How Economical Is Coco Coir?

[Keeno]

This has come up a few timeson the podcast @DIY.Rik. I have ro admit im not clued up on the subject in any way, but will have a look at the links.

We are using coco as a hydrponic medium, its brilliant air to water ratio among other thing's. The reality is its just fibers. Im sure there will be ither options we are not aware of that do the same job.

Interesting topic

[KD]

This has come up a few timeson the podcast @DIY.Rik. I have ro admit im not clued up on the subject in any way, but will have a look at the links.

We are using coco as a hydrponic medium, its brilliant air to water ratio among other thing's. The reality is its just fibers. Im sure there will be ither options we are not aware of that do the same job.

Interesting topic

I'm surprised there isn't a more synthetic alternative that's been created for profits more than anything else. I like how you can water it daily or leave it a day or two if needed. Works amazing for organic growers too as the bacteria have a better supply of air with water.

[Guest]

This has come up a few timeson the podcast @DIY.Rik. I have ro admit im not clued up on the subject in any way, but will have a look at the links.

We are using coco as a hydrponic medium, its brilliant air to water ratio among other thing's. The reality is its just fibers. Im sure there will be ither options we are not aware of that do the same job.

Interesting topic

I think you're damned if you do and damned if you dont these days! Anything is bad for the environment these days, it's good to look at both sides of the fence I think but I can't say I wouldn't ever use coco again either.

There is already alternatives to peat too, but harder (or was last time I checked) to get in the UK. So there will be something come up.

What do all the farmers do with all the husk they have though? There would be an abundance of the stuff. I think there must be a way to process it easier and quicker which would be the way forward I think.

Some one just needs to figure that out

[Marcus]

What do all the farmers do with all the husk they have though? There would be an abundance of the stuff. I think there must be a way to process it easier and quicker which would be the way forward I think.

Mine goes in my worm bin.

I use coco for microgreens, I use the compressed bricks as they're free from endospores so the stuff doesn't go green and manky when wet and also don't have any feed or buffering agents in it. Reptile bedding blocks they are. A quid each, makes 7L.

It's great for growing mushrooms too.

Grab a worm bin to recycle the roots and coir.

[Guest]

What do all the farmers do with all the husk they have though? There would be an abundance of the stuff. I think there must be a way to process it easier and quicker which would be the way forward I think.

Mine goes in my worm bin.

I use coco for microgreens, I use the compressed bricks as they're free from endospores so the stuff doesn't go green and manky when wet and also don't have any feed or buffering agents in it. Reptile bedding blocks they are. A quid each, makes 7L.

It's great for growing mushrooms too.

Grab a worm bin to recycle the roots and coir.

Yes that is a very good point Marcus. I will need some for a wormery I intend to have.

I Have a compost bin any old soil and medium goes in. Along with the odd banana, old plant stems and egg shells etc.....

[2-Scoops]

This has come up a few timeson the podcast @DIY.Rik. I have ro admit im not clued up on the subject in any way, but will have a look at the links.

We are using coco as a hydrponic medium, its brilliant air to water ratio among other thing's. The reality is its just fibers. Im sure there will be ither options we are not aware of that do the same job.

Interesting topic

It does have a great cation exchange capacity i think its best of any medium tbh and that is gonna be hard to replicate or so i would think myself. Basically its not hard to make a grow medium out of lots of shit & of crap lying around but its gonna be hard to add that magic CEC touch which coco has.

This has come up a few timeson the podcast @DIY.Rik. I have ro admit im not clued up on the subject in any way, but will have a look at the links.

We are using coco as a hydrponic medium, its brilliant air to water ratio among other thing's. The reality is its just fibers. Im sure there will be ither options we are not aware of that do the same job.

Interesting topic

I'm surprised there isn't a more synthetic alternative that's been created for profits more than anything else. I like how you can water it daily or leave it a day or two if needed. Works amazing for organic growers too as the bacteria have a better supply of air with water.

I grew in small groden rockwool cubes and clayballs (50/50 mix) for a good few years before coco came about my way, i grew exact same way as i grow now, in pots hand watered run to waste, so still passive hydro or so i think, but my plants were very much bigger when i switched to coco were talking mahoosive in comparison and the yield was greatly improved in fact massively improved. I was running same Jack Herer cutting that I'd ran for donkeys years as well. Again as said to Keano i think main reasons for all that is coco has by far the best CEC of any grow medium from mud to water and owt in between. I might be wrong but tis what it is.

[Guest]

coco has by far the best CEC of any grow medium from mud to water and owt in between. I might be wrong but tis what it is. 

Yeah I completely get you.

It is about the CEC and this is what makes soil a bitach when things go wrong.

This is why I have tried adding more sand rock and clay in my next soil. CEC of clay is apparently equal + or - and sand is either one of two and then soil and Silt different again.

But yeah, this is what makes coco coir so easy to fix problems with I suspect.

With the rising temperatures 🌡 in our climate we will soon be able to grow coconuts in our back yards anyway, sorted orchid

[duke]

Also what I didn't know is the compressed coco coir is heat treated to make it viable for growing use which seems very contradictory to me.

What do you think?
hi well i think heat treating and compression are both of benefit for use as a growing medium,both ensure clean pest free medium,granted it uses a lot of water but having researched several companies supplying coco for growing very few give any great details in this regard with the exception of ugro indonesia (not spain) they claim no detergents or chemicals are used just clean water which is then filtered and cleaned before reuse if this is true then i see no harm done,
the fact that removing peat from the land as a grow medium has bad consequences all along the line and should have been stopped years ago when we found out the peat bogs are what stops much of the land being flooded during heavy downpours,
the coco coir used as growing medium is sustainable and even if they had to stop using coconut for any reason there massive stockpiles like millions of tons from before they figured out it works once treated as near perfect growing medium.
imo the best bit is guaranteed pest free (compressed blocks) not the rip off loose bags from canna etc where your paying more for the water weight in the bag than the coco and not compressed means a split in bag invites pests to set up home
so id say very economical and not half as damaging to environment as peat production,thought could we replace the stolen peat bogs with coco?

[Guest]

thought could we replace the stolen peat bogs with coco? 

I like your approach of thought there. This is how new ideas come to light to sort this sort of thing. Joking aside....

It's how slow a rate the bogs grow I suppose too and they naturally filter the lower lands below.
Maybe somewhere someone is working on how to speed that up and replace it.

It's still swings and roundabouts in my mind though and until we know more through research and knowledge along with new ideas for the root cause solution I wouldn't like to say whether one was worse than the other.

I think there is still so much more to discover.

Some would argue using electricity to grow indoors is just as contradictory, especially with my style of growing.

[2-Scoops]

I wouldn't like to say whether one was worse than the other.

Really ? Man i would hands down say raiding peat bogs is by far a lot worse many times over for the World than making a sack or block of coco is. Not that it makes either right, but for sure we need to stop raiding peat bogs as of yesterday.