Use Of Coconut Husk Chips for Potting Medium

[shawnintland]

Came across a good article on coconut cubes which was written in regard to orchids, but the information is probably quite useful for other species as well. This article provides a lot of data to back up their claims and has a good explanation of the use of Epsom salts in the rinsing process...and why!
http://ladyslipper.com/coco3.htm

[Aliamyz]

Thanx for the usefull site Shawn.Really helped out

[NepNut]

Thanks for the link, it'll be very handy as coco chips is available for us here.

[arvin555]

Interesting reading there Shawn, I am not sure where I can get Calcium Nitrate though.

However I would like to point out that apparently the talk about Cation Exchange Capacity is mainly due to the fact that they fertilize the Orchids, while we seldom do. So that if we just soak coco chips in water overnight and drain, and rinse before using, that might be enough to rinse out salts and then the daily watering should be able to rinse out slow the excess salts if ever.

I use coco chips and cocopeat on my Nepenthes, I have noticed that both Chips and Peat do make the water they are soaked in, brown, which means they are leaching Tannins and other stuff. Even after they are already in a pot with the plants, the still continue to make the water in the water tray slightly brownish, but after a few weeks, this stops.

Wondering if at least a rule of thumb can be used here, fertlize the medium only after 1 month. That is if one is in the habit of Fertlizing. I haven't.

TTFN
Arvin

[NepNut]

Hi Arvin,
Tannic acid shouldn't be any problem for most neps, in fact some acidity is probably good for certain low land peat loving species. I usually don't use 100% coco chips but a mixture with inorganic media lik perlite or burn clay to help with drainage. For my growing condition, 100% organic media will be too wet when there's a monsoon season here especially all my neps are sitting outside.

Still, the best thing about coco chip and coco peat is they're CHEAP!!

[shawnintland]

I agree! I've been using coco chips all along, but in the last year have been adding more and more 'amendments' like Perlite, pumice stones and charcoal. I also agree about monsoon season, that's why I keep adding more and more of these amendments to my mix. The coco seems to get matted down when continually wet and aeration seems to be a bit of a problem for everything except N. mirabilis and some vikings.
I see a lot of controversy regarding coco chips on other forums and in discussions with other growers, mainly those in areas where coconuts are not 'local'. Some people claim to have salt problems, others swear that it breaks down in a matter of weeks! It's another case of "same same but different" as they say in Thailand - same material (maybe) but different methodology, different conditions, different results. I can live with that but it still irks me every time I read a post talking about the 'evils' of coco cubes!
By the way Arvin, if you go to a pharmacy and ask for "Epsom Salts" you'll find it. Among other things, people use it for a foot soaking solution. I've read all kinds of reports about people swearing it is miracle stuff when it comes to plants but have never tried it. Perhaps we now know some of the real reasons behind its reputation!

[arvin555]

Thanks guys, I too will probably be using coco potting mixes continiously myself, like you guys I have been mixing other stuff like pumic stones as well, I also have been putting a thin layer of sphagnum whenever I have some to spare. I have stopped using perlite mainly because I hate it when they float Then again when they float it means I am overwatering!

So the Calcium Nitrate and Magnesium sulfate is both in "epsom salts"? I thought it was just Magnesium sulfate that is epsom salts, if so then no problem. Then again I am not too keen on actually purposefully putting any kind of salts or chemicals with my cocopeat/cocochips anyway! As I said we dont fertilize (at least I don't) our medium anyway.

I too don't believe much about the horror stories about excess salts in coco mix, I of course cant say that they don't happen, they might, but I have my own source, locally and so far no problem, plus I do just soak.

Thanks for the info about Tannic acid, I put dried leaves on my Betta tank for Tannic acid, I did this too in the water I use to water my plants till the monsoon rains came and I had lots of rain water. When the try season come, I might just go back to that, or maybe hope that my plants will get used to aged tap water already.

I don't think that all neps are sensitive to salts anyway, but I agree some probably will do well with acidic water and medium.

TTFN
Arvin

[NepNut]

I think all the bad rep on media originated from coco is probabaly due to lack of treatment (soaking and washing) to get rid of it's salt contect (if any) before people start to pot it up. Other than that, I feel it's very cheap (compared to LFS) and readily available.

BE been using coco chips and coco peat all this while and they do sell some very healthy looking neps. If the pros use it, who am I to argue otherwise??

[poweramps]

Bad rep of coco husk chips is due to the CEC of the media. It means that you cannot remove the sodium and potassium by just flushing with water alone. Protons (H+) in water cannot dislodge the sodium and potassium from the media even if you use a whole load of water. Unfortunately, when roots of plants come in contact with the media, the sodium can, by ion exchage mechanism, move to the tissue of the plant, burning it. By using cations with a larger atomic number (electronegativity and ionic radius) in the wash water, ie salts in group II or further down the periodic table, the sodium and potassium is dislodged and washed off. The choice of salts is therefore one that is less or non-toxic to plants. Looking at the periodic table, Mg and Ca are good choices (Cu, Cd, Pb and Cr would work wonders, but they are toxic as well, being heavy metals). If coco cubes are treated in this manner, it doesn't matter if they started off high salt or low salt. All you have to do is to do is to prepare a series of ion exchange solutions to remove the sodium.

[Amelie.Poulain]

Surprisingly, it's almost impossible to get cocopeat or coco cubes here in Penang!

The only bunch that I have was bought in Kelantan 4 years back - I think it's originally from Thailand!