What is your preferred medium?

Certainly has happened with bagged coco the last year or so. Used to be able to run 100% coco before the quality started dropping. It then required blending with perlite to increase drainage. We went from 30% to 50% to 70% and it was still too wet. Really no point in using it if it’s more than 50% perlite. We switched the entire grow over to Rockwool for a while before getting samples from Rio coco of several of their products. Fortunately there are some older companies that have been supplying commercial ag for years that are getting into cannabis finally. A much better product with nothing needing to be added to decrease water holding capacity. Back to all 100% coco in the facility and the plants are thriving.

7 Likes

I am the odd ball here in media base use, it appears!

Pure Alf-Alfa feed rabbit waste, composted and bleached. I have a small rabbitry, that I source my medium from. After processing the waste, I end up with a pretty neutral base. Very low on the nitrogen end with the bleaching, as alfalfa is a heavily nitrogen based plant, but offers a nice fiber remnant.

To finish alive pot… Rabbit base, Vermiculite, quite a bit of Perilite, 2" lava rock base, earthworm castings, DE.

Then the nutes.

I have had so many issues with consistancy in commercial products, it became easier and cheaper to build the creators of the medium. My supply is consistent, and I personally make sure consistency during composting and bleaching (water flush, high acidity PH) before I plant. I would get a month into a grow to find soil irregularities in a variety of ways.

I have considered coco, but want to run a few testers before I get into dialing that in. My biggest concern with coco, though being just a base, have the capability of keeping consistent microbial activity. I have more research to do on that one, lol🤠

5 Likes

Our quality is one of the most consistent. We have no issues retaining our sources for ingredients and have always blended with multiple mid sized mixers rather than turning in a yard or using a huge mixer that still will leave hot spots or dead zones. We have two yard batches done at a time and is why we are so consistent. Two blends and a pure. Our blends start out with an inland source for a lower salt content and is double washed. The two blends; #1 Coir lite - 70/30 coco/perlite with Yucca extract for wetting, Dolomite for ph buffer, and our Bio minerals for that great microbial count and trace minerals. #2 Organic Blend- coco, sphagnum peat, Agra Peet (Cow Fiber), Fishbone meal, Kelp meal, worm castings, Chilean Nitrogen, Bat Guano, Dolomite, and our Bio minerals. We do our Bagged coco in 1.5cuft bags straight out of our 2yd mixers for the same great quality you will get from our totes.
Any one having issues with a coco product slipping in quality should give us a call for a premium blend that will keep your plants happy all of the time!
If you have questions please reach out.

6 Likes

Pretty slick! I am going to put this in my pocket!:cowboy_hat_face:

5 Likes

Nice roots! You guys ever use Smart Pots on the farm?

4 Likes

My favorite medium is air, because its free. Medium isn’t actually needed, at all. I haven’t bought more than 1.5" clone cubes in years.

3 Likes

Can you elaborate on this a bit more, @kgkind? Are you running an aero system?

2 Likes

Basically HPA, ya. All the parts, just misters that splatter more than ‘typical’ for HPA, and instead of one chamber per plant roots reside in a long trough.

3 Likes

Most of our customers use soil/coco/perlite mix. Lots are switching to organic/no-till, too, of various varieties.

@NateDakine420 - just read your post about your process. That sounds awesome! Maybe one day we can add our product to yours! Would love to work with someone like you that operates with a lot of care.

3 Likes

Thank you. We take pride in consistency and quality.
Might be able to get some collaboration going. Is there any way to get a sample to mix into a bag or tote to try out in our test facility?

3 Likes