I didn’t know that you could mix coco and soil but I just read up on it and it appears to be a good combination. I never would have thought they would work together.
Here’s some info I found
Mixing coconut coir (coco) and soil is generally safe and helpful for aeration and moisture retention, but potential issues include nutrient lockup (coco holds onto calcium and magnesium), high salt levels if the coir was not pre-washed, and moisture competition if the dry mix pulls water away from plant roots. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Here’s a guide to making sure mixing these mediums goes smoothly:
Potential Problems
Cal-Mag Deficiency: Raw coco coir binds tightly to calcium and magnesium ions, which can starve your plants unless you pre-treat or use a supplemented mix.
Salt Toxicity: Inexpensive or unwashed coco bricks can contain residual sodium from coastal processing, burning sensitive roots.
Water Dynamics: Dry coco can act like a wick, pulling moisture away from surrounding soil and drying out the root zone. [1, 2, 3]
Best Practices
Rinse and Buffer: Always thoroughly wash compressed coco coir with fresh water and buffer it with a calcium-magnesium solution before blending. [1, 2, 3]
Keep Ratios Reasonable: Limit coco to a moderate percentage (such as 10% to 30%) when adding it to traditional garden soil, rather than a heavy 50/50 split, to keep watering needs uniform. [1, 2]
Add Nutrients: Remember that clean coco has virtually no native nutrients, so your soil mix must provide adequate compost or fertilizer. [1, 2, 3]
Ten gallons is kind of a lot eh? With the vigor Mandy and Mindy have shown so far I’ll bet they’re gonna use it though!
I soaked a “Canna Coco” brick and divided it between the two; the package has two bricks and says “40 Liters Expanded”, so at 10 liters a piece, coco is roughly a quarter of the blend. Between 5-10% is perlite, and the rest is Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil (which seems to already have a bit of perlite in it). In addition to plain water they got some with cal-mag; at this point, although the pH meter is up and running, I don’t think it’s necessary. Soon enough.
How’s the tent, you ask?
I’ve seen no evidence of damage or infestation but there was a wee bug near the cups the other day, and another today. This has to stop! On goes the UV bar, and frankly I’m happy to run it just for a chance to (briefly, safely) look at it:
That wood mulch can be very bad on your seedlings. If that’s wood mulch.
I found this for you
Wood mulch is not inherently bad for cannabis seedlings, but heavy or fresh wood chips can cause problems if they touch the stem or lock up surface nitrogen.Risks of Wood Mulch on SeedlingsStem Rot and Disease: Piling wood chips directly against the tender stem of a young seedling traps moisture and invites fungal pathogens like damping-off or stem rot.Nitrogen Lock-Up: Fresh, uncomposted wood chips break down using surface nitrogen, which can temporarily starve a delicate seedling if the wood is mixed into the medium or heavily layered too close to the roots.Physical Weight: Large, heavy wood chunks can crush or physically obstruct tiny emerging shoots and hinder proper airflow to the root zone.Best Practices for Mulching Young CannabisMaintain Distance: Leave a 1-to-2-inch clear ring around the base of the seedling stem, ensuring no mulch makes direct contact.Use Fine or Alternative Materials: Instead of large, raw wood chunks, use finely shredded bark, straw, rice hulls, or composted mulch for very young plants.Keep it Thin: Apply a very light, shallow top-dressing (around half an inch to an inch) rather than a heavy 3-to-4-inch layer until the cannabis plant is well-established
It almost looks like it came out roots up, I don’t see any cotes. If that is the case you can gently dig around it and flip it right side up. I have had it happen to me a few times in rooting plugs.
I’ve started giving the girls proper pH-balanced 321, and set up an oscillating fan inside the tent aimed a little overhead. Ideally it will be enough to force some swaying (thus strengthening their stalks) without overstressing.
The move may have been a little premature; with the cup taped over, there’s limited information available on the state of the roots. A point in favor of nesting a clear in a colored cup- next time!
