The massive coir brick has arrived!

[swords]

Well, here it is, my own pic comparison of the coir brick VS the coir bale I ordered off Evilbay

The ad said it was equal to 16 bricks but it's actually more like 24-30 of the bed-a-beast bricks, and for merely the price of 3 bricks! Shipping was spendy ($19) but unless I open a nursery I think I'm set for at least a couple years with this bad boy. The bale is 30 lbs on my bathroom scale and comes in a heavy duty bag and it's big enough to be resealed on one end for easy/clean storing.

Not sure if it due to being "fresh" or what but the coir is a heavy sturdy brick but it's still a bit squishy, much nicer than the rock hard bricks from the petshop. I know they get water added but the sponginess will help in breaking it up and using only bits of this at a time. Looks like it has a variety of nice textures in it too - I think plant roots will like it!

If you need a bale of your own ebay seller Mountaingirl is the one selling these. However I just searched for "coco coir" and stumbled across it.

 

[JMurphy97]

What types of plants are you using it for?

 

[Fryster]

Is it for outdoor use?

In a mini-bog perhaps?

 

[Blazeddayz]

Thats allot of coir. Is that stuff hard to find where you are at? They have big bricks just like that one for 15$ at the local grow shops around here. Just wondering, I also like to buy my medium in bulk cause it always cheaper.

Josh

PS. haha just noticed its from Eugene, Or. thats right down the street lol

 

[swords]

What types of plants are you using it for?

I'll be using it for everything at the moment (sundews, etc), no need to buy sphagnum peat for a long time! I'm also gonna use it to mix up a deep bed of terrarium soil and all my outdoor gardening - the stuff is very versitile depending on what you mix with it.

Coir is basically unheard of here in MN metro area, people only know it at the pet shops as "the expandable bricks", garden centers here only have the coco-fiber rolls/pads - I wish I could have scored this without shipping costs!

Incidentally I checked the manufacturers site but they only sell in quantity $250 minimum, I definatley don't need that much!

 

[JMurphy97]

Is it better then peat moss? I know a certain place is starting to use it for neps. Might be cool as a mix for them.

 

[JMurphy97]

Oh nevermind my mistake. They use coconut husk.

 

[herenorthere]

I use coir in the garden seed-starting mixes I make and love it, but standard bricks are enough for me. I use 1-2 per year. Don't try this at home, or anywhere else for that matter, but imagine the outcome of throwing a giant coir brick into a swimming pool. The Chinese better keep an eye on their olympic swimming pools; there's plenty of coir in that part of the world.

 

[swords]

J Murphy,
Coir will work great for neps in place of LFS but I would open the stuff up with either orchid bark or shredded cypress mulch so it has a good airy texture and fast drainage. Good drainage is especially important for the cool growing highland nepenthes. Warm growing lowlanders like N. bicalcarata and N. ampullaria on the other hand would probably be happy with straight coir as they like to be really moist. If you have never used it I say get a small brick at the pet shop use it on a couple plants and see how you like it. A small brick will likely last you a very long time since it just about fills a 5 gallon pail when you dump a gallon of water onto it. FYI I use near boiling water 180*F to kill any possible contaminant spores that could be in the stuff but not hot enough to kill the beneficial bacterias. You can expand the brick using cold water just the same but it won't kill any mold spores that may be lurking in it.
I like coir far better than peat cos it dries faster than peat does in a terrarium and because of it's varied texture which ranges from fine peat like stuff to strands of coconut fibers, is not nearly as fine/suffocating to roots as peat can be.

herenorthere,
It would be fun to put this into a kiddie wading pool, let it expand and then make a bog with it, except, I don't have a yard, just the front of the condo, they let me go nuts with tons of potted plants but I don't think they'd go for the pool/bog.

 

[JMurphy97]

Sounds like I might give it a try. Maybe use it for my snakes cage as well.

 

[rattler]

i have found pure coir as a mix for CP's where the soil is constantly waterlogged it tends to degrade fairly quickly.......mix it with other stuff be it LFS, APS, Perilite or whatever and it seems to last as long as anything..........that said.....i would love to get a couple of those mega bricks to add to my garden soil............dang pure clay gumbo.......

 

[herenorthere]

Rattler and I agree on very little, but we agree about what happens to coir. I only use it in mixes that won't be saturated and with plenty of other stuff to provide structure.

 

[swords]

Yeah, I don't use coir (or peat) "straight" I always add extra drainage cos I fear too much water retention. I've been using shredded cypress mulch instead of perlite for the last year or two. It looks more natural, making a good water holding but easy draining mix - and I really love the price 2 CU Ft for $5! Home depot and Lowes even have the mulch in midwinter, you just have to be willing to hike through knee deep snow to get at it - it's not easy to carry a huge frozen solid sack of mulch!