Step By Step: Growing Your Garden With Natural Coco Peat
Knowing the best way to help keep your garden as vivacious and vibrant as it can be is not always an easy task – but knowing how to make it sustainable through utilising environmentally friendly products can be pretty tricky too. At Coco & Coir, we’ve got you covered with our wide range of 100% natural multi-purpose composts and peats that’s sure to help you maintain not only your garden, but a clearer eco-conscience too.
For a long time, peat has been the subject of debate in both horticultural and environmental circles alike; in recent times it has become a more prominent topic for even the most novice of gardeners. So why is peat such a big issue – and what makes coir-based substitutes such as coco peat such a desirable alternative?
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Moss appeal
Sphagnum peat forms in boggy areas where the fibrous materials of plants decompose. Due to the way in which the decomposition takes place without air, the process itself is lengthy; creating less than one millimetre of peat each year – and taking well over a millennium for a viable amount to even form – in reality, it is not seen as a renewable source. Not only that, but by cultivating the peat from these areas, entire eco systems are either damaged or lost completely (as well as releasing carbon into the atmosphere in the process) meaning yet another blow for the environment.
In the past, it was primarily sphagnum-based peats and multi-purpose composts that were available to consumers and companies within the horticultural industries. Now, however, alternatives are being utilised not only for their ethical propensity, but their nutritionally abundant value for plants as well.
Our Peat-free compost will always be exactly that, as we believe the time to end peat has already passed. You can find out more about our sustainability values and mission.
Nature’s helping hand
Coco Peat is a coir-based alternative that is made entirely from coir – the bi-product of coconut husks. During cultivation of coconuts, the discarded husks are considered agricultural waste and without making good use of them, would just end up on landfill. Additionally, coir-based peat is an excellent alternative to help boost your garden’s natural vitality through bacteria and microorganisms that actually benefit the soil, aiding plants’ root growth and development. It also lasts three times longer than sphagnum and moss-based peats – yet another reason why so many people have turned to coir-based substitutes.
Growing, growing – STRONG!
At Coco & Coir, we offer a range of coco peat products for all your gardening needs, from boosting your containers and window boxes with Coco Coir Boost, to aiding a rich and vibrant root development for your flowerbeds with 100% natural Coco Grow – and even Coco Dots for your seedlings to get them off to the best start possible. Using our products to grow your garden couldn’t be easier either!
Our conveniently sized and lightweight coco peat bricks such as Coco Grow, coir perlite mix Coco Grow+, Coco Boost and Coco Chip are perfect for all outdoor and indoor gardening for all times of the season. Simply:
- Place one of our coir bricks into a wheelbarrow or suitable waterproof container
- Add some warm water and leave for about 20 minutes to expand into its working volume
- Once the water is fully absorbed, fluff it up with a garden fork or hand fork to create your light and airy coco peat mixture
And for seedlings, why not try our Coco Dots:
- Place the desired number of pellets in a tray
- Add some warm water and leave for a few minutes to allow the discs to expand
- Add seeds into the top of the pellets and leave somewhere suitable for them to germinate
…And just like that, you’re ready to grow!
