FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I was looking for a easy no worries growing medium for Nepenthes and stumbled accross this compelling article on coconut husk chips, or coir chips as they are more widely known.

I found it a real eye opener and very interesting and richly detailed, covering every aspect of this product which I really enjoyed.

http://www.ladyslipper.com/coco3.htm

Although I found the only aspect that was not covered was whether or not coir chips pose any health problems in people the way other products used in the growing of Nepenthes do, as for me this is an important factor in deciding which media to use for growing these plants.

Any helpful suggestions and advice with Nepenthes media would be much appreciated.

Thank you for posting this very interesting information. Hopefully people will experiment with it and post their results.

Steve_D I saw your thread on the difference between peat grown Venus Flytraps and those grown on coir chips and for me this really showed how good they can be.

Although your later thread about how the Venus Flytraps declined also alerted me of the danger posed when one decides to use coir chips.

Perhaps I am better off trying something that is a little easier to use. Expanded Clay pellets, also known as Ex clay or Clay balls used in Hydroponics come to mind and seem to fit the Nepenthes criteria as they hold lots of air, water, contain no nutrients, are pH neutral, drain freely and do not compact over time like some other media. Although I would not assume that all Clay Pellets had these qualities as I am quoting from a webpage of a leading supplier here in Australia.

Although I do wonder if Clay pellets or Coir chips pose the same health risks to people the way breathing in bio aerosols from other media such as bark, sphagnum peat and moss, vermiculite and perlite do? I know that breathing in dry clay particles can lead to silicosis in a very short amount of time. I guess if you kept the Clay pellets moist they shouldn't pose a hazard though, hopefully anyway.

According to the webpage of one of the leading suppliers of Coir Chips to the world market, it is advised to use a approved P1 or P2 respirator suitable for respirable particles and it must conform with the AS/NZS 1715 and 1716. They also recomend these standards be maintained in the maintenance of the respirator. They also reccomend the use of non fogging dust resistent goggles or safetly glasses that adhere to the AS/NZS1336.

It's a bit of a worry the way there are no specific standards for Coir chips or any other gardeing media for that matter.

It's a bit of a pain to think one has to be dressed up like a spaceman just to do anything when it comes to changing a plants media.

I understand that there are health concerns when working with perlite, vermiculite or rockwool, but sphagnum? Really? Are you the kind of guy who wears sunblock on a rainy day or am I missing something here? What kind of kit do you wear for working with it?

after many attempts to use this coco chips , my advice to you is to soak these for about 2 weeks changing the water regularly until all the tannins
are gone and you have clear water , or the tannins inhibit the growth of your plants , as you will find out if you dont !!
J

I'm probably worrying unnecessarily but I just don't feel like getting sciliosis that is permenant and irreversible or Legionaire's disease.

Thanks for that information about soaking the coir chips to get rid of the tannins it was extremely insightful.

Would you have any advice for someone choosing to use Clay pellets? I wonder what the pros and cons of them are.