FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I've been hearing a lot lately about coco bark\coir
I really don't understand what they are (or are they the same thing) and why do you have to wash them 7-8 times
what I have noticed is that one of my Orchids is planted in it and his doing well even though it's a lot wetter then any of my other Orchids
Also I have a Date tree in my yard (here in Jerusalem they grow amazingly well) and it also has bark that looks exactly like what my Orchid is planted in.
so my questions are
1) is there a difference between coco bark and coco coir?
2) why do you have to wash them so much?
3) can I use the bark from the tree in my yard (if I wash it just like coco coir)?
I already know that I should probably buy a TDS meter to see for myself if the TDS is low enough in the bark from the yard after I wash it, just wanted to know your opinion.
thanks!

Ok, so I found answers to my two first questions, but I would still like your opinion on the last.Thanks
And also, did anyone ever try coir with plants other then VFTs? Like Sarras or sundews?

There are quite a few coconut husk products. Some are simply chopped pieces of the interior of the husk. Some are the chopped fiber inside the husk, once the fiber has been extracted. Some are the pith that surrounds the fibers after the fibers are separated and removed for manufacturing rope and other uses (this is the "coir" that I use, the coconut husk pith, with a few fibers included of course, which is traditionally the discarded byproduct of the rope-manufacturing business). At least one product is the partially composted coconut husk pith and possibly fiber (I don't know from personal experience whether it's just the pith or the pith and fiber).

Yes, it's confusing.

Thanks for the answers Steve, but I'm still very curious as to rather the fibers from my palm tree in the yard will work or not... I have a friend who's going to the US in November and she's gonna bring me back a TDS meter, once I get it it'll be raining here (g-d wiling) and I'll be able to wash the fibers as many times as I want and test the ppm levels. I'll also test it for PH and I'll let you guys know what turns up.
if it works (and honestly I don't see any reason why it shouldn't) it'll be a great way for me to get lots of cheap growing media since palm trees grow everywhere here it'll be fun and exciting to find out.
If anyone has an opinion on the subject I'll be more then happy to hear it.
Thanks again Steve

i use coco peat [after washing because mostly coconut trees grow near the coast and washed with sea water] for every cp with addition of perlite, works well, you can add 33% silica sand by volume