I personally think coco is the best for a beginner. You can't really water too often, and it seems to be the best of all worlds.
Thanks bonsai, what are the main drawbacks to it compared to soil? And do you ever get fungus gnats with it?
Yes, and you can get fungus gnats with just about any medium...... Coco requires everyday feeding/watering. That is the drawback.
Just search online for Doc Buds High Brix
Alright thanks, I'll do that right now
Thanks, I'm about to search for the doc's kit now. I was thinking about coco, and from what I've read on here about coco it does seem like it would be a good choice for me. But like i mentioned earlier there are days that i can't check it because of things that come up, so if it needs to be checked on every single day it might not be the best choice for me right now. At some point down the line i think it would be perfect tho
That's why i actually put this thread up, to findthe differnt ways as well as some of the pros and cons this way i can find the right one for me. Doc's seems like an awesome was to go, he really has put a lot of time into his work with the kits. But i was hoping it was an already made, all set to go kind of kit. i think when i have the money for it i will give it a try but as for right now coco and regular soil are back to the top of the list lol. For coco, i know you can get fungus gnats, thanks to bonsai, but can they come with the coco the way they do with some soil? Or do they usually come from another source, like another infected plant?
As far as i can tell I've only had problems with fungus gnats, right now they are on my most hated list lol. I think they are the reason my 2 plants are dying/dead. Unfortunately i don't have the money needed to buy anything to take care of them and save my plants. So now I'm planning on letting things take their course here then starting fresh. As in removing all soil from the grow area and then dealing with the adults before even thinking about bringing anything in there again. I'm really hoping to find an easy to use grow medium that is less likely to have pests in it before i even start using it. But back to coco, can you still use beneficial nematodes in it? They seem effective, natural, cheap, and they deal with more than one kind of post. And as an added bonus of i bought 1 pack of them it looks like I'd be set for a few grows
That's not a bad idea with the strip, i plan on using beneficial nematodes if i keep growing in soil I'm just not sure if they can be used in coco. Every time i use soil indoors i have a problem with those little bastards. My one successful grow was outside and i figure i didn't have a problem with them because of the breeze blowing them away from itIf you got some cheapo coco then maybe it could have eggs in it but even then likely not. Any standard brand shouldn't. You can get fungus gnats from anywhere really. They can come from just being in your house and finding their way into your grow area. Honestly I just put up some old school fly paper (the new age stuff sucks) right in the middle of my tent and it always keeps them at bay. The nice thing about coco is that if you get more than a few random ones than you can let things dry out, which happens pretty quickly as opposed to soil. That also helps keep gnats at bay as they like moisture. I saw far more gnats when I grew in soil though and they were much tougher to get rid of.
Bottom right of the picture is all I do for each tent. I usually switch it with a fresh one each grow but I used this one for two grows.
Nice pictures, i was just reading about the aquarium pebbles on another page, it seems like it works just like sand i guess buti like the aquarium rock idea better 1) probably a lot easier to reuse than the sand 2) probably easier to find and cheaper than sand around here and 3) who wouldn't like to add some color to thier garden lol. As for the de i read that once it gets wet it becomes useless. And it's kinda hard to find that stuff around here unless you go to a pool supply store, but i think that's a differnt grade than what people use for thier plantsI had pests with both soil and my first coco run (bottled organic ferts). I found diatomaceous earth to work with gnats and such. I had some other bugs and I released ladybugs, they are ferocious...
I switched to Hempy and maxibloom. I use aquarium gravel with about a 2" coco cap and plant in the final (small) container. I am amazed at the simplicity and my results thus far.
It'll be smokeable
I am using it because I have small containers and the weight really keeps the plants from flopping over. It was cheap in small quantities. Reusability.
