FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Discuss any carnivorous plant that doesn't fit in the above categories here or general chat about carnivorous plants

Moderator: Matt

By heathenpriest
Posts:  332
Joined:  Sat Feb 20, 2010 4:53 pm
#244599
I'm pretty interested in Coco Peat (coconut coir) as a growth medium for CPs. It's nice that nobody's destroying peat bogs to harvest it. It really soaks up the moisture, yet it drains well. It's a heck of a lot easier to wet than peat moss when it's new. (None of that dust that can apparently cause lung issues.) And I finally found a local source for it: a hydroponic supply store that sells it for a reasonable price.
Apparently there can be some salt in it, depending on the source, but the hydroponic guys assured me that theirs doesn't have any, and a good rinsing should take care of it if it did, so I don't really see that as a deal-breaker.
So far I've had good results re-potting VFTs from smaller pots into it, but I think I've always left the peat moss soil from the smaller pots intact around the roots when I did it. That's about the extent of my experience with it. I'm trying some other things, but it's too soon to tell how well they're going to work, so I'll hold off on the details.
I'd love to hear other people's experiences with it.
Last edited by heathenpriest on Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
By Mufasa
Posts:  858
Joined:  Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:45 am
#244601
I potted my first neps in it the other day under guidance of the seller, was approximately 3 parts sphagnum, 2 parts coco and 2 parts sand
it used alot of water to clean it, i usually rince whatever media im using a few times, but after first rinse of coco peat, the water read 500 TDS which is extremely high, at that point, it was beneficial t rinse it with tap water to begin with, to save pure water, took alot of water to get it down to a reasonable i think 50-60 tds

even if your guy says its fine... he might be right... might be necessary for hydro stuff, but i would recommend testing it anyway.
not sure how brave i'm going to be with this stuff though, seller said nepenthes don't mind the extra minerals as much because they often live near the ocean, in salty areas anyway (not sure if it's solid logic but he uses it for hundreds of plants)

i'm interested in trying it with sphagnum cultures... i think they would be more forgiiving of any heightened minerals, as they can take some fertilising anyway.

in the future, i might try to leave some coco peat under a gutter, or rain water source in a collander for a few weeks, should leech everything out

anyway good luck, at this point, i'm not brave enough to try it on VFT's
Mufasa liked this
By Mufasa
Posts:  858
Joined:  Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:45 am
#244609
lol crap... that guide suggests soaking it several times for several hours each time... uh oh, i did mine in one afternoon lol

might try testing the TDS of the runoff from the pots and see what's up... if its too high, i fear all i can do at this point is thoroughly soak the pots each day
Mufasa liked this
By SundewWolf
Posts:  2219
Joined:  Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:38 pm
#244612
I use coco peat brands from the petstore (for snail terrariums) without much washing or thought about the salt content, but since my snails have never reacted badly to it I think the salt content is negligible.
SundewWolf liked this
By hollyhock
Posts:  5656
Joined:  Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:56 am
#244639
The "brick" of coco peat I bought from the hydroponic garden store was still really high TDS after the first soak rinse cycle. I would suggest that you test your run off water. You know <50ppm reading and you should be okay for flytraps. Lower is even better :D
hollyhock liked this
By Mufasa
Posts:  858
Joined:  Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:45 am
#244669
Just tested it, after getting the mix under 40ppm the first time, i tested the run-off from watering one
it was at about 90ppm, which isn't so bad, for the time being i think i will just thoroughly flush the plants each day or every few days, and hope that helps.
Mufasa liked this
By heathenpriest
Posts:  332
Joined:  Sat Feb 20, 2010 4:53 pm
#244705
I don't know, admittedly, the rinsing is inconvenient, but you only have to do it when you need new soil - kind of like getting peat moss to quit acting like a puffball and absorb some moisture the first time. What I've done with coco peat in the past is just put it in a container with drainage holes and leave it out in the rain for a while before I use it. That wasn't much trouble at all. If it can work as well for the plants, I really like the idea of using what was a waste product, rather than digging up peat bogs for our CP soil.
User avatar
By Anymal911
Posts:  994
Joined:  Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:14 pm
#244716
Use 100% sphagnum if you can. It retains many times its weight in water, it raises acidity (which the plants need), and you could potentially grow it yourself. Many people agree that plants thrive the most in this, and they look very attractive. It is the only thing I ever use, and I've had a 100% success rate so far.
By hollyhock
Posts:  5656
Joined:  Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:56 am
#244738
I agree that using the coco peat is a more earth friendly medium and that is one reason that I really wanted to use it too. I really didn't find the rinsing to bad either. However, I did a side by side experiment with a few inexpensive vft's and the plants in the coir just didn't grow as well as the others. They didn't die, but the growth for me at least was not nearly as vigorous. Everyone has to experiment with what works best for them :D Good luck and good growing.
hollyhock liked this
By heathenpriest
Posts:  332
Joined:  Sat Feb 20, 2010 4:53 pm
#244785
hollyhock wrote:I did a side by side experiment with a few inexpensive vft's and the plants in the coir just didn't grow as well as the others. They didn't die, but the growth for me at least was not nearly as vigorous.
Now THAT'S really interesting! I'm assuming that everything else was the same - pots, watering, etc.? And if you don't mind more questions, was this pure coir, or a mix?
I've wondered if the coir might be a little too airy, if you know what I mean. It doesn't seem to compact as much as peat moss. Might need more sand in the mix to mimic the natural soil, at least for VFTs.
My sundew isn’t eating!

Sadly my leaf cuttings haven’t grown probabl[…]

Drosera germination time

Wow! Thank you very much, everyone!

I'm seeing a similar thing with nearly all of mi[…]

More additions! Thanks Secretariat73! S. leucophy[…]

Transaction with Secretariat73

I must concur. Despite the best efforts of our dea[…]

So far, not less than five days apart. Humidity va[…]

Argh! Just 4 days left in the photo contest and we[…]

SASE received. Order is fulfilled. Return envelope[…]

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!