General Hydroponics CocoTek Bale Organic Growing Medium

It works great at our off grid cabin

The QUICK review- 2022 was my first year as a "gardener." I used this coco coir, potting soil mix and perlite for my blend. I also used Fox Farms on everything. I had very good results with my tomatoes, cilantro, and the basil plant grew 3 ft tall- of course it did, I don't like basil. lol. The picture of the tomatoes is from 7/16/22. The basil pic is from 9/3/22. I decided to try onions this spring and I'm surprised at their growth so far. The first pic is the day I planted them on 3/19/23. Second pic is from today, 4/17/23.Now, I'll try and answer everybody's question, "How MUCH do I need?"My first 2 cedar beds are 2'x6'x1', so that's 12 cubic ft. I added 2 pine beds which are 1.5'x8'x1', so they are also 12 cubic ft. I used 2 bricks and 5 bags of 40qt potting soil mix for each bed. I had put branches/small limbs on the bottom and this combo filled the beds up really good. As the soil settled and the wood decomposed and everything shifted down, I added another brick and 2.5 bags (100qt) of potting soil this year to top them off. Hope that helps and good luck!

this was by far a superior product, and it was also the least expensive. Really wish this company still existed

ok coco

First time with this product.At first I was a little leary because it was not rehydrating as fast as I thought it would. In a wheel barrel I started with 5 gallons of water. Then another 5 gallons. Both 5 gallons were mixed with cal mag. When I penned the product in the beginning it was reading 750 to 800 ppm.Once it hydrated I filled a 5 gal bucket that had holes drilled in the bottom and ran the hose on spray in the bucket. I penned the runoff at about 350 to 425 ppm.Rinsed again and it penned out at 89 to 100 ppm.Did that 3 times with all the product. I got just under 15 gallons of hydrated product.Then I added about 12 quarts of perlite and mixed and let drain. I added 6 gallons of calmag treated water and drained. When done I had beautiful pot mix that was fluffy and with just the right amount of moisture.The was a couple of very small pebbles... nothing to get crazy over. Think about it. This stuff is not produced in some sterile setting by monks by the sea shore. Its probably mulched and ground outside.I am very satisfied and will buy again.UPDATE; Bought again with the same results. So far I am 3 for 3. Thinking no more peatmoss for me. Using this indoors and outdoors. Indoors alone with nutrients, and outdoors blended with soil.

I wish I had pictures to show, but I used this stuff immediately. I use this as a base to make my potted plant and raised bed soil and have used it for 8 years to do so. This brand is incredibly soft, non-clumping, and retains water amazingly well. It expands quickly even with room temperature water as opposed to the hot water most coir products recommend, and is ready for use immediately. It produces more volume per weight than any other brand I have ever used, and for all of these reasons I always watch for this even if it has gone out of stock for a while. I can understand why it does! Highly recommend to anyone who needs the above features, or who is using coir for the first time as it is so easy to use and is so versatile.Love it!

As good as Coco gets in unamended bricks. Here’s how I wash soak and wash out salts and correct coco ph. With this 10 lb. brick I put 5 gallons of warm water ph to 6.5 into a 30 gallon plastic storage bin($13.00 at Walmart)then place brick into bin. After about 30 minutes I mix it up then add another 5 gallons and mix until it has the right consistency. I then use two 10 gallon smart pot putting 1/2 of coco into each. It makes around +/- 20 gallons.I then ph warm water to 6.5 and pour 10 to 12 gallons through coco in each smart, 4 to 5 gallons at a time and let drain. I take another 4 gallons add 1 teaspoon of Super Thrive and let it drain. Repeat on 2nd smart pot. After both drain throughly I put 1 pot at a time back into the now empty storage bin and mix in 8 quarts of perlite in bin with 20 gallons of coco. The ppm of my water is 80 so my rinse water out of coco is good under 150 ppm with a run off ph of 6.2-6.7 You now have a clean and aerated coco mix. I know it sounds like a lot of trouble but it’s worth it, unwashed coco can give some plants and seeds to much salts. Considering the cost of seeds you have to wash. You do not have to add perlite to coco I just like the additional aeration.I mix coco/perlite mix 50/50 with soil. The soil I use is a 50/50 blend of Fox Farm Ocean Forrest and Fox Farm Happy Frog. This growing media has all the great nutrients required the first 3 weeks of plants life. After that amend as needed with your nutrients. I use this on photoperiod and auto flower plants.

I had purchased this to try it and blend it 50/50 with potting soil. That planned failed when I put the 11lbs brick into a 20 gallon tote, then added the water. it filled the 20 gallon tote. I used all of the 20 gallons it made in what you see in the photo. I LOVE this medium as it is super easy to use, doesn't get "dirt" on things and wipes clean of your hands, and it grows peppers like nobodies business!Drainage is super easy and it only absorbs enough to be used, hard to over water.Super forgiving and easier to work with than soil.When adding liquid fertilizer it holds what is needed and if you add too much, you can simple flush it out with clean water.Easier to see when you need to water.Makes amazing compost if you aren't going to reuse it.The list of benefits go on and on and I have yet to find a negative aspect of this product. Even the packaging is minimal and comes with a sturdy plastic handle to carry it.150% satisfied with this product and will be using it for all my pepper needs in the future!

Its good quality coir.This is expensive, coir is cheap if you can find it locally at a home hardware store