Hello everyone.
I use coconut coir in my containers but not like some of you have done. I live in an arid area where moisture retention in containers and soil is a problem. In a twelve inch pot, i only add a handful of coir to the soil which has helped me with watering less. As the name coconut says, it grows next to the sea and yes its salt content is high with no nutritional value at all for plants but to amend soil and for water retention its properties are very good and that much salt does no harm. When i want more moisture, i might add ten to twelve gel beads but planting in pure coir has been a total failure at least for me. Even with humidity at 15% and ambient temperature at 46 c i have found coir to moist/soggy leading to root rot.
My climate is harsh and hot but why are some of you experimenting with coir when you are in a temperate or cooler zone? If you want to make the soil more porous and airy, just add a bit of coir its expansion on water absorption and contraction on drying plus the fibers will do the trick.
Regards,
Masud.
