Newbie - Using coco coir: fertilizing question

[mikeoates]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and just have a quick question really. I've looked around and can't find much info on it. I'm wanting to use coco coir such as neopeat to grow some vegetables indoors. However, I find conflicting info on the nutritional properties of it. As far as i understand it contains no nutrients at all, unlike peat. Is this so? and if so how can i go about fertilising it? I don't want to use any form of liquid fertiliser (a long story for another time perhaps) but wouldn't be against using pellets/tablets such as miracle grow continuous release tablets etc. Would this provide enough nutrients for the vegetables to grow reasonably well? I'm not so bothered about gaining the biggest yield possible etc, along as they grow at an acceptable level.
Thanks, any help will be much appreciated. Mike

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum @mikeoates

I've never used coconut coir myself, but as I understand it it is used for it's ability to hold water and add texture (for air and drainage). It is not something that you use on its own, you mix it with your potting compost - which supplies the nutrients for the plants.

Hopefully there is someone here on the forum who has experience with using it!

 

[Corzhens]

We use coconut coir mostly as potting material. My husband said that it has no nutrients and just a mixture for the soil (mostly used when the soil is clay or sticky). With the fertilizer, you can use dried leaves that you can stock in a can for 2 months or maybe create a compost bin where you can put in all the excess vegetable trimmings and fruit rinds that later on would turn into compost as a good fertilizer.

 

[mikeoates]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the info. I need the container to be very light and that is why i am so focused on using coconut coir. If i was to provide the coir with enough nutrients using pellets and tablets, would this be ok to grow vegetables in? at best i would be able to mix with some compost but really need to keep the weight down, would a 50/50 mix suffice? Thank you

 

[Beverly]

I use coco fiber in my garden because it is readily available where i live. I put the fiber at the bottom of any hole i dig to plant something in and also at the bottom of containers when preparing for planting. The whole fiber breaks down very nicely in the soil to create a peat like texture. I have heard that it does not have nutrients for plants so i always add extra nutrients in various forms like humus, etc. I did find some information on the internet that describes the nutrient value of coir. This site also described the difference between coir and other types of peat:

http://www.finegardening.com/getting-coir-matter

 

[mikeoates]

Thanks for the link, it was very interesting and made me aware of the high potassium content of coir that i didn't realise, I still have the question though if i add tablets/pellets to the coir will there be enough nutrients in it to sustain vegetable growth? thanks

 

[mikeoates]

Would something like these provide enough nutrients for the veg without having to add any further liquid fertilisers? Thanks

http://www.agrigem.co.uk/slow-relea...gle_shopping&gclid=CKCmqsiZt8sCFaoy0wodqw0E2A

 

[Beverly]

I did a search for "growing vegetables using coir as medium" and maybe this is what you are looking for:

http://www.powerhousehydroponics.com/benefits-of-coconut-coir-as-a-grow-medium/

I use coco fiber (coir is coco dust) for mulch, substratum, and as one of a number of different soil amendments. Mixed with soil, coco fiber will break down into a nice peaty material in very little time. I have never tried using coco fiber as a medium for growing vegetables or for starting seeds. My garden is dedicated to providing habitat for pollinators and includes host plants for butterflies, so i don't grow vegetables at all. I also do not grow plants indoors nor am I familiar with tablets/pellets. So my experience with coco fiber does not relate to what you want to do, but i think you might find the information you are looking for at the above website. I scanned the site briefly and it does mention growing vegetables using a coir medium and hopefully this will help you out.

 

[mikeoates]

Thanks for your reply Beverly, i have read many articles like that and i think i have a good knowledge now of coco coir, but still haven't found anything to do with adding nutrients via pellets etc. It might just be one of those things that i have to try out first and then see how it goes. If anyone does have any info about it though please let me know! thank you

 

[mikeoates]

Just incase anyone searches this in the future i found this link very useful -

It shows how the plant will grow a lot better in soil but it is possible to grow the plants in coco coir without any fertilisers, I'm going to grow some vegetables in coco coir inside using tablets, and ill put some pictures up later on in there year to show how i got on.

 

[Beverly]

We gardeners are forever experimenting with different things. It may be that you are breaking new ground here. There is another person on the forums experimenting with growing dry land rice, other people are experimenting with using human urine as a fertilizer, and the list goes on. Sharing these experiments helps us all to grow