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Narrowed down to 2, which grow medium is best for me?


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On 6/1/2020 at 2:37 PM, PsyCLown said:

Not really... There are soo many nutes out there. That Atami chart seems as if they just want you to buy more of their products.

Something as simple as Hortimix would work and that is pretty cheap. I have been using GHE for my current grow and it's so simple to use and I have had zero issues so far. It's just 3 bottles and you mix them in a ratio according to the chart they provide on the bottle.

 

EC / PPM pen, the cheaper ones are accurate enough.

PH pen, not so much. The cheaper ones can be quite inaccurate and lose their calibration after testing one or two liquids of different PH.

 

Coco vs soil, in terms of what is needed does not really differ much.  You have the medium and then you use nutes, depending on the type of nutes you are using for both coco and soil you may need an EC / PPM pen or you may be able to get away with it just following the dosage charts provided by the nute manufacturer.

PH I recommend you check and adjust for both soil and coco, some who grow in soil do not feel the need to check or adjust their PH though so you could maybe get away without a PH pen then. Coco typically does not have anything to help buffer the PH so checking and adjusting your PH is quite vital to ensure no lockout occurs.

Mhhhh i disagree a little here ^^

First, get a pen doing all, Ph, ec, PPM, Temp.. mine was 1300 Rand.. if you go with coco, you need one.

 

You do not need to Ph, ec or PPM your water in Soil, if you use rain water... point (I have given a batch distilled water from the dehumidifier, and they also had zero issues with the water in soil, never used the pen) . I haven't checked any feeding solution I give outdoor or indoor for over 6 months.. not once! Works fine, my pen lies unused in the drawer since Jan...and I give radical amounts of fertilizer at times. As long as the plants show me that they are happy, I "turkey" the nutrition into the plants. Take it or die ^^ Soil is by far.. and we talk by faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar, the most forgiving medium to grow in. I had also zero loss to any nute fuck ups or Ph issues.. I had a little Calcium issue outdoor, back to normal within a few days. Rest was the smoothest sail I ever had for pumping out quite some plants in that time indoor. 

 

But then again.. I am more of a weirdo hehehe I went from hydro back to soil and now I am only doing Autos 😉 and love it 😁 Most easiest and most low maintenance growing I ever had.. zero complains yield wise.. really zero.

 

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I went from RDWC to coco to soil and I agree, way less issues and more time on hands with soil, don't get me wrong the RDWC and coco is OK if you have time and like to "feel" like you in control , with soil I can state at the girl way longer.

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I dono... Maybe due to growing experience I can say that I treat coco the same way I treat my soil... Feed when the medium is light. 

A new grower does not have this experience to know when their plant has had too much, or is getting too little... And therefore pens are vitally important to a new grower.... 

Im in the same boat as you... I actually don't even know where my pens are!! 

But it took me years to get to this point and I feel new growers need to use pens to get acquainted with how their meduim works and what does what when how and shit. 

I know that my nutrient regime is around 600ppm and pH is around 6.1 once iv added my nutes to the feeding water. 

Also zero problems... Except for thrips... Those Lil fucks

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9 hours ago, Prom said:

Mhhhh i disagree a little here ^^

First, get a pen doing all, Ph, ec, PPM, Temp.. mine was 1300 Rand.. if you go with coco, you need one.

 

You do not need to Ph, ec or PPM your water in Soil, if you use rain water... point (I have given a batch distilled water from the dehumidifier, and they also had zero issues with the water in soil, never used the pen) . I haven't checked any feeding solution I give outdoor or indoor for over 6 months.. not once! Works fine, my pen lies unused in the drawer since Jan...and I give radical amounts of fertilizer at times. As long as the plants show me that they are happy, I "turkey" the nutrition into the plants. Take it or die ^^ Soil is by far.. and we talk by faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar, the most forgiving medium to grow in. I had also zero loss to any nute fuck ups or Ph issues.. I had a little Calcium issue outdoor, back to normal within a few days. Rest was the smoothest sail I ever had for pumping out quite some plants in that time indoor. 

 

But then again.. I am more of a weirdo hehehe I went from hydro back to soil and now I am only doing Autos 😉 and love it 😁 Most easiest and most low maintenance growing I ever had.. zero complains yield wise.. really zero.

 

That's another vote for soil. I already mad emy final decision and went for the Atami High Porosity Coco. I will do soil again in future and try new things. 

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2 minutes ago, Prom said:

I don't have the time for that hehe... And my plants are deeply intrenched in a scrog so I wouldn't be as thorough as I would need to be... 

So I will stick to pyrol and try irradicate them from my veg area... 

They used to be the bane of my existence... But now they are just a pain that iv added to my collection of aches

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9 minutes ago, CreX said:

I don't have the time for that hehe... And my plants are deeply intrenched in a scrog so I wouldn't be as thorough as I would need to be... 

So I will stick to pyrol and try irradicate them from my veg area... 

They used to be the bane of my existence... But now they are just a pain that iv added to my collection of aches

I can learn from you to be more relaxed regarding pests 😂 I have PM in my indoor setup and is driving me rather insane. BUT 😁 Tracker for the Serenade says is for delivery tomorrow. 💪 The ultrasonic mister ready and cleaned.. tomorrow I unleash my horde of PM eating mutated killer bacteria 😈 will fog the whole flat and tents plus ducts.

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Coco really isn't difficult to grow in or work with.

A good soil will be forgiving as it has amendments to help buffer the PH and there are nutes in the soil and preferably some microbes which will break down the organic matter and continue producing more nutes etc.

 

With a coco & perlite mix, you cannot over water your plants. If you do coco with fertigation then growth could be quicker than with soil.

 

@Prom yeah, if you can get a quality pen which does it all then go for it.

I think I paid like R250 for my PPM pen and then R850 I think for my PH pen, I have an HM Digital one and its' awesome. Certainly get proper storage solution and take car of your pen, rinse it off after taking measurements in high EC solutions etc. etc.

I have never considered rain water, so have not looked into it. I have also never considered growing indoors in soil without nutes and if you are using soil inoculations you certainly do want to have a PH pen as that drops the PH quickly!

Depending on what nutes you are using, EC / PPM is not needed although something like Hortimix I would recommend it as there isn't a proper chart provided.

If the nutes and dosage you are using brings the PH down to the right level, then its easy and quicker - but the process for me has always been the same regardless of whether its for soil or coco.

 

I have never had any loss at all, regardless of my medium.

 

I do not understand how you guys find soil less work than coco... The experience has been about the same for me.

Mix nutes, PH and feed to plants. Regardless of whether it is for coco or soil - what has saved me a looot of time is moving over to an automatic watering system as watering by hand is a ball ache and takes quite a lot of time.

I now just mix my nutes in a tub, and it gets fed to the plants automatically - takes me around 10 minutes maybe as my tape is a bit slow to fill and I have to put the water into a bucket and then pour it into my res but still lot quicker than when I was watering by hand which would easily take me 45min. 

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On 6/4/2020 at 11:25 AM, PsyCLown said:

Coco really isn't difficult to grow in or work with.

A good soil will be forgiving as it has amendments to help buffer the PH and there are nutes in the soil and preferably some microbes which will break down the organic matter and continue producing more nutes etc.

 

With a coco & perlite mix, you cannot over water your plants. If you do coco with fertigation then growth could be quicker than with soil.

 

@Prom yeah, if you can get a quality pen which does it all then go for it.

I think I paid like R250 for my PPM pen and then R850 I think for my PH pen, I have an HM Digital one and its' awesome. Certainly get proper storage solution and take car of your pen, rinse it off after taking measurements in high EC solutions etc. etc.

I have never considered rain water, so have not looked into it. I have also never considered growing indoors in soil without nutes and if you are using soil inoculations you certainly do want to have a PH pen as that drops the PH quickly!

Depending on what nutes you are using, EC / PPM is not needed although something like Hortimix I would recommend it as there isn't a proper chart provided.

If the nutes and dosage you are using brings the PH down to the right level, then its easy and quicker - but the process for me has always been the same regardless of whether its for soil or coco.

 

I have never had any loss at all, regardless of my medium.

 

I do not understand how you guys find soil less work than coco... The experience has been about the same for me.

Mix nutes, PH and feed to plants. Regardless of whether it is for coco or soil - what has saved me a looot of time is moving over to an automatic watering system as watering by hand is a ball ache and takes quite a lot of time.

I now just mix my nutes in a tub, and it gets fed to the plants automatically - takes me around 10 minutes maybe as my tape is a bit slow to fill and I have to put the water into a bucket and then pour it into my res but still lot quicker than when I was watering by hand which would easily take me 45min. 

Interesting...I like the idea of an automated watering system. Any brands in particular that you can reccommend? 

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On 6/1/2020 at 1:48 PM, SkunkPharm said:

True Living Organics by The Rev

Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis

Teaming with Nutrients by Jeff Lowenfels

 

By these recommends, I can see that you know your 'shit' and have been in organics for a while, respect! I grew out Black Forrest from The Rev about 10 years back and its still in my mind - that vietblack is stellar. 

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