Coco Coir Compost Block | 100% Natural Easy to Grow & Use | Reptile Friendly Growing Media | Coco Soil (5kg)

Bought for use as potting medium. I always sieve to remove coarser matter. Two alternatives (CoirProducts.co.uk and Vivlly) had a little coarse fibrous matter. This product had a great deal more, also some hard lumps, and a few stones.

So easy to use!!! I wasn’t sure if it would be enough to fill the 6 foot tortoise table but there is ample! Tortoise is super happy!

The late great Geoff Hamilton often extolled the virtues as an alternative to peat 30 years+ years ago, in attempt to help save wetland environments. It’s taken a while but coir is finally easy to get hold of. It’s a shame it’s taken so long. An added bonus is that in can be supplied in a small block like this, saving on transport costs and reducing the amount of packaging material.This particular coir block is supplied with no instructions, though the listing does state 25 litres of water should be used. This will produce a compost sack sized amount, so great for adding to compost mixes or using as soil improver or mulch. It just goes to show how much solid matter is in a huge 70 litre bag of peat - and how much plastic is saved by making up your own.Coir is slightly spiky in use, but otherwise can be used like other organic soil improvers, you just need to allow a little time to swell up.It’s really, really hard work cutting this into pieces if you need to rather than doing the whole amount; indeed you need a large waterproof container such as an old bin to make it up in. It would be good if it were embossed or lined like a bar of chocolate is to make it easier to cut up.

I was pleased to try this 'Coco Coir Compost Block | 100% Natural Easy to Grow & Use | Reptile Friendly Growing Media | Coco Peat Soil (5kg)'.1. You get a 11 inch x 12 inch by 5.25 inches compressed block of coir surrounded with plain clear plastic. It weighs 5 kg and makes up to 70 litres of compost.2. There were no instructions at all but I have had a small block that makes up to 3 litres and to that I had to add 1 litre of water. I could work out from that approximately how much water would reconstitute this large block, which equated to about 23 litres of water.3. I put it in my wheelbarrow and added the water and left it for a while. You then have to agitate it to separate so that it looks like compost.4. I used most of it as a soil conditioner for my heavy clay soil. It will add some nutrient but also make the soil more airy and friable. I used some in the greenhouse to pot on some plants - they seem happy.5. I like the final compost result and it worked well - it is more convenient than a massive and heavy 70 litre bag of normal multi purpose compost.6. The current price of £16.89 is very expensive though, in my opinion.

I use coir a lot to mix with peat free compost. Its a great product for improving the openess of both seed and potting mixes. You get a very good amount for your money here but there is one issue which drops a star. Usually I get this in brick sized blocks which fit nicely in a tray of water for an hour or so and then you get a manageable amount on return when it has expanded. This comes in a huge single block. Unless you have a spare bathtub to soak it in you will need to cut it into managable pieces. I did this with a serrated pruning saw but it is messy and quite hard going. Otherwise brilliant.

This coir soil is a very eco friendly idea, the only problem is that you have to add soil and nutrients to the pack once its had moisture added. For me I only need a small amount, so it was tricky separating parts off, so you really need to add the water in a large container and use the rest at a later date. It was easy to add the plants to, they seem to be surviving well.

I have myself a tortoise and the recommended substrate is screened topsoil and coco coir.Now, I’m used to using several small blocks of coco coir to make up enough to cover the tortoise table to a suitable depth, but this giant block makes darn near a ton* of the stuff (*exaggeration for comic effect).It comes with zero instructions, just the 5kg block in a plastic bag. However, the photos inI the listing does say 25l and to leave it to stand for 20 mins or so and give me a mix. This created plenty of substrate, and then some, for my tortoise, who is, at time of writing grumpy about it. Tortoises hate change and this was a big substrate change out.The coir is great, and when sprayed keeps moisture and humidity just right.

This stuff is pretty cool. After adding water and waiting overnight, it expands to several times its starting size.