COCO PH And What defines a soil

[Tsmit420]

I have seen many different responses to questions on ph of coco some say u treat it like hydroponic and some say to treat it like soil. From what i know its closer to hydro. but what if there is amendments? after all alot of potting soil is just coco with some amendments, some are peat based and some a both none of them are actually soil. or things like bat guano, teas, greensand, gypsum/lime, epsom salts, humus, kelp, sea based products, fish emulsion, or just organic liquid nutrients, Are these things going to affect the ideal ph?. Does the medium have to be completely inert to be treated as hydroponic or are there some exceptions but not all? if the medium has to be inert then would things like teas change that. OR can only specifically hydroponic nutes be used to be treated as hydroponic? I under stand that there is not one ideal PH IN veg you want a lower ph then in flowering and with longer flowering plants the PH will be even higher before harvest I understand PH for hydroponic and soil but i think alot of the people giving PH info don't really under stand that pottng soils are actually a soilless mix and some completely coco based. possibly things like compost could define a soil because there is general alot of bugs and organisms in compost as well as humus.

IF anyone Has any input id greatly appreciate it, basically what i really neeed to understand is what draws the line between soil and hydro is it just the introduction organic amendments?

[Dust]

hi man, i'm far from beeing a ph expert, and some will know better then me ^^ We have some nice articles by franco on PH and on the forum some nice thread hanging around too. But i think what could explain the diference between hydro and soil must come from the way they absorb the nute. as we know in soil most nutrients have to go through a lot of stages before beeing available to your plants, and probably under a diferent form in the end than in hydo where the nute is directly in the water and should be eaten directly in the water so i guess the form isn't the same.. I remember advanced nutrient made a nice paper on PH don't remember the name of this but the link is on the fourm somewhere too ^^

Good luck man hope a PH expert will come help you out

[Tsmit420]

Yes i read francos article and it only said coco we be the same or similar to hydroponics, i prefer to use a combo of chemicle fertilizers and organic. Though maybe organic nute wouldnt affedt what ph you need because many hydroponic nute have organic ingrediants and organic additives unless its natural and not organic like humboldst line, there dirived from organic materials but chelated to make nutrients more redilly availble to plants but still able to easily support micro life. it could possibly be mainly to with the medium though, when u amend it the ph will lower even after you stabilize were as when you use teas and liquid organics your brew it for a while letting the organisms to break things down and then stabilize before you feed the plants and it wont change as much. the slightly higher ph with soil recomended by franco could be just to compensate for changes in a freshly amendment soil though that doesnt ssound right. could be cuz of the way ph efects effects the way microbial life can work. idunno lol its not even a big deal all i have to do is experiment between the two. But things bug me id much rather know how things work rather then "what" works

[Dust]

But things bug me id much rather know how things work rather then "what" works

Totally agree on that and i remember we had a talk about this a year ago more or less in a thread. but which one.. it's another story ^^

[Undutched]

Yes i read francos article and it only said coco we be the same or similar to hydroponics, i prefer to use a combo of chemicle fertilizers and organic. Though maybe organic nute wouldnt affedt what ph you need because many hydroponic nute have organic ingrediants and organic additives unless its natural and not organic like humboldst line, there dirived from organic materials but chelated to make nutrients more redilly availble to plants but still able to easily support micro life. it could possibly be mainly to with the medium though, when u amend it the ph will lower even after you stabilize were as when you use teas and liquid organics your brew it for a while letting the organisms to break things down and then stabilize before you feed the plants and it wont change as much. the slightly higher ph with soil recomended by franco could be just to compensate for changes in a freshly amendment soil though that doesnt ssound right. could be cuz of the way ph efects effects the way microbial life can work. idunno lol its not even a big deal all i have to do is experiment between the two. But things bug me id much rather know how things work rather then "what" works

It depends on the coco and if you mix some nuts upfront for instance but when this is "sterilized" you should go @ it like Hydro cause no pH buffering is done by coco like done by soil.

[URBANNINJA]

Guys i been thru this Ph and Ec issues a lot of times on coco till i found the optimum...and this aint goes without some gd ec n ph pens..... the best u can have is a drain ec messure that comes out like it goes in...for example if the lady needs a ec of 1.7 then its the best when the drain comes out with a ec of 1.7 +- 0.1 is ok. ph same thing.....i like the description shedule in the powder feed flyer u can easy copy that 1:1 to your grow and get perfect results.....also Dusts Tip of watering for Coco was wicked...thx Mate sice that day no more props in watering....go with a 10% of your podsize then u get a 2 max 3 day watering feeding shedule.....