A lot of plants come in very coir-heavy rootballs, so it can't be all bad. My supplier's compost is very soily and heavy by default and a bit to water-retentive. I tried various alterations to his mix before settling on getting him to increase the coir content, as that seems to break up the soil and improve the drainage without making it heavier like grit etc, would.

It’s worked out really well for me!

I would love to find some. The few plants I've bought that were in it did have excellent root systems.

Great stuff. Rots down to nothing tho.

Tiffany they sell it in petstores as "eco earth" or some other brand name for use as a substrate for exotic pets (hermit crabs, reptiles, amphibians).

I bought mines at a local plant nursery and that’s the only place I’ve seen it sold. I’m gonna search for some on the internet cause I need more.

The only drawback I can report is that if the plants aren't very well established, the rootballs can easily disintegrate. Over here some Dracaenas are sold in very coir-rich compost and have not spent long in their pots, so we have to plant them up in their growing pots and let them harden up for about three months.

Jon, please elaborate. Disintegrating rootballs is a new term/theory for me.

OK... long post alert: certainly in Eurpoe, some of the broader stemmed Dracaenas (Gold Coast/Massangeana etc.) come in very high-coir compost mix, as you may be able to see in the phone image I just took of a Gold Coast in my greenhouse. As above it's a nice free-draining mix but it doesn't hold together very well.

Multi-stem Dracaenas are made from several different height canes that are grown in central America then stripped of all foliage before being sent 'flat-packed' to Holland to be potted up to be sold on. Sadly, because it's a commercial operation and because these kinds of Dracs are quite top-heavy, the rootballs tend to either split in two (+) or just fall apart when the plant's take out of its original growing pot, simply because these kinds of plants are sent out before their roots have developed very much.

Working in interior landscaping we invariably do put the plants in larger decorative pots, and it's considered very poor form to 'plunge' them (i.e. leave them in their growing pot buried in the larger pot).

So what we tend to do is plunge them and make a diary note to remove them about three months after planting. By that time the three (or more) stems of the plant have usually grown sufficient roots to hold the plant together when we pull it out, pop the plastic pot off and replant it.

One example: my old employer when I worked in London 16+ years ago got the contract for a big corporate HQ in the City, where the previous plant company had basically stopped doing anything months before, so there was a lot to do. We went in after hours with vans full of plants and started doing loads of replants. I was working in a bendy corridor and I heard my supervisor round the corner break into slightly hysterical laughter. He used to tap plants out of their pots and stand them on a dustsheet before planting them. He'd done this with a 4-stem Drac White Stripe, the rootball had just turned to a heap of soil and the four stems had gone outwards in a perfect horizontal cross.

Think that covers it. :-)

EDIT: another plant that this can be a real pain with is the specimen-size Sansevieria. As I'm about to plant a couple up I'll take a pic. The technique when unpotting them is to get the plant under your arm and tap the pot off and downwards. It's a bit like holding bagpipes! You can see that this one again has very coir-y compost:

The first one I tried to pull out of the pot literally started to fall apart, to an extent I couldn't hold it and photo it.

The second one split horizontally, as it just doesn't have enough root to hold it together. You can see that it left 3/4 of the rootball in the base of the growing pot.

Specimen Sansevieria are not a single mature plant, but a bunch of rooted cuttings for want of a better term that have been bundled together. Again, as soon as they will stand up straight, they are sold.

TY, Jon. I think I understand what you are saying. It's not that the roots are being damaged, or becoming dislodged from the plants, it's that the soil/coir falls right off of the roots.

That is exactly what I love about it! I never pot-up plants, I only ever repot them as in removing the old soil & replacing with new. Sometimes into a new pot, very often right back into the same pot.

The stuff I've seen is tiny pieces, like a million little sponges, almost like bits of cork. Your pics show some stringy stuff. I've not seen that before, whatever it is.

Agree, it's tricky to get Sans or any top-heavy plant to stand up after repotting, or in my case, potting again after being in the ground for summer vacation. I usually lay a few rocks around the soil surface so the wind doesn't uproot from the ground or unpot them before they've had a chance to get situated again.

Yep - you've got me. Terminology confusion!

I have heard that there is a problem with salt in some coir.

Jon, your comments help me understand why plants are so often sold in a peat &/or fibrous mix that is hard to dismantle.

Tiffany, I've been putting my plastic pots of Sans inside a clay pot that fits it pretty snugly so it doesn't wiggle too much. On unglazed terracotta, it also works as a pretty good visual moisture indicator in addition to giving weight/stability to the plant.

I also use bamboo skewers placed around the rhizomes and using the leaves to press against the skewer for stability within the pot itself. Anyone else do it this way?

Lucille

You heard correct; some coir contains lots of salt. Palm trees are highly tolerant of salty soils and grow well in them. They absorb lots of potassium, sodium and chloride. Cocopeat needs to be washed well (few times, not only once, and for prolonged time) and in fresh water - and that is more costly. So depending on brand and cost of it, it could be high in those salts. Unwashed cocopeat could have an EC from 2 – 6 mS/cm, unsuitable for growing medium. It shouldn't be higher than 1.0mS/cm (lower is better).

Burpee eco-friendly concentrated seed starting mix is a 1# block of coir - the label says will expand to 8qts. I think I bought it at Lowes but I've seen it at Wal-Mart. Can't remember how much I paid. Reading the reviews on their website, a customer service reply to a negative review says "The mix does have a small amount of starter fertilizer" so it might have other amendments that aren't labeled as well. I haven't used it yet but was considering experimenting with it to root begonia cane cuttings.

Laticauda, I do something similar with rocks, to keep them steady at first. I just like looking @ rocks more than skewers, but I'm sure they do the same job.

If the cococoir or coirpeat is being sold as a potting medium, I would hope it would already be washed of any salt content but I have no way of knowing. I've never even encountered a package of this stuff, just bought two plants growing in it. Maybe it's not next to the bagged mixes? I get to L's maybe once per year, so if they don't happen to have a particular thing that day, I wouldn't see it.

Tiffany

It is washed - but it all depends on if water was fresh (in many places of origin, they use sea water) and also some just rinse it - it needs to be washed repeatedly and for prolonged period of time. EC could be measured, but one needs EC meter for it. Cleaner/more washed in fresh water it is, more it will cost. laticauda uses brand that is supposedly well washed - maybe she will post. Hopefully, even cheaper brands (not washed as well) may not be too much of a problem if used as just a part of the mix and if there is at least occasional flushing (that is recommended anyway to wash out build up from ferts). I don't think I would use it as a 100% medium unless I knew how 'clean' it is. JMO.

I don't remember seeing it in BBS, but have seen bagged cocopeat and cocochunks, and also in compressed 'bricks' in Garden centers/GH and also in some Hardware stores.

You all have dropped some much knowledge on this post! The coir I bought was said to have been soaked and ready for use and that I should fertilize with waterings because it doesn’t have any nutrients so I’m guessing the one I bought is cleansed but I know soaking the coir helps it retain water because if it’s used dry it won’t hold any water. I haven’t had any issues with the plants I’ve used it on. Most I mixed it with other stuff but I have a thanksgiving cactus and a philo for experiment purposes and I’ve had no issues. The coir I bought unfortunately has no name but if I make it back to that store before I move I will ask more questions about it.

I'd like to get exactly the same stuff that Costa Farms is using.

For what plant, Tiffany?

---Justin
Costa Farms Horticulturist

Heythere, Justin! I'd like to be able to find/buy enough for all of my leafy tropicals, and I would love to experiment with some succulents. I've purchased a Sans 'Moonshine' and a Dracaena from EA/CF (via a BBS) and they were in the most wonderful "stuff." What can you tell us about it? Is it retailed under a particular brand name?

Hey Tiffany,

We do our own mixes --- though the majority of plants grown at our farms in Miami have a coir base. We have different mixes for different genera --- if there's a particular one you love, let me know and I'll see what I can do to at least find the recipe since sending you a little care package can be cost prohibitive...

---Justin
Costa Farms Horticulturist

Thanks, Justin! I wish I'd taken some pics. The "stuff" in those 2 pots I mentioned seemed like just 1 kind of substance, like tiny little sponges. It may have been mixed with something and I just did not realize. In any case, it was really great stuff & I did not repot those plants right away like I usually do.

The next time I have the pleasure of getting another plant with a pot of the same stuff, I'll take some pics.

It's also interesting to imagine being able to buy your whatever your grower's mix is @ a store while buying plants. But duplicating via recipe would be the next-best thing.

>>> I know soaking the coir helps it retain water because if it’s used dry it won’t hold any water.

cocopeat and coco-chips rewet instantly - so there is no need to presoak.

that is a great advantage over regular peat that becomes hydrophobic when totally dry (it repels water).

however, presoak is necessary with Cal-Mag (Calcium Magnesium) supplement, since fresh coir products will absorb it initially and not release it to the plants. Once a certain amt of Calcium is absorbed, no more will get absorbed.

SO it's necessary to give it an initial treatment with cal-mag or make sure your fertilizer contains a little Cal-Mag for the first month or so.

the fertilizers for bulbs usually have it.

Cal-Mag supplement is great for roots - i learned about it in orchid forum. apparently orchids really love it and develop much thicker root systems fast.

Aroids love Cal-mag too - so if you grow some it won't be a waste to get it just for coir (in case you think that it's a bother).

i've been using coir peat and coco-chips with Cal-mag presoak for several years now as part of the mix up to a third. I rooted Hawortias in 100% small size coco-chips and they are still in it 2yrs later and loving it.

coir is PH neutral. So you need to keep that in mind for acid loving plants. they need the addition of peat and/or bark.

From what i've read so far cocopeat is excellent for rooting cuttings, at 100%. but i have not tried it myself, as i usually plant in my own mix with only part of coir product.

and i'd love to know the recipe mix that EAP uses in Miami too!

Hi Petrushka:

Our team uses different mixes for different Exotic Angel Plant genera. Is there a particular one you're curious about?
BTW: Just as an FYI, we don't grow any of the EAPlants in our Miami farms...they're all grown in greenhouses in the Apopka, FL, area. Greenhouses aren't at all efficient here in South Florida --- and growing EA Plants outdoors, like we do most of our houseplants, doesn't allow us to maintain the quality standards we've set for the brand. Sorry if that's TMI!

---Justin
Costa Farms Horticulturist

Petruskah,

Plants root really well in pure coco coir! I was wondering, where do you get coco chips from? Is there a brand name? I’d love to get some!

oh, i know about Apopka green houses :). i spend winters in Miami and pick up lots of tropicals there to take back home. most nurseries are in Homestead/Redlands area, i go there occasionally and visit some nurseries in Ft.Lauderdale-Miami area too. I am planning to visit Apopka too, but many greenhouses are open only to the trade/wholesale. It's a pity.

I grow a lot of aroids, but also begonias. I mix my own jungle mix containing peat+ coirpeat perlite and coco-chips and/or bark.

so i am curious how it compares with your mixes.

i get my cococoir bricks and chips on Amazon - there are many suppliers.

Thanks! I’m getting on Amazon now!