Coir or peat

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Permalink Reply by Paul Wyman on February 19, 2010 at 8:36am

I use the little peat based seed plugs to get seedlings off to a good start, and after that I use my own compost/soil mixture.

I have heard a 40% choir to 60% compost mix is a good balance of the two. Do you use 100% choir?

Paul

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Permalink Reply by peter on February 20, 2010 at 3:28pm

Hi Paul ,yes I use 100 % coir in my job,it has siow release fertiliser added to it.

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Permalink Reply by Neil J on February 19, 2010 at 7:36pm

----------Hi Peter,

Myself I use one of the Organic Peat Free composts, usually Horizon. For sowing seeds I fill a seed tray then sprinkle a layer of dried sharp sand and sow the seeds on top of that as I find you get better results with some seed if they are allowed to germinate above the compost itself.

After I prick out into the Organic Peat Free to grow on.

Neil

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Permalink Reply by peter on February 20, 2010 at 3:42pm

Hi Neil,By using sand do you think it warms up quicker than just using compost by itself Peter

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Permalink Reply by Neil J on February 20, 2010 at 6:17pm

------Peter,
My main reason for using sand is to raise the seeds away from the compost initially. This helps prevent damping off as the sand drains excess moisture away from the developing seedling. Yet the moist compost below allows enough moisture in the sand to be retained to give good germination.

The seed radicle is the first to erupt from the seed and will be the first part subject to rotting from wet. The thin layer allows it enough time to strengthen before it pushes through the sand into the awaiting compost below.

I could not say that the sand retains more heat, it is possible a fraction of a degree more maybe, unlike a sandbed that has bulk to hold heat.

The sand itself I cook in the oven ensuring that it is well pasteurised stopping any damping off spores from surviving and reducing the growing of algae that can be living in the damp sand.

Neil

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Permalink Reply by peter on February 21, 2010 at 4:39pm

Hi Neil, This is a technique I have not come across before ,very interesting thanks Neil. regards Peter

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Permalink Reply by Paul Wyman on March 3, 2010 at 9:13am

I heard an interesting thing about coir last night. Apparently it's not too good at passing water up and down using capillary action like peat does, so you can end up with the top of it bone dry and the bottom being soaking. But it is very good at passing water horizontally, so by using a mix of peat and coir you get a more even moisture distribution.

One thing with coir is the environmental impact of travelling, I have no idea how good or bad it is, does anyone else?

Paul

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Permalink Reply by peter on March 7, 2010 at 2:10pm

Hi Paul,Yes the surface of coir does dry out very quickly,a concern when you are seed sowing,a concern of mine is that coir is composting down all the time using the nitrogen present in it to compost the fibres from the coconut waste. Peter.

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Permalink Reply by Neil J on March 13, 2010 at 6:22pm

--------Peter,
It's worth converting to one of the peat free Organic multipurpose composts. I think you get just as good if not better results than coir.

As Paul mentioned the environmental impact. There is the travelling overseas to consider, also the fact that the country of origin is exporting valuable humus forming material that they should be using themselves.

The Organic peat free compost is produced from forest waste products and green waste material, mainly sourced from this country. So it is all recycled material.

There are several types around and it's worth trying each to see which you find suitable for your own methods.

I expect Paul will now go out and buy some to replace the peat he uses :-)

Neil

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Permalink Reply by GolfnGardener on March 20, 2010 at 11:08am

A couple of years ago I used a coir-based medium and found that it dried out too quickly. I went back to a commercial "moisture control" potting soil, which seems to be made mostly from woody products, based on the very small twigs in it. I haven't had any damping off problems with it. The peat-based products that I used in the past required pre-wetting and were a dusty mess. I've since found an interesting article on peat moss at The Garden of Oz - see http://www.thegardenofoz.org/peat.asp.

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Permalink Reply by peter on March 24, 2010 at 8:24pm

hello everyone,using coir at work can raise up all sorts of problems ,so now I am conducting an experiment using 50% coir 50% vermiculite

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