What is coco peat?
Coco peat is a spongy, non-fibrous, corks, lightweight material that mainly holds together the coco coir fiber within coconut husk. When we extract coconut fiber from husks, it gives us the coco-peat byproduct that is a completely natural growing medium. Loose coco peat being a well-drained and porous medium, always helps the plants to have strong roots and make it an excellent natural growing medium for hydroponics.
In recent years, a large number of green-figured individuals have cottoned on to the tremendous plant-growing abilities and eco-friendly characteristics of coco peat. Most gardeners are using coco peat as it consistently increases water retention; aeration improves productivity, and soil texture, and reduces many root diseases.
Advantages of using coco peat to grow plants:
Coco peat has countless advantages and it is being used for indoor and outdoor gardening increasingly. This product introduces the successful farming possibility without soil and brings in tremendous low-cost benefits.
- Being easy to use and lightweight, coco peat is the best option for rooftop farming and indoor gardening.
- It consistently increases the water holding capacity of soil mix and promotes plant root growth. This ensures that the plants don’t suffer from over watering.
- It increases aeration and reduces soil compaction.
- High water holding capacity and high porosity together indicate that the coco peat quantity required for plants can be less.
- The pH factor of coco peat ranges from 5.7 to 6.5 which is ideal for plant growth.
- There is natural Trichoderma that acts as a bio agent against many harmful pathogens.
- It can be successfully pressed into a wide variety of sizes and shapes to perfectly suit all types of growing applications.
- It is a helpful soil amendment because it significantly improves the physical and functional properties of soil. As a soil amendment, coco peat can improve the soil structure and includes organic matter in the soil.
The usage of coco peat for growing plants without soil:
Coco peat is an environment-friendly product among green thumbs for many reasons. It is widely used in gardening for its excellent water retention capacity. Nowadays, many gardeners follow the traditional mindset of using fertilizers, pesticides, and soil to grow many healthy plants but compared to soil, now you can successfully grow healthier plants using only coco peat.
A significant difference between soil and coco peat lies in various nutritional content because the soil has rich nutrients while unfertilized coco peat requires adding nutrients. However, many plants can grow healthier and faster in coco peat compared to soil.
Ensure a good supply of nutrients and water:
Coco peat can easily absorb and retain water and can release and store nutrients in plants for an extended period. For its high oxygenation properties and fluffy nature, it is useful for healthy root development. Hence, when compared to soil, coco peat can easily make water available to the plants’ roots for a long time and it results in stronger and faster root development. Besides, it retains the essential nutrients rather than the soil and directly delivers them to the plant’s roots enhancing their availability.
Reduce soil-borne diseases:
The biochemical and physical properties of coco peat make it completely resistant to fungal and bacterial growth. When you plan to grow your plants using coco peat you can also avoid the possibility of many soil-borne diseases. Due to its effective anti-fungal properties, coco peat prevents diseases or pests from reaching the plants and roots.
Act as a useful soil conditioner:
Coco peat is an effective soil conditioner that enhances the physical properties of the soil and it is completely re-usable. It is used to successfully grow plants within one pot, it can easily be strained and cleaned which decreases the carbon footprint.
Thus, we can use coco peat as the soilless growing medium and in growing aqua-culture environments. After that, we can plant seedlings or a seed in the center.
