Comments on: Odds and addENDumS http://blog.blithewold.org/gardens/odds-and-addendums/ a garden journal about public garden maintenance, seasonal tasks, garden events, stories about gardening, volunteers, flowers, bugs and wildlife Sun, 19 May 2013 12:25:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Kris http://blog.blithewold.org/gardens/odds-and-addendums/comment-page-1/#comment-689 Kris Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:18:33 +0000 http://www.blithewold.org/blog/gardens/odds-and-addendums/#comment-689 Thank you, Susan! I haven't had time yet to do more research and your info is hugely helpful! I'm going to lobby hard to get some bales on our orders list and I'll make sure to post about how we like it. (I think we'll start with a small order and go from there...) Thank you, Susan! I haven’t had time yet to do more research and your info is hugely helpful! I’m going to lobby hard to get some bales on our orders list and I’ll make sure to post about how we like it. (I think we’ll start with a small order and go from there…)

]]> By: Susan Sims http://blog.blithewold.org/gardens/odds-and-addendums/comment-page-1/#comment-684 Susan Sims Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:00 +0000 http://www.blithewold.org/blog/gardens/odds-and-addendums/#comment-684 A couple of things to add...Yes, I am talking about bales when I mention the $17 cost. Also, I found a few other sites that offered the bales for $13-$14. No matter where you buy coir, count on it costing more than peat as they have to ship it in from tropical plantations overseas like Sri Lanka or the Phillipenes. Again, coir requires enviro-freak dedication. Save the peat bogs! One thing I discovered in my online quest is that you should try to find aged coir instead of fresh. Aged coir will not compact as the summer goes by, unlike fresh. Also, according to a wholesale supplier—VGrove Millenniumsoils Coir—some coirs can have high salt concentrations. I didn't have a problem with my CocoLife Bloks as I used them in containers and I don't have salt problems in my soil. However, I plan to continue using the coir so I will watch the soil reports each year to make sure my salt level doesn't get any higher. Kris—you should look up VGrove online. They are a Canadian wholesale supplier to the hort industry. And since you are relatively close to them and the US and Canadian dollar are close, it may be a good option if you are looking for a large, bulk order. A couple of things to add…Yes, I am talking about bales when I mention the $17 cost. Also, I found a few other sites that offered the bales for $13-$14. No matter where you buy coir, count on it costing more than peat as they have to ship it in from tropical plantations overseas like Sri Lanka or the Phillipenes. Again, coir requires enviro-freak dedication. Save the peat bogs!

One thing I discovered in my online quest is that you should try to find aged coir instead of fresh. Aged coir will not compact as the summer goes by, unlike fresh. Also, according to a wholesale supplier—VGrove Millenniumsoils Coir—some coirs can have high salt concentrations. I didn’t have a problem with my CocoLife Bloks as I used them in containers and I don’t have salt problems in my soil. However, I plan to continue using the coir so I will watch the soil reports each year to make sure my salt level doesn’t get any higher.

Kris—you should look up VGrove online. They are a Canadian wholesale supplier to the hort industry. And since you are relatively close to them and the US and Canadian dollar are close, it may be a good option if you are looking for a large, bulk order.

]]> By: Kris http://blog.blithewold.org/gardens/odds-and-addendums/comment-page-1/#comment-681 Kris Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:58:15 +0000 http://www.blithewold.org/blog/gardens/odds-and-addendums/#comment-681 Kim, Thank you and thanks for the 'coco peat' info! I'll check out GH Organics. I suspect Susan is buying bales which would account for the difference in price. I think we'd have to buy in big bulk to keep our costs down... Gloria, Thank you too and thanks for being a visitor! It sounds like a mix of coir and compost is the way to go. I think we'd leave out the perlite though - the mix we use now doesn't have it and we prefer a perlite-free look in pots. When we need to improve the drainage, we add turfus (a clay grit not unlike old fashioned kitty litter). Fresh greens in the winter... hmmm... I wonder if I could wrangle any greenhouse space for that... Kim, Thank you and thanks for the ‘coco peat’ info! I’ll check out GH Organics. I suspect Susan is buying bales which would account for the difference in price. I think we’d have to buy in big bulk to keep our costs down…

Gloria, Thank you too and thanks for being a visitor! It sounds like a mix of coir and compost is the way to go. I think we’d leave out the perlite though – the mix we use now doesn’t have it and we prefer a perlite-free look in pots. When we need to improve the drainage, we add turfus (a clay grit not unlike old fashioned kitty litter). Fresh greens in the winter… hmmm… I wonder if I could wrangle any greenhouse space for that…

]]> By: Gloria http://blog.blithewold.org/gardens/odds-and-addendums/comment-page-1/#comment-680 Gloria Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:26:17 +0000 http://www.blithewold.org/blog/gardens/odds-and-addendums/#comment-680 Hi, I have been reading your blog for awhile now. Interesting behind the scene information and great pictures. As to the coir, in a recent class Bill Shores (our instructor and manager for the gardens of Rick Bayless of Fontera Grill and PBS Mexican food fame) shared his use for coir in seed starter mix and as a potting soil medium. We mixed 5 parts well sifted compost (worm castings worked even better) with 4 parts coir (from bricks that had been rehydrated) and 1 part perlite. We started cool season leaf lettuce,radishes and many small greens for winter salads to be grown under lights. Bill said he keeps 60 trays of green seedlings going all winter harvesting every couple of weeks for the restaurant then recycling the starter mix by tossing it into the worm bins. So far it is a great success. Hi, I have been reading your blog for awhile now. Interesting behind the scene information and great pictures.
As to the coir, in a recent class Bill Shores (our instructor and manager for the gardens of Rick Bayless of Fontera Grill and PBS Mexican food fame) shared his use for coir in seed starter mix and as a potting soil medium.
We mixed 5 parts well sifted compost (worm castings worked even better) with 4 parts coir (from bricks that had been rehydrated) and 1 part perlite.
We started cool season leaf lettuce,radishes and many small greens for winter salads to be grown under lights. Bill said he keeps 60 trays of green seedlings going all winter harvesting every couple of weeks for the restaurant then recycling the starter mix by tossing it into the worm bins.
So far it is a great success.

]]> By: Kim http://blog.blithewold.org/gardens/odds-and-addendums/comment-page-1/#comment-676 Kim Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:49:09 +0000 http://www.blithewold.org/blog/gardens/odds-and-addendums/#comment-676 Oh Kris, those old sills look wonderful edging the pennisetum! I hope my little project turns out at least half as aesthetically pleasing. I have used coir for a couple of years now, and I like it for seed-starting. I normally mix it anywhere from 1:1 to 2:1 with well-screened compost... not because I used it straight and it didn't work or anything like that, just because I like the idea of using both together so the compost provides some nourishment. I have had no problems with the coir that you wouldn't have with peat (for example, it's not easy to rewet once you have let it dry out entirely) and find it easy to use. Side note to Susan: I don't know where you buy your coir bricks or how large they are, but I mail order mine from GH Organics. (I can't find them locally at all.) At GH, 1 brick=1/3 cubic foot=4qts coir when watered and fluffed. At $3 per brick, GH's seem much more reasonable than $17 per brick unless your bricks are much bigger. I usually order in bulk every few years, and only wet one brick at a time--the rest keep just fine in a dry place like my attic. This is the only thing I've ever mail ordered from GH Organics, so I can't attest to any of the rest of their products, but they've been more than fine for the "Coco peat," as they call it. Oh Kris, those old sills look wonderful edging the pennisetum! I hope my little project turns out at least half as aesthetically pleasing.

I have used coir for a couple of years now, and I like it for seed-starting. I normally mix it anywhere from 1:1 to 2:1 with well-screened compost… not because I used it straight and it didn’t work or anything like that, just because I like the idea of using both together so the compost provides some nourishment. I have had no problems with the coir that you wouldn’t have with peat (for example, it’s not easy to rewet once you have let it dry out entirely) and find it easy to use.

Side note to Susan: I don’t know where you buy your coir bricks or how large they are, but I mail order mine from GH Organics. (I can’t find them locally at all.) At GH, 1 brick=1/3 cubic foot=4qts coir when watered and fluffed. At $3 per brick, GH’s seem much more reasonable than $17 per brick unless your bricks are much bigger. I usually order in bulk every few years, and only wet one brick at a time–the rest keep just fine in a dry place like my attic.

This is the only thing I’ve ever mail ordered from GH Organics, so I can’t attest to any of the rest of their products, but they’ve been more than fine for the “Coco peat,” as they call it.

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