How often should you feed and water coco coir in your garden?
Whilst growing plants in coco coir compost is similar to growing in soil, there are some differences. This article looks at how you should be watering and feeding your plants when using the ecologically sound growing medium that is coco peat. Our experts can guide you on how and when to feed and water coco coir, in order to give yourself the best chance of achieving optimum results.
WATERING COCO COIR
When you buy high-quality coco coir peat briquettes, the coir you receive doesn’t contain any nutrients of its own. This means you will need to add plant food to every watering, the content of which will largely depend on what you’re trying to grow in the soil.
As with any soil mix, it’s impossible to provide a one-size-fits-all approach to watering your coco coir. A good rule of thumb would be to water every four or five days. You also need to use a pot that provides good drainage, as your coco coir requires air as well as moisture to promote healthy plant growth. If there’s too much moisture inside, there won’t be enough air.
CHECKING WHETHER COCO COIR IS PROPERLY WATERED
After watering your coco peat, there are a couple of ways you can perform a quick check to ensure that you’ve done it correctly. First, if you pick up some of the mixture in your hand and water runs out from it immediately, it means you’ve over-watered. If no moisture is evident, this indicates that it’s too dry. Achieving the ideal level of moisture in the soil will result in your coir letting out a little moisture – but it should disappear quickly through your fingers and then stop.
The weight of your plant pot will also provide a reliable indication of the amount of water being retained: the heavier it is, the more moisture it contains. Before watering, it’s a good idea to lift your coco pot to gauge what it feels like when free of water. In the future, if it feels on the light side, you’ll be better equipped to recognise that your coco coir needs watering.
HIGH-QUALITY COCO COIR
Another important factor to consider is the quality of the coco coir you are purchasing. At Coco & Coir, the high-grade coco peat briquettes we supply are pathogen free, of consistent quality and created from only the most sustainable and ecologically friendly manufacturing methods.
For too long, peat moss has been widely used in domestic gardening. Being a plant-growing medium that takes hundreds of years to replenish, harvesting it for this use is simply not sustainable.
If you would like to find out more about our passion for greener horticulture or you’d like some expert advice on using coco peat for your home gardening projects, please visit us online or give our friendly team a call on 0207 1756786.
