Squeezing Out Coconut Coir

12 years ago

This is my first time using coconut coir and I am amazed at how much water it holds. I bought a brick and followed the instructions for re-hydrating it two days ago, 5 liters of water and the brick in a 5 gal. tote. Today I tipped the tote on its side and drained the excess water into a pail for future use on my houseplants. And then I picked some of the coir out of the bin, I dug to the bottom to see how wet it was and its still soaked from about mid way down to the bottom. I put some in a strainer and let it set for about 15 minutes and it was still soaked. I then proceeded to squeeze out all of it with my hand. Now it is nice and damp but not soaked. I have a package of red wiggles coming in a couple of days so I have to have their new home ready.
Now my question is does any one have a method for squeezing out the coir without having to do the death-grip hand squeeze method? I am starting with a small bin so it was ok doing it this way this time but if I use a lot of it I want a better way.
I could modify a mop ringer for this, say lay a piece of cloth or screen door mesh in the mop head holing area to keep the coir from pushing through, wring it out then pull the cloth/mesh out to dump the coir.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

rocksinthehead
Original Author
12 years ago
I also thought of using two 5 gal. buckets, one inside the other.I could drill holes in the bottom bucket then lay mesh over it, put the coir in the bucket, put the second bucket inside the first and put something heavy inside the second bucket.
sbryce_gw
12 years ago
If you have a good paper shredder, shred some cardboard to mix with the coir, and let the dry cardboard soak up the excess water. If you have a bad paper shredder, use newspaper and junk mail.
Related Professionals
Louisville Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Alexandria Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Hackettstown Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Jackson Landscape Contractors · Augusta Landscape Contractors · Albert Lea Landscape Contractors · Florence Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Louisville Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Cherry Hill Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Corpus Christi Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Albert Lea Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Lima Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Modesto Stone, Pavers & Concrete · San Bernardino Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Victoria Stone, Pavers & Concrete
PRO
equinoxequinox
12 years ago
rocksinthehead: the two bucket method is a good idea for getting the excess water out. I am glad to hear you had a second use for the water.

What we have to do to start a bin might be different than what we do later on when we Keep Calm and Carry On. As time goes on you might find in addition to your source of worm food that you also have a free source of cellulose that you want to also convert into vermicastings. Together these two sources are ideally free to you and result in free gold for your plants.

My wish for your bin would be at the very least you can toss the dry coir right into the bin. Instead of dripping leachate the coir will absorb it for you. This will transform a questionable substance, the leachate, into a friendly bacteria zone and be an area of even moisture for your bin.

The idea is the worms do the work for you as opposed to you do the work for the worms.

Did you get a vermicomposting kit for Christmas? If so, lucky you!

This post was edited by equinoxequinox on Wed, Dec 25, 13 at 21:20
hummersteve
12 years ago
Whenever I use soilless material it is sphagnum peat as I always have it around since I use it for my plants. I just soak the peat in a bucket of water , get it fully saturated then squeeze it out by hand till its like a wrung out sponge. If I only get a few drips its ready.
11otis
12 years ago
If you don't "oversoak" the material, there will be no need to wring out excess water later. It is not so that you need to rinse the coir.