Viewing post #2699902 by Baja_Costero

You are viewing a single post made by Baja_Costero in the thread called Echeveria Appreciation Thread!.
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Mar 28, 2022 12:01 PM CST
Name: Baja
Baja California (Zone 11b)
Cactus and Succulents Seed Starter Xeriscape Container Gardener Hummingbirder Native Plants and Wildflowers
Garden Photography Region: Mexico Plant Identifier Forum moderator Plant Database Moderator Garden Ideas: Level 2
Let me just make a detailed shout out for coir (cocofiber), its qualities and its uses, and recommend that growers of these plants investigate further.

Coir is shredded/chopped coconut fiber and there are typically 2 sizes available: one that's extra chunky, with pieces the size of regular dice or bigger, meant for use as mulch; and another that's shredded into finer pieces for use in soil mixes. You want the second for small succulents. The product should never be as fine as dust, ideally a bit stringy. Horticultural grade cocofiber should already have been rinsed to ensure it does not have unhealthy amounts of salt in it.

Typically you buy coir in a brick of dried/compressed material, like 10 liters volume. A brick like that will give you enough material to decide in a definitive way if you like how it works with your plants.

You then need to hydrate it for use, and this process is instructive about how quickly dry, compressed cocofiber absorbs water. It takes time. Hydration is not immediate and on top of that it may vary significantly from batch to batch. So you put the brick in a wheelbarrow and fill that up with water. Or you break the brick into smaller pieces (I use power tools to get this done fast) and rehydrate those smaller pieces as needed.

As the cocofiber hydrates (absorbing up to 5 times its own weight in water), it expands and softens. You need it to be fully saturated to be workable, and then after that I just leave a bin of it in the sun for a while to dry it out about halfway. Cocofiber changes color when it goes from wet to dry (dark brown/light brown) and when this color change occurs at the surface, the material is ready to be bagged for use. My goal is 50% saturation, where the material is still soft and cool to the touch.

You may also sometimes be able to buy premoistened coir, which to me would be high luxury.

If you use this stuff you have to cut it with at least an equal volume of aggregate (pumice, perlite, whatever kind of gritty rock you have available) in order for most succulents to be able to survive (and especially if they will be out in the rain). It absorbs a lot of water, but it tends to compact when it goes dry, and just like peat it takes a bit of time to properly rehydrate when it is bone dry. Water in two or more passes to achieve a better degree of saturation. Interestingly the added pumice or whatever actually helps the coir rehydrate faster because it allows a greater surface area to be exposed to the water.
Last edited by Baja_Costero Mar 28, 2022 12:12 PM Icon for preview

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