Growing Media

About

Growing media is the thing your roots actually live in, and it decides more about how you grow than the nutrients do. It sets how often you water, how forgiving the system is, and which feed you can use. Pick the medium first, then build the feed around it. Which medium should you use? Medium Watering Forgiveness Best for Soil Every 2-3 days High First grows, organic feeding Coco coir Daily or more Medium Faster growth with mineral feed Rockwool Multiple times daily Low Precise hydroponic control Clay pebbles Continuous Low Flood and drain, DWC Perlite As an amendment – Adding air to soil or coco Plugs and cubes Kept damp Medium Seeds and cuttings The trade-off in one sentence The more inert the medium, the faster the plant grows and the less room you have to make a mistake. Soil buffers everything and gives you days to notice a problem; rockwool buffers nothing and gives you hours. Coco sits in the middle and is where most people end up. Coco is not soil The most common and most expensive mistake. Coco holds calcium and magnesium and releases potassium, so a soil nutrient will leave you cal-mag deficient within a few weeks. Use a coco-specific feed, or add CalMag separately. Coco also needs feeding every watering – there is nothing in it to draw on. Air is as important as water Roots need oxygen. A medium that holds too much water suffocates them, which looks exactly like overfeeding and gets treated with less nutrient, which makes it worse. Adding 20-30% perlite to soil or coco is the cheapest improvement most growers can make. What we stock Coco from Canna, Plagron and Ugro; soils from Biobizz, Plant Magic and Plagron; Grodan rockwool; clay pebbles, perlite, vermiculite and propagation plugs. Match with nutrients and pots . Growing media FAQs Which is best for a beginner? Soil. It is slower but it will forgive the mistakes you are going to make. Move to coco on your second grow. Can I reuse it? Coco and clay pebbles can be washed and reused. Rockwool should not b