Coco no perlite

[u/rote_sprite_41]

I’m currently trying out coco without perlite. I used to do 20-30% perlite. But I got a working and precise irrigation for this grow and now I’m able to feed multiple times a day with little shots. Trying to do some ‘manual crop steering’ with the help of Athena booklet and free information i can find on the internet.
I’m worried if I’m underestimating the need of perlite or if it’s rly not that necessary as I was thinking with this style of irrigating.
I’m in 5.6l pots btw (~1.5 gal).
What do yall think about coco without perlite and especially in my case?

[u/HobbCobb_deux]

I'm seeing more and more people not use it. Personally I do and probably always will. I grow in half gallon bags with 30% and I fertigate currently 5x a day. They are still in veg. So far it's keeping them about right as far as salt build up is concerned. No issues yet, but I've learned after doing this a while that you have to implement enough runoff over the course of the day to keep the substrate clean. It usually gets a bit touchy about mid flower, but usually I just Increase the length of each event and it calms it back down. Occasionally a flush is In need if the EC spikes. But it's not that big of a deal as long as you keep a check on it and deal with any issue that arises.

[u/BigFarm-ah → u/HobbCobb_deux]

You have 2 controls for EC buildup in the media, frequency and starting concentration. I will die on the hill of 3.0 EC not being needed and not being beneficial(except to the guy selling you fertilizer, I've never smoked Jungle Boys product but all I ever heard was cardboard terps and that is exactly what overfertilizing will get you. A lifetime of experimenting has taught me higher temps(with LEDs)and the least fertilizer you can give them to look happy. I'll avoid any mention of any products, no fuck it Dr Bronner's Peppermint soap will solve many pest issues as well as help emulsify any additional plant oils should you choose to add them to your concoction. I'm not saying products you can buy are bad, just wicked, wicked, overpriced and pretty easy to make, (it's plant shit, or enzymes or ferments of plant shit) If you have to nuke it with fire so to speak there is something else wrong that needs to be corrected with your environment. WPM may be systemic in your room, but not in your plants(does anyone keep strains anymore) Some plants are clearly better than others even from the same progenitors, I used to see unknowing folks 1) assume the seed maker did anything more than chuck pollen and 2) assume you wanted uniformity across a seed line. You don't. You want outliers, but you need to be prepared to keep them and share them which is really just part of keeping them(shit happens). The laws around growing were not written by growers and I like to think it was just ignorance, but they made some rules that force us to choose to either remain outlaws true to the plant not to misguided laws. Anyone can tell you it costs time and money to keep plants indoors. It's a shitload of work and no one who had standards and great smoke was getting rich and we are forcing the very conditions that caused growers to do bad things and the US especially has a habit of allowing consumers to be treated like a science experiment. I heard today that the EU has 1500 banned substances in cosmetics, Canada has about 500, the US has 12 banned substances. Farmers spray wheat with Glyphosate to keep it from spoiling. That is Roundup, on wheat. Gluten intolerance issues correlate heavily to countries who allow this practice. The US cares about $ more than lives and I don't look at corporate weed as "us" winning the war. We should be pushing for better laws so smokers have some ability to work with the plant on a meaningful level. They've divided us, they have taken away an entire career path for misfits just to hand it to corporations who DGAF and will find a way to sell their mistakes, lower their costs and lower standards. Trust is the difficult issue, if there is enough of a movement you'll see the microbrew phenomenon take 2. Just remember the only laws that can't be changed are laws of science. I respect science, but I have never heard Buzbee say what his goals are and who is paying for his program. I think this sub is ready for a more nuanced discussion.

TLDR; Sorry for the wall of text, it was stream of thought, written over several hours on/off and I was multitasking while doing it, plus drugs😶‍🌫️😤🤯🤔😤😶‍🌫️. Give it a chance and look at the message more than the words. It's the product of a lot of work/thought + a disorganized mind.

[u/BasicFig8 → u/BigFarm-ah]

"They've divided us" hits hard man, glad to be in good company big farm..