Learning, then Growing!
Spring is here! Let's plant something beautiful together. We have some tips and ideas to make it a bit easier.
We are focused on healthy soils and plant nutrition. Here are some articles that might help you in making sure that your soils are healthy and will provide your flowers or gardens have the nutrition that they need.
This page is still under construction. Much more to come. Stay tuned ....
Composts
Organic composts are, of course, a very popular additive to soils to enhance their vitality. Take a look at this article, or this one, on selecting a good and mature compost.
Garden Mix
Planting a garden or flower bed. Perhaps this article will be insightful. At Designer Soils® we also offer a high quality Container Gardening Mix based upon the very popular square foot gardening recipe for such containers.
Soil Amendment
What if you desire to amend your existing soil with some organic matter with extra benefits. This article may be of some help.
Coconut Coir Pith
There is a lot of talk about Coconur Coir Pith Fiber. In fact we are quite excited about it. Let us give you some information we have learned about coconut coir.
Coir has excellent water retention properties, is sustainable and a quality alternative to peat moss.
Coconut coir pith is derived as a byproduct in the process of fiber
extraction from a coconut husk. The pith is a 100% natural growing
medium.
Coir is a highly porous material and can absorb large volumes of
water. It can absorb about half its volume and 5-6 times its weight.
Growers have long recognized that a key to a healthy root system is a
highly porous growing medium. In most cases, the higher the overall
porosity, the better the growing results achieved. Coir pith exhibits
an 80%-90% porosity in balanced proportions. Coir holds water longer
and will not waterlog. It is good for baskets and small containers.
The top ¼" will remain dry, preventing fungi growth - thus preventing fungus gnats.
Coir has great oxygenation properties making rooting solutions highly
suitable for pot mixtures.
Coir's high lignin percentage (50+%) makes it stable and slow to decompose. This in combination with its cellulose structure means it doesn't shrink. Coir generally takes 8+ years to decompose.
It has typical carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 80-100/1.
pH values range between 5.5 and 6.5, being neutral to slightly acidic. Studies have shown that most plants grow best when the pH is between 5.5 and 7.0. Therefore, coir pith is optimal for most plants.
The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of a growing medium indicates the ability of the medium to retain nutrients for plant uptake between fertilization periods. Typically, the higher the CEC, the greater the ability of the growth medium to retain nutrients against leaching during irrigation and serve as a buffer from abrupt fluctuations in soil salinity and pH. CEC is the sum of exchangeable cations (positively charged irons) soil can absorb per unit weight or volume and is usually measured in milligram equivalents per 100g (meq/100g). Coconut coir has a CEC of 10 to 20 meq/100g.
Since coconut coir has a high CEC then nutrient ions are bound in the molecular structure and are not leached away but are held for release to the plant as required.
High salt concentrations in growing media prevent the uptake of water and essential nutrients by plant roots. ECe (electrical conductivity) is a measurement of the salinity of the growth media. The electrical conductivity increases with salinity because of the increasing presence of ions .
Electrical conductivity is often expressed in units such as microSeimens per centimeter (mS/cm – 1:1.5 volume basis). Coconut coir's typical range for ECe is between 0.5 to 0.8 mS/cm.
