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Discussions on how to propagate your plants sexually and asexually, by seed, natural division or leaf pulling

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By Steve_D
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#15888
COIR -- The experience continues

Dionaea muscipula seeds germinating in pure coir, July, 2009

Image

My impression of coir so far--

The short story--
Awesome!

The longer story--
Time will tell.

Coir holds both air and water in a seemingly ideal mix. However, coir by itself can hold so much water, for so long, that I don't believe it would be good with the "tray method" of watering plants from below for extended periods of time. I'll bet it would promote rot, and then algal and fungal growth on the decomposing organic matter. A mix of coir with other ingredients would be better (see "Flytrap Ranch Coir Medium" below). :)

For seed germination, pure coir seems great, so long as the medium is thoroughly watered and then allowed to dry somewhat and is not kept in a tray of water.

For general purposes, the best ideal coir mixture I have come up with so far is the following, using coir rehydrated from compressed bricks or bales, then soaked, drained and rinsed with rainwater or distilled water (probably unnecessary precaution, soaking and rinsing the coir to remove any residual mineral salts), then dried until light and fluffy. Coir is springy and spongy. It soaks up water and makes numerous tiny air pockets. It's great stuff.

Flytrap Ranch Coir Medium
  • 12 parts by volume of dry, fluffy coir
  • 5 parts by volume of coarse silica sand (or any silica sand, or a mixture of silica sand and perlite)
* Moisten and mix the medium before using so that the sand will stick to the coir and make an even mix. Otherwise, the heavy sand will sink to the bottom and the perlite (if any) will rise to the top, making the medium inconsistent.

I have about a dozen Venus Flytraps growing in this medium so far, and all of them are doing great and seem to love the medium. Unless some long-term negative effects can be observed, I'm sold on it and plan to use it for all my plants. It's great stuff! :mrgreen:

Steve
By lemonlily
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#15894
If this was that coconut thing we were talking about waaay back in, I don't know, October? Then we would have an answer to if we can grow Dionaea in that coconut thing.

I've seen coconut husks or whatever they are marked that you can replace peat moss with this though.
By STEVIEFLY
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#16121
So how do you keep the coir moist Steve ? if you think that the tray method of watering would not work.
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By Matt
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#16131
STEVIEFLY wrote:So how do you keep the coir moist Steve ? if you think that the tray method of watering would not work.
Correct me if I'm wrong Steve, but I think he's saying that you shouldn't use the tray method if you use pure coir. However, if you mix it in the ratio that he suggests (12 parts coir to 5 parts sand), then you can use the tray method.
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By Steve_D
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#16156
Yes, what Matt said. :D Pure coir holds an amazing amount of water, and just like pure sphagnum peat moss, it can become too soggy and dense and promote rot without some filler added to loosen and aerate the mix.

So just like with sphagnum peat based mixes, silica sand and/or perlite or other ingredients must be added to make a good, balanced mix that hold water, air, and retains the water for a reasonable amount of time (but not too long) if it is not sitting in a tray of water.

However, for germinating seeds, it's possible to use pure coir and just water it as necessary then leave it alone to dry some, which takes quite a while because of its high water retention rate.

I hope that explains it. :)

Steve
By twigs
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#16176
How widely available is Coir? I have never seen it at Home Depot/ Lowes or even a few local nurseries, although, I haven't been looking.
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By Matt
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#16202
twigs wrote:How widely available is Coir? I have never seen it at Home Depot/ Lowes or even a few local nurseries, although, I haven't been looking.
I've never seen it in the store either, but you can order it online. Steve got his here:
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/131572
By Redneck_Angel
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#16237
twigs wrote:How widely available is Coir? I have never seen it at Home Depot/ Lowes or even a few local nurseries, although, I haven't been looking.
Strange, because this year when I was looking for Peat, I could barely find any peat, but EVERYONE had bales of coir in their garden centers. Seriously. WalMart, Canadian Tire, Costco, Rona, Home Depot, and an assortment of garden centers. It's easy to miss them if you don't know what you're looking for as they literally look like little shrink wrapped bricks.
By STEVIEFLY
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#16369
I have seen coir in the garden centres, i believe that they are trying to get people to use it to stop the depletion of peat areas.
By Nickrober
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#16372
I like the look of the coir. It looks more natural and attractive, in my opinion.
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By Steve_D
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#16406
Nickrober wrote:I like the look of the coir. It looks more natural and attractive, in my opinion.
It also makes a nice springy, spongy, airy mix. If there are no long-term negative effects from coir (there are no negative effects so far after a couple months), I plan to switch to it completely. Coir breaks down very slowly and can last about 10 times as long as sphagnum peat moss and keep its consistency. A mix of 12 parts coir to 5 parts silica sand has an ideal crumbly consistency with great water and air retention. I love it so far.

Steve
By Nickrober
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#16451
I may get some coir & silica next year for repotting if your experiment is still going smoothly. If you start selling mixes of coir & silica at the Ranch I may just have to order some!
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By Steve_D
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#16467
Nickrober wrote:I may get some coir & silica next year for repotting if your experiment is still going smoothly. If you start selling mixes of coir & silica at the Ranch I may just have to order some!
Just order the small or medium size Flytrap Ranch growing mix at FlytrapRanch.com, make sure to tell me you want the coir-based mix instead of the sphagnum-based mix, in the notes that accompany your order or by email (steve@flytrapranch.com) and I'll send you some. :)

Steve
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