Has anyone ever tried coir bricks as a growing media? I've heard great
things about the product. It has as they say, great water retaining
capacity - If any of you have used it, woul someone care to comment -
Also where could I buy a few bricks - Anyone know what it costs in the
US?

thanks

Rk

You might need to leach out salts before using it. The one thing I have
noticed is that when mixed with other inert media such as charcoal and lava
rock for dendrobiums, some mushroom forming fungi pop up. Don't know if
they're harmful, but from now on, I plan on sterilizing all coco products
with heat before use. I've found similar fungal "problems" with coco chips.

Jeff
wrote in message
...
Has anyone ever tried coir bricks as a growing media? I've heard great
things about the product. It has as they say, great water retaining
capacity - If any of you have used it, woul someone care to comment -
Also where could I buy a few bricks - Anyone know what it costs in the
US?

thanks

Rk

I've been using it for over a year now and like it a lot. Since it does hold
a lot of water, under my conditions, I find it necessary to mix it with a
good portion of sponge rock. The phals love it. My paphs also do very well
in the mix. I've also tried it with anthuriums, stanhopea, some
bulbophyllums, chondrorhyncha, a variety of bromeliads, bletilla (with
sand), phaius,odontoglossums, zygopetalums, and cymbidiums all with positive
effects. I've used a small amount in place of peat in many other mixes and I
like it. Yes I occassionally get some fungi growth (nothing parasitic) but I
did when using peat mixes or additives also. Since fungus spores are
everywhere, I think that the moist conditions with the addition of
fertilizer is a prime growing area for fungus. I find a little Physan now
and then keeps things under control if I start gettiing paranoid about it. I
don't think the coir is the source of fungus. So far I've not found any
significant salt in my coir as I have in CHC. I do soak and rinse cocoanut
husk chips, I guess because it's not really difficult to do as opposed to
rinsing coir. I have knocked out a few pots and haven't found any sign of
decomposition. Supposedly coir and chc can last for a number of years in
good condition. So far I have to agree. It's extremely easy to wet even from
the compressed state. I put a block in a 15-20 gal container, add 6-7 gal of
water (I add some physan if I'm going to be using it for seedlings), and in
an hour or 2 you have a nice container full. It's easy to rewet, easy to
wipe off, and just plain easy to use. Being neutral pH, you might have to
watch that with some items, or use peat instead, or use acid fertilizer (
which I do anyway).
http://www.coconutstuff.com/index.htm and http://www.orchidmix.com/ are 2
good sources. You really have to try some to see if it really meets your
needs and mixes the way you like. For me, I'm going to continue using it on
what I've tested here, but I haven't given up my bark, spaghnum, fern, and
volcanic rock for many specialized situations where they've proven superior.
Gary

wrote in message
...
Has anyone ever tried coir bricks as a growing media? I've heard great
things about the product. It has as they say, great water retaining
capacity - If any of you have used it, woul someone care to comment -
Also where could I buy a few bricks - Anyone know what it costs in the
US?

thanks

Rk

It holds too much water to be used alone, in our conditions, and when mixed
with chunkier additives, seems to wash out of the pots after a few months.
[I used it in our phals one year, to see if we could do away with sphagnum,
which I really dislike. First 6 months or so were great, next couple of
months so-so, and after that the plants were drying out _way_ too fast.] We
do use some in the mix, or as a top-dressing, for certain compots and 2"
seedlings that seem to want to stay wetter than their bench-mates.

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
wrote in message
...
Has anyone ever tried coir bricks as a growing media? I've heard great
things about the product. It has as they say, great water retaining
capacity - If any of you have used it, woul someone care to comment -
Also where could I buy a few bricks - Anyone know what it costs in the
US?

thanks

Rk