Pakistan Gardening Forum

While i was reading a GW article on growing michelia (http://faq.gardenweb.com/discussions/27 ... michelia-f) I read this sentence:

coir poses far less danger from overwatering than water-retentive peat moss

So is it really true that coir is less risky in terms of overwatering than peat moss. I had always thought coir retains more water than peat moss. Also, i have perception that you can not over water peat based media because it will absorb only till a safe extent and rest will drain and it will still have lots of oxygen left for roots.

Any thoughts?

I have experienced this in my seedling mix... peat based mix showed so many seedlings dying due to dampening off while with coco coir no such problems at all..

In seedling mix, it might be the case but may not be in the case of growing healthy plants in peat based media. I have seen some plants being grown by some experts in Lahore in only peat moss and they are growing fine (Under open sun in monsoon). I have also seen plants being grown in only leaf compost and plants are doing fine. In both cases, they use slow release fertilizer. But coir is much cheaper than peat moss, why does nobody use them as replacement of peat, salts issue?

what is the difference in coir and coco peat?
Arif

Muhammad Arif Khan wrote:what is the difference in coir and coco peat?
Arif

I consider them same. My typo the topic is peat moss vs coco peat.

Coco Coir is raw (untreated) while Coco peat is the treated form of Coco coir with excess salts removed and suitable for horticulture purpose.. we usually have coco coir available in Pakistan.

Izhar wrote:Coco Coir is raw (untreated) while Coco peat is the treated form of Coco coir with excess salts removed and suitable for horticulture purpose.. we usually have coco coir available in Pakistan.

So how do we flush salts out of a large sack of coco coir?

I soak it overnight in a large bucket then take it out by the help of colander, discard the water and soak it again for 1 hour gently stirring it time to time, finally take it out using the colander... i usually use hot water for second soaking as it dissolves the salts readily..

Izhar wrote:Coco Coir is raw (untreated) while Coco peat is the treated form of Coco coir with excess salts removed and suitable for horticulture purpose.. we usually have coco coir available in Pakistan.

To me both although from coco nut husk are two different things.
Coir is the strands from the shell used for stuffing, in gardening it is used for making hanging baskets.
Coco peat is the remaining portion without strands replacing the peat moss all over the world.
Two type of coco peat is available locally, one imported from Sri Lanka and Thai Land comes in the form of compressed bricks and has no strands in it, the other is locally produced by cutting the shell in a CHARA MACHINE.
I found Peat Moss retained more water than Coco Peat and both retain more water then we want.
Try Rice Husk Charcoal mixed with any of the above for seed germination, I found it the best.

Izhar wrote:Coco Coir is raw (untreated) while Coco peat is the treated form of Coco coir with excess salts removed and suitable for horticulture purpose.. we usually have coco coir available in Pakistan.

AsSalamOAlykum Izhar Bhai,
Hope u doing well by grace of ALLAH, is coco coir is cheaper than coco peat, if it is where to get coco coir cheaper in karachi.
Thank you