Coco & Coir Outperforms The Competition – And Here’s How!
To introduce coconut coir as a fantastic peat-free alternative growing media to peat-based composts, we know that the best way is to not just say it, but show it! We can talk all day about just how good coir is for not only helping to protect natural peatlands and reduce carbon emissions across the country, but we do always face the question of how and why coir is the ideal choice for gardeners to swap to. With your questions in mind, we turned to Stockbridge Technology Centre – the UK’s premier independent horticultural growing and testing facility – to conduct a range of growing tests using Coco & Coir products.
Testing Fairly For Accurate Results
In order to create a fair testing environment, our products were used to grow two plant varieties that were kept in the same growing conditions. The only difference was the compost in which the plants were grown. Everything from temperature to moisture addition was monitored and kept the same, allowing the experts to accurately measure the plants’ size, vitality, germination rate, root health, and more. Everything that a gardener wants to see from their plants, we tested.
So, how did Coco & Coir do? We are happy to say that when compared to the UK’s best-selling peat-based compost, an own-label peat-free compost, and the top-selling branded peat-free compost, our Coco Boost and Coco Grow+ outperformed the competitors. Quite the achievement – and one we are confident you will be able to see when you try it in your own gardens.
Petunias Love Coco & Coir
Notoriously sensitive, petunias were chosen for our trials to demonstrate how well our coconut coir can support even the most difficult of plants. Not everyone wants to grow something easy, and we understand gardeners are looking for an all-around great performer to use in a variety of gardening scenarios. Coco Grow+ – coconut coir mixed in an 80-20 mixture of coir and perlite – was the best-performing compost in our trials for petunia seedlings.
Own Label Peat-Free Compost – Branded peat-free compost – Coco & Coir Coco Boost. You can really see the difference!
When looking at tests conducted using our Coco Boost coir, the petunias grew exceptionally well. Compared to the peat-based compost, the petunias grew to on-par sizes, whereas they grew 30% bigger with 144% more beautiful flowers than the branded peat-free compost.
If you are looking for great performance in your compost and want to switch to a peat-free alternative, look no further than Coco Grow+ – especially for petunia seedlings. Coco Grow+ produced 15% better germination rates when compared to results from the UK’s best-selling peat-based compost. Not only this, but it also completely outperformed the own-label peat-free compost, which failed to germinate.
Larger Plants – Grown By Coir
Don’t worry, grow your own fans – we trialed one of Britain’s best-loved vegetable plants in our trials, too. We know how popular growing fruit and vegetables has become across the country If there is a plant that everyone can recognise in anyone’s allotment, garden, or vegetable pot, it’s the tomato. With rich leaves and stunning juicy red fruit, there’s a lot that makes tomatoes the perfect vegetable plant to choose to try to grow. (If you’ve never tried to grow your own tomatoes before, this may even convert you to give it a try – go on, they’re versatile and rewarding.) Using coir, you can achieve some great results with larger plants grown too.
Tomato and Petunia plants grown in the branded peat-free compost vs our Coco Boost.
You read that right – Coco & Coir Coco Boost proved to be beneficial in growing plants that were measured to be 36% larger than those in the best-selling peat-free brand, and for those still using peat composts at home, the peat-based compost produced plants 13% smaller than those grown in Coco Boost. With six months’-worth of NPK slow-release fertiliser added to Coco Boost, you can be sure that your tomatoes will stay well-fed and cared for without fuss.
How did our coir perform better? It’s all about the pH level and the amount of soluble salt left in the compost. Many other coir composts (often cheaper alternatives) are not washed enough to reduce the level of soluble salt left within the compost. At Coco & Coir, we wash our coir twice through to reduce traces of salt and other potentially harmful materials, leaving behind only pure, 100% natural coconut coir for your seedlings.
Discover The Benefits of Coconut Coir
There’s no time like today to make the eco-friendly choice and switch from peat to peat-free coir compost. Similarly to peat, coir is able to hold up to 20 times its own weight in moisture, meaning that your compost won’t quickly dry out and will support your plants for longer. You can re-use your compost and it won’t decompose, and for those looking for a pH-balanced compost, you have come to the right place – our coir has a pH level between 5.8 – 6.8.
Changing your choice of compost to a peat-free coconut coir like ours is a step in the right direction to making your garden an eco-friendly haven. With such fantastic results seen in both vegetable and flower growth using coir, and in some cases out-performing even peat-based composts, we believe that coir is truly the compost of the future not just for eco-conscious gardeners, but all gardeners across the country.
Use coconut coir indoors and outdoors and see the difference it can make to your plants. Tag us in your photographs using Coco & Coir on Instagram too – we’d love to see your eco-friendly gardens!
