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| Hello - I'm new & have been reading about soils.
Coir will be a good fit for my watering habits (although, I AM going to try a faster mix...), but I've been reading that salts need to be leached from it prior to use...
Might I just leave my brick out in the rain for a while - a week or so, for instance - as long as it were contained in mesh of some nature, so it wouldn't escape? I'd be interested in comments about particulate/pollutants that may be in the rainwater (I live in the 'burbs & it tends to rain for days on end in my part of the world...) vs. fluoride, chlorine & etc in tapwater accumulating in the medium... And, once the coir is conditioned properly, is there any reason not to let it dry out & use as needed? I use wood heat, so there is real potential for it actually getting dry. Thanks for your thoughts & opinions on this topic! |
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| Although I am using Coir for a long time but didn't knew about its excessive salt contents (nearly every thing did fine in it), but after getting to know its manufacturing process, now I put the disintegrated coir (not the brick) into a bucket, fill it with water and the next day rinse out the water... spread the wet coir on a tray and after drying it for 3-4 hrs I use it. But after this exercise it also become deficient in nutrients so I mix it up with well rotted cow manure in a ratio of 4:1.. this is what I do and it works for me, hope it helps you.. Izhar |
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- Posted by gravyboots 7B (My Page) on Sun, Oct 3, 10 at 1:19
| Thank you Izhar; I will give the soaking a try! |
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- Posted by karyn1 MD 7 (bhkalen@aol.com) on Thu, Oct 7, 10 at 17:52
| You can purchase salt free coir from hydroponics suppliers. You can also make your own. I've bought husk on coconuts then dried, shredded and soaked (then dried again) the fiber myself. It seems to work perfectly well but you want the brown fiber from ripe not the white fiber from green coconuts. It's much easier to just buy bricks but I was buying the coconuts to eat. It was kind of fun but not something I'd like to do on a regular basis. |
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- Posted by gravyboots 7B (My Page) on Fri, Oct 8, 10 at 17:16
| Thanks Karyn - that certainly bears looking into, since it seems like it would be quick & easy...the salt-free, not the home production! I am curious though, what did you use to shred the husks with? How much fiber does one nut yield? |
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