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Background to our Coir Products we sell

All the coir we sell comes from the beautiful and friendly country of Sri Lanka. Devastated by war, and then the Tsunami, you could help this graceful country benefit from the most effective aid of all - fair trade.
Totally organically grown, as certified by the Sri Lankan Coconut Development Authority, our coconut coir is a renewable resource ideally suited to both replace peat and those ubiquitous plastic pots.
Only around 5% of the United Kingdoms peat bogs remain untouched - and that plastic just keeps on filling up those noxious pits in our small country called waste sites. How much better to leave the wetlands to the wildlife by using coir compost, while also improving your soil with totally biodegradable organic coir fibre pots.

The coconuts are grown inland away from salty seashores.

The Coir comes from the exterior husk - we do not use the nut itself.

Thoroughly washed over 4 months in regularly changed fresh water, the coir then dried in the sun - or inside during the rainy season.

It is then gently heat treated at around 50 degrees by steam to ensure the trichoderma is not harmed while sterilizing any weed seeds etc that may still be remaining.

During these processes, the coir held between the fibres, becomes separated. This is sorted, and the finest grains compressed into our coir compost discs. [ We compress for energy efficient transportation - and we only use scheduled shipping. ]

The coir fibre has a little longer journey before becoming your coir fibre pot -
every stage on the journey providing employment at fair rates of pay.

It is sorted, and hand sprayed with organically grown biodegradable latex.

Flattened into wide strips.

Then your flower pot is pressed into the shape and size required.

Lastly, the pots are trimmed by hand.

The pots remain sturdy above ground for around 12 - 14 months, but quickly biodegrade within 2 - 3 months when planted out.

The coir material allows air and water to move through the pot while containing soil, and the plants do not have to be pulled from the pot at planting time. Plants grown in coir in the greenhouse have better root structures than those in plastic pots. Air pruning of the roots occurs once they grow through the walls of the pot, therefore other smaller roots develop as well. There is no root twirling, no root bound plants, no need to manipulate the root ball before planting, and certainly no root shock. Once the pot is planted in the ground, air pruned roots rapidly regenerate, and robust root growth has been seen after just 10 days.

From this ........

Come these ........

All with the help of the people of Sri Lanka.

Help put something back by using sustainable, biodegradable, organic methods - just growing naturally.
We believe that the most satisfying way of gardening is to use the natural cycle of nature.

Why we shouldnt use peat?

Do you know peat wetlands are not only wonderful reservoirs of wildlife, but fragilely hold huge amounts of carbon from escaping into the atmosphere [one third of the world’s soil carbon].
Can you just think what digging up this peat does to global warming and climate change ! Other reasons for stopping to dig that peat ?

How about stopping removing natural flood defences, stopping removing the purest natural filter for our ever more scarce water resources, stopping removing a unique, fascinating archive of the earth’s history - and ours.

Need any more reasons to stop using peat ?

Well it takes thousands of years to replace - if we have not irreparably damaged the water table !

Only about 5% of our lowland peat bogs remain untouched - and the government has introduced very tough regulations regarding further extraction in this country.

So why Coir - why back to a material the Victorians used by the shipload ?

Because it’s natural, sustainable and biodegradable.

It grows , using it helps the environment - not despoil it.

Good old natures natural cycle again - a cycle of everlasting re-growth

 

Buy coir pots, plugs and discs online now.........

 

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