Soil-Vs-Cocopeat

Why Soil is been replace by Cocopeat

Potting soil is easily available and use, but it has its own drawbacks. It often does not drain well and cause plant/ seed damage. An alternative is coco peat soil. Planting in cocopeat has numerous benefits.

Cocopeat soil is made of pith inside the coconut husk. It is naturally anti-fungal, making it an excellent choice to germinate seeds. Cocopeat is also used as a gardening amendment, potting mix, seedlings, container gardening, application in horticulture and floriculture, and in hydroponic production. Cocopeat retains much more water and releases it slowly to the plant’s root.

Advantages of Using Cocopeat:

• It helps to keep the soil loose and airy and helping in better root growth. Better root growth helps in better plant growth.
• Cocopeat increases the water holding capacity of the potting mix. This ensures that the plant does not suffer from overwatering and underwatering.
• Higher water holding capacity means that the quantity of cocopeat require per plant can be very less.
• Unlike other peat, cocopeat is easy to rewet.
• It is very light and easy to handle            
• An affordable price for quality products with an environmentally sustainable future.

Gardening tips with cocopeat:

1. Adding neem cake to help with any fungal infection. You can do that while mixing the cocopeat.
2. Add cocopeat to the soil in an equal ratio for improving soil profile.
3. Do not use cocopeat alone (apart from the germination of seeds).
4. Over time Cocopeat hold a lot of moisture, which leads to the compressing of the growing mix. With compression, the air pockets reduce, and the roots can get starved for oxygen leading to slower growth. This t is a good idea to mix Cocopeat with other inert media like vermiculite, perlite, or clay pebble for better aeration.
5. Do remember that Cocopeat is an inert medium. It does not contain any nutrient of its own, hence it is recommendable to add nutrients externally by mixing the nutrients like compost or manure or by using liquid nutrient provided by The Leaf And Clay.