Coconut Coir and its use as a Soil-less Growth Media

This blog follows my previous blogs on soil-less growing media and Peat moss. After Peat Moss now it is now time for its alternative, Coconut Coir. Now a days many of us are trying coconut coir as an alternative to peat moss due to several reasons, most most important of which is its impact on environment. For an organic gardener it is always important to make use of the things which are renewable.

The English word "coir" comes from the Tamil and Malayalam word kayaru. which mean cord, to be twisted. In a coconut the husk portion(between the hard inner shell and the outer coat of the coconut) is the place from where the coir are extracted. Coir fibres make up about a third of the coconut husk, The rest, called peat, pith or dust.

Coir Fiber can be of two types white fibre and Brown fiber. White fibres are extracted from green coconut while we get the brown fibres when those are extracted from the fully matured coconut. The white fibre are the used in manufacturing rope, mats, and fishing nets(due to its resistance to saltwater). Brown Fibre is used to prepare doormats, brushes, mattress and also for insulation and packaging. The process of taking out the husk from the fruit is also known as De-husking.

The second part of the husk which covers the majority of the portion is known as Coir dust(or coir) or Coco peat (cocopeat). Once considered as waste product, this is now used as an alternative to peat moss in Gardening. I will represent this by the single word coir.

Coir does provide a suitable substrate for horticultural use as a soil-less potting media. As coir is high in sodium and potassium, and sometimes contains excess salt, it needs to be treated before using as a growth medium for plants. It is first washed, screened and graded into various granularity and density.

India and Sri lanka produces most of the coir in the world. Apart from these two, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam etc have also started producing coir now a days.

Coir can be of two types viz, sterilized and unsterilized. In case of sterilized coir peat the fungi Trichoderma is not present due to sterilization. Trichoderma work in symbiosis with plant roots and protect the plant from harmful pathogenic fungi such as pythium. That is one of the reason people now a days are shifting from using sterilized to unsterilized one. 

Usage:

Coconut coir can be used almost anywhere you can use peat moss such as seed starters, bedding, gardens, container etc. It is resistant to bacterial and fungal growth. It provides all new opportunities for potting mix suppliers, seedling nurseries, Hydro-phonic growers and green house growers. 

In horticulture and gardening, coir is a strongly recommended substitute for Peat moss because it is free of bacteria and fungal spores.As a substitute it  helps slowing down peat extraction from environmentally sensitive swamps worldwide. It also has very good water retention and suitable aeration facility which helps to faster growth of roots.

Coir contains a good amount of cellulose and lignin. As mushroom thrive on Cellulose, coir is used as a substrate to cultivate Mushrooms.

Coir generally have a pH level in the range of 6-6.5. which is very good pH level for most of the plants.

Forgreen Coir-pots

Coir can not be used as a sole component in the medium to grow plants as the nutrient content in coir is very low. If grown solely on coir, you need to add nutrients as per the need of the specific plants. Coir from countries like India and Sri Lanka though contains several macro and micro-plant nutrients including substantial quantities of potassium, it interfere with magnesium availability. Generally it is found that coir has deficiency of Calcium and Magnesium, so we need to do some nutrition amendments by adding a good amount of dolomite which contains both of those elements.  

Apart from agricultural usage dry coir can be used as an oil absorbent specially on slippery floors as it has very good absorbing ability. It is also used to absorb animal waste.

Coir is hydro-philic unlike peat moss and can quickly reabsorb water even when completely dry. Coco peat is porous and cannot be over watered easily. Coconut coir is not only a natural, organic product, but unlike peat moss a renewable one. 


COCOPEAT BLOCK - EXPANDS TO 24 KG COCO PEAT POWDER


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