The right coir for every crop

Tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper, eggplant and cucurbits are the crops coir was made for. A coir slab gives fast lateral rooting, a stable EC in the root zone and a drain fraction you can steer, from first planting to the end of a long high-wire season.

For tomato and cucumber we recommend the standard 100 x 18 x 14 cm slab in the 60% peat / 40% chip mix, with three or four plants per slab. Pepper and eggplant, which are sensitive to over-watering, do well on the same slab or in open tops. In warm climates or under high-frequency irrigation, a 50:50 ratio drains faster and keeps oxygen at the roots.

Vegetable transplants are raised in coir disks or 10 cm propagation cubes, then set directly into the slab planting hole - the whole crop stays on coir.

Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry have moved decisively into substrate. Coir gives these shallow-rooted, oxygen-hungry crops the drainage they need while holding enough water to carry the crop through hot afternoons in the tunnel.

Strawberry is grown on slabs in table-top gutters, using an 80:20 peat-to-fibre ratio for water-holding; runners are rooted in propagation cubes or coir disks. Raspberry and blackberry long canes go into open tops or troughs filled from blocks and bales at 50:50. Blueberry, which needs an acidic, very open root zone, is planted in large open tops of a coarse chip-rich mix that keeps its structure over a multi-year crop.

Cut-flower and pot-plant growers use coir for uniform stem length, fast rooting and the freedom to control nutrition precisely. Roses, gerbera, carnation, lisianthus, chrysanthemum and lilies are all grown successfully on coir slabs and in coir-based mixes.

Rose and gerbera are planted on slabs in a 70:30 or 60:40 ratio, giving the drainage that multi-year rose crops need. Carnation and lisianthus beds are filled from blocks and bales - typically a 50-70% coir mix with perlite or bark. For pot plants and bedding plants, fine coir peat from blocks, bales or disks replaces peat in the mix at 30-100%, with excellent re-wetting on retail benches.

Propagators need a medium that is the same in every cell, holds water without waterlogging and lets the young plant be moved without disturbing its roots. Coir disks and cubes do exactly that, and fine coir peat from blocks and bales is the base of most modern nursery mixes.

Seed is sown into coir disks in plug trays or into 10 cm propagation cubes; cuttings of herbs, ornamentals and soft fruit are stuck straight into the pre-formed hole. Grafted vegetables are healed and grown on in cubes. Tree and shrub liners are potted into mixes made from fine-grade blocks and bales, often at 50-70% coir with bark and perlite.

Delicate nursery work benefits from the highest-purity coir, which expands to 18 litres per kilogram; the standard commercial grade runs at 12-15 litres per kilogram. Because coir is free from soil-borne pathogens and weed seed, it lowers disease pressure in the propagation house without steaming.

Drip-fed, drain-to-waste and recirculating systems depend on a substrate that responds predictably to irrigation. Washed, low-EC coir gives hydroponic growers the cation exchange capacity of an organic medium with the control of an inert one.

The washed grade matters most here. Unwashed coir carries a salt load of roughly 1,500-2,500 microsiemens per centimetre; our washed grade is brought below 500 (0.5 mS/cm, method 1:5 V/V), so the first weeks of the crop are not spent correcting the nutrient balance. Slabs, open tops, cubes and disks are all supplied in the washed grade, as are blocks and bales for growers who fill their own containers.

For vertical farms and leafy crops, coir disks and fine-grade coir are used as starter plugs and in tray mixes.

Licensed cannabis and hemp producers have adopted coir faster than any other sector. The crop wants a root zone that drains quickly, re-wets evenly and tolerates aggressive feeding - which is what a coarse, washed coir mix provides.

Indoor and greenhouse growers use open tops in a 50:50 peat-to-chip mix, giving high air porosity for multiple daily irrigations and a clean, lightweight unit to move between rooms. Clones are rooted in 10 cm propagation cubes. Growers who prefer to fill their own containers use 5 kg blocks or 25 kg bales, often with 20-30% added perlite, or our 100% chip block where maximum drainage is wanted.

Every batch ships with a certificate of analysis for EC, pH and moisture, and heavy-metal and pathogen screening reports are available on request.

Coir pith is one of the most absorbent natural bedding materials available. It draws moisture down and away from the animal, binds ammonia, produces very little dust and composts quickly after use.

Equestrian yards bed on 25 kg bales or 5 kg blocks and top up weekly; poultry houses spread a 5-8 cm layer of pith that stays friable and low in ammonia; small-animal and reptile keepers use briquettes and a peat-chip reptile blend, which holds humidity for tropical species. Used bedding is fine, weed-free compost that growers and landscapers take readily.