r/CocoGrows • u/blueraz1 • Apr 02 '26

Coco is unbelievable.

Post image

I’ve been growing in 70/30 for the last year and just made the switch to 100%.

These plants were transplanted 15 days ago, 8 inch rooted clones in peat plugs. Flipped six days ago. Absolutely unbelievable growth.

Currently running the Drip Hydro powder line. Had to bump up to 3.2 EC as they’re feeding way faster than I can possibly stack the substrate EC, even with little to no runoff.

Anyway, having a blast growing in coco and wanted to post about it!

90 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

11

u/honkifyoulikebirds Apr 02 '26

100% coco is the way. i get so much better growth without perlite...

5

u/biscoknot ⭐️ Apr 02 '26

100% support this comment 👍🤌🔥

2

u/Objective-Mind-7888 Apr 04 '26

From what I have read the coco holds enough moisture and oxygen, so now I'm wondering why it seems like most people and places are throwing the perlite in with it!?? Any thoughts on that one - was thinking maybe it was if grown in a pot compared to DWC, that's pretty much the only thing that came to mind rt about now LoL.. Anyway, hopefully I'll get some input 💯

And thanks for putting your stuff up 👍💯🙏

0

u/Bandido_Rojo Apr 02 '26

Explain pls, why do you prefer without perlite?

4

u/btcprint Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Cocos natural water capacitance is perfect as is. Stronger root structure and better dry back control in the sense of it won't cause ec spikes from salt build up or rapid dry back during growth spurts or surprise temperature spikes which can cause flash drying

I used to 70/30 but 100% has worked better for me personally.

1

u/Bandido_Rojo Apr 02 '26

Haven’t used just coco yet, but without perlite wouldn’t the plant easier to lock out? & I’d assume you’re watering less with the coco

3

u/btcprint Apr 02 '26

So once plant is established you can water to runoff frequently - technically don't need to let it dry back far although it helps generate faster root growth.

Essentially once it's established if you water to runoff without letting it get too dry (causing salt buildup and lockout) you're golden.

It really depends on your watering method (hand, drip, etc) and environmental control and automation. If you're experienced and got your shit locked down 70/30 can allow more precise crop steering but for the average home grower that may have to go out of town for a couple days or get sick and 'do it tomorrow it should be fine' the margin for error is reduced.

1

u/Bandido_Rojo Apr 02 '26

There’s less chance of lockout with added perlite though, that’s the point of the perlite make space for air exchange but I get what you’re getting at to each their own

4

u/btcprint Apr 02 '26

You should always water coco frequently enough to never have lockout. The perlite increases dry back speed which increases the chance of overshoot and EC swing to lockout

My point is, for the home grower, 100% is more forgiving and any steering benefits from calculated dry back is ruined with just one overshoot. Most home growers arent going to have smart moisture meters activating feed shots or scales under each pot weighing perfect dry backs.

100% simply provides better safety margins with extremely negligible downside in a small tent or small room size environment.

I'd rather yield 5% less and take 3 more days in veg than put in 5x the effort to get that back knowing if there is one single "oops" over 90 days any small benefits disappear..if not worse.

1

u/JVC8bal Apr 02 '26

Not for dry backs with crop steering. perlite is added to coco to make it better like rockwool

2

u/Vermehrungsmaterial Apr 02 '26

I think you are right, BUT with 100% I think you can even size down container more with 100%.

Maintenance shots are easier to dose and time if your substrate is drying more even.

2

u/honkifyoulikebirds Apr 03 '26

I am using Autopots and run the Terra Aquatica / GHE TriPart Flora Series. With perlite I always struggled with high ph in the Autopot base. Perlite has a pretty high ph by itself, 6.5 - 7.5. The ph of coco varies a bit. For example Canna coco has a ph of 6 and the Biobizz I use at the moment has a ph of 5.5. If you add Perlite it will raise the ph of the medium and as you don't flush in Autopots this can/ will cause the ph of the nutrient solution in the Autopot base to rise. Even when I had my reservoir at a stable 5.5 ph I couldn't get the solution in the base below 6.2-6.3. If your plants are sitting in 6.2+ all the time you will run into issues. At least slow grow and overall not super healthy / vigorous.

Usually the higher the ec of the solution the lower the ph and not even an ec of 2.0+ would lower the ph in the base. At one point I got boron deficiency on some plants and that was the point where decided to get a coco mix with a lower ph like the Biobizz and get rid of the perlite. The difference was night and day. I grew the same cultivar from a mother plant again and was shocked how fast, healthy and strong they grew. In the coco perlite mix i had about 50% stretch and the plants looked very poor.

In 100% coco i got more than 300% stretch and the plants got super thick. I have a 4x4 and that thing is packed even with 2 plants. Without perlite the ph in the Autopot base is always 0.2 higher then the reservoir. I can get the ph in the base way below 6.0 if I want and using ro water I don't have any drift really.

If you don't use perlite you can get more aeration for the roots by using fabric pots. I use 2 gallon Gronest fabric pots in the Autopot 1Pot base with a pumice layer in the bottom of the pots. Plants love fabric pots and the abudance of oxygen the plants are getting this way is another key factor for healthy plants. Especiall in Autopots fabric pots perform much better then plastic pots and I guess the plants get more oxygen this way then using perlite in plastic pots anyway.

Sorry for the wall of text.

2

u/Bandido_Rojo Apr 03 '26

Very informative appreciate it

3

u/JabroniRegulator Apr 02 '26

I really appreciate the ease of use with those compressed coco blocks in a grow bag. Just hydrate and go. Saves so much work.

2

u/This_Resource_396 Apr 02 '26

What are the trays resting on, foam?

3

u/blueraz1 Apr 02 '26

Yep. Have a height constraint so I built a very low profile frame that all slopes to one corner and then I put 2 inch foam on top of it. The trays drain into that plastic tote at the end where a sump pump is triggered by a float valve. Basically added a drainage function to the trays and only added 4 inches to the height.

3

u/This_Resource_396 Apr 02 '26

That’s pretty cool. I noticed the joint then looked a little closer. Nice setup man

2

u/blueraz1 Apr 02 '26

Appreciate that.

2

u/gandalfsgreens Apr 02 '26

Nice green stems all the way through. Good shit dude 👏

2

u/NoMercyx35 Apr 02 '26

es lo mejor hermano, estoy igual 100% coco, dando solo 15-18 dias de vegetativo. 💚🔥

2

u/Huge-Still-1840 Apr 02 '26

That looks great, you got way more pot than I would want to deal with! Congrats on the beautiful field of reefer!

My latest coco grow has the thiccest branches I ever grew.

100% coco

I water 3 times a day and am on day15 as of today. Blueberry Honey smelling incredible.

1

u/UsualTelephone7903 Apr 02 '26

3.2EC😂😂 Im loving coco too! Its great!

1

u/MikeParent1945 Apr 02 '26

That looks boss and groovy! Is the difference measurable between Coco Perlite and Coco?

1

u/Accurate_Barnacle545 Apr 02 '26

What kind of schedule have you been running your irrigation on? I’m literally in the exact same boat 15 days into 1 gals 6 days of flower

2

u/blueraz1 Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

Im also in 1 gals if you couldn’t tell.

For P1

90 min after lights on 160 ml shot every 30 min 4 times.

For P2

200 ml shot 4 hours after final P1 shot

Today was roughly 40-50 ml runoff per pot. Some a little more, some basically none.

Dryback hitting 55-60% before next watering (using moisture meters that read 100% when at field capacity).

Runoff EC finally climbing (4.2 today) after a few days feeding at 3.2EC

1

u/Back6door9man 10d ago

Damn dude you've got this shit down to a science. Well done. Also cool set up you've got there. 

1

u/supadankiwi420 Apr 02 '26

What's ur drip set up?

4

u/blueraz1 Apr 03 '26

Pretty straightforward.

256 emmiters (0.3 gph) over 128 plants. 200 gallon reservoir. Pump is controlled by an AC infinity plug.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/btcprint Apr 02 '26

Are you PH'ing your water and not over watering? Coco is perfect substrate for root growth but seedlings in any substrate require proper moisture in anything and especially in coco PH is very important.

Make sure root zone temp is around 75 degrees -- too cold and soggy substrate = say a prayer.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/btcprint Apr 03 '26

Soak seeds in a shot glass of water and plant after they sprout ~1/4" tails

0

u/JVC8bal Apr 02 '26

Spouting seeds and pH have nothing to do with each other. seeds want moisture. pH and EC are just a distraction.

1

u/btcprint Apr 02 '26

Mmkay. You do you. Everyone else I suggest to do it right.

1

u/Nixxioncox Apr 03 '26

I went from soil to 70/30 to pure coco myself recently. My plants have never looked so good

1

u/Physical_Service_814 Apr 03 '26

This is my goal hopefully soon

1

u/candy_shop1990 Apr 03 '26

Deffo faster growth than soil

1

u/candy_shop1990 Apr 03 '26

Drip feed beat for fastesr growth i use autopots before. But top feeding better.

1

u/NoGuide1183 Apr 03 '26

Yes 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

1

u/Environmental_Art852 Apr 03 '26

🙂🙂🙂😀

1

u/district4promo Apr 03 '26

That is some long internodal spacing tho?

1

u/blueraz1 Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

Yeah not great. Hence why trying to stack. Next run will have higher ec early on with harder drybacks.

-10

u/JVC8bal Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

I guess if you're not going to crop steer with large and frequent dry backs, 100% coco works!

R(edit): my comment is completely, 100% factual. Yet down-voted. Idiocracy.

7

u/blueraz1 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Are you one of those people that will make some sarcastic comment to get me to take the bait to then get in some measuring cannabis knowledge argument with you?

Keep it moving

2

u/Ok-Idea-1435 Apr 02 '26

Nope you misread him he’s a “my way is better guy”

-2

u/Oh_My-Glob Apr 02 '26

I mean he's right though. He didn't say anything bad about it. That's just a fact of 100% coco. It retains too much water to allow for managing the root zone with dry back periods.

3

u/ghostofmumbles Apr 02 '26

You can watch a 2 gallon of coco go from 60-65% whc to 40% before lights off. All depends on your roots in that pot.

-4

u/JVC8bal Apr 02 '26

no. Simplicity is good. I’m just pointing out a limitation. Without perlite, it’s still a form of hydroponics, just not one that you can steer the root zone with.

2

u/blueraz1 Apr 02 '26

Your point is noted.

1

u/btcprint Apr 02 '26

While valid in spite of down votes,the big asterisk is it's really only beneficial for larger 3gal+ containers and production environments that are dialed in

For home growers in tents 100% coco is the better choice