need in the description or under useful information once youre on the Mineral or Nutrient packs page. Good luck and just be sure to use prebuffered coco or buffer it yourself. Cheers.
Mainly is a mineral and micronutrients issue. Here’s buildasoils recipe that’s been tested. Also main issue we see on here when folks try Canucks grow style is micronutrient lockout.
https://buildasoil.com/collections/pre-mixed-kits/products/mineral-mix-for-coco-coir?variant=8779523686517
Isn’t that where oyster shell flour, basalt,gypsum, and glacial rock dust come into play? To prevent lock out and to infuse the coco with needed micronutes? Cant say I’ve ever seen Canuck add any of those things.
It’s not just a matter of having nutrients (macro or micro) in the mix – it’s a matter of having the right proportions. Out of proportion mixes are “unbalanced” and THAT’S what causes lockout, besides pH issues. Coco has half the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of sphagnum peat and thus needs a different mineral mix than peat. There are other differences that need to be considered as well. You can’t just use either one for a Coots Mix without those adaptations and Coot would give you a dressing down for even asking this question. Lol! I don’t know why you’d WANT to use coco over Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss but, if you do, get something like the coco-designed mix from BAS that’s already been linked above. I don’t know what it is about us growers (me included) that makes us want to tinker with things; but we do. 95% of the time that tinkering leads to issues in the grow and then people are trying to figure out the cause and the solution. Unless you TRULY understand soil, soil science or have a LOT of growing experience, your BEST bet is to stick with tried and true KNOWN recipes and regimens if you don’t want to struggle needlessly. I see questions like this all the time. I learned the hard way. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes, and those made by others. The incredible array of quality systems (like BAS and KIS Organics) and renowned recipes makes developing your own soil mix totally unnecessary.
FWIW – the Build-A-Soil mixes and those from KIS Organics (Black Swallow Soil in Canada) are FAR superior to Coot’s Mix if you want a water only soil that you won’t need to do heavy top dressing or supplemental feeding in flower. Coot’s success with his mix is 100% the result of the incredibly high quality compost and castings he produces himself over a LONG period of time. He’s the first one to tell you that.
Best of luck!
DTOM420
DTOM420
Solid information and advice no doubt, but I can’t particularly say I didn’t feel as though you weren’t “dressing me down” with your comments. My question is just that, a question. The beauty of growing cannabis or any plant for that matter is the variation and the possibilities to be learned and discovered. I wouldn’t dare have tackled using coco coir in a Cootsesque recipe without understanding cation exchange and cal/mag issues with coco. The benefits of using coco is its water holding capability over peat which requires more frequent watering. I had also considered the ratios would have to be different for the amendments and minerals. I even found a snazzy company in the UK that sells dry amendments with all the bells and whistles and they even have instructions for amending in coco. So yeah. I guess I do have it kinda figured out. You remind of that guy in Good Will Hunting who gets owned by Matt Damon in the bar. Gonna come over and regurgitate Clackamas Coots stuff like you wrote it. “He’d dress me down for asking that.” 😂 How you like them apples?!? 🍎 🍏
Sorry you took it that way. Didn’t mean any offense by what I wrote. I put a LOL after what I’ve heard Coot say over and over and over. In any case, if it came off as offensive I certainly apologize. I can only tell you it wasn’t meant in that way. I’ve been ridiculed and chastised by Coot for simple questions just like what you asked. So I thought my reply was pretty tame. My mistake.
Here’s an article you may find interesting: https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/news/99806785-peat-vs-coco