The value and benefits of a well textured coco coir

Coco coir has proven to be a popular high performing substrate for growers of high value specialty crops in recent years. Coco coir is a sustainable and renewable resource that is cost competitive with other substrates. A well textured coco coir with ideal porosity and water holding capacity is precedent in a horticultural operation and can make or break the success of that operation. Outside of water quality, it is the primary factor that will affect the speed and output of the entire production.

The ideal substrate should have a predictable dry down cycle. This can only be achieved by having a consistent texture and not having too small or too large of particle size in the substrate. Very fine pith in coco coir will mud up and slow drainage, while very large chips will create inconsistencies in water holding capacity. Large chips create large air pockets around them, but don’t hold air themselves, just excess water. Having a consistent substrate texture and particle size can help growers plan crop schedules, transplant and veg times, as well as planned irrigation events.

The next factor in a good quality coco coir is low salt content. Some more value-focused brands of coco coir can come from salty batches of coco and will require extra labor and energy, as well as more water and nutrients to flush and rinse the salt out of the coco. Additionally, even with pre-rinsing, there may be salt bound up in the cellular structure of the coco coir as well, that won’t be released until weeks or months after the initial rinsing. Using a clean low salt content coco will save time, energy, labor, and ensure a healthy viable crop throughout the plants’ life cycle.

Having such a clean product with the ideal porosity and texture will ensure that starts and transplants root in the quickest possible time period and will not lead to any root injury or disease. This is one of the most priceless benefits of a premium coco coir. Days of veg time can be shaved off compared to a slower draining product, decreasing the crop cycle time and increasing annual yields. Less, if any, root conditioning products will need to be used to prevent root disease from low aeration in the rootzone. Additionally, most crops benefit from more oxygen in the root zone not only by reducing veg time, but actually increasing the over yield of each plant.

Lastly, a good quality coco coir will not break down as easily over time and repeated acid fertilizer applications. This means that the coco coir can be reused many times over, and many of our berry and high value crop growers will reuse a container for more than one cycle. Even if a grower isn’t reusing the container more than once, mother plants or nursery plants may sit in the same substrate for many months and it is vital that the rootzone doesn’t begin to compact or decay.

Commitment to Market Longevity and Fair Trade Practices

We at HortGrow operate our own coco coir processing plant and control our own logistics and supply chain. We offer our premium coco coir products shipped direct to our customers and because of this, we have a consistent supply chain. Other competitors buy containers or coco coir and have very little control over the processing of the product. Our value comes not only from the quality of the product itself, but also from the consistent supply chain and distribution that we have worked hard to maintain. We also believe in running a sustainable company, following fair trade practices and paying workers a fair wage. We believe that this is the only way to have longevity as a company and continue to offer premium products and support our customers. We are not a fly-by-night company with a short run time or divested into a multitude of other products, we are focused on premium coco coir products and only coco coir products. Our direct-to-grower distribution approach cuts out middlemen that can delay or stall orders, and gives our customers a direct line with our company.