Coir Pith is the byproduct of coconut and is the processed dust of coconut husk.
Coir Pith for terrace garden has become an important part of organic vegetable growing these days due to its property as growth medium.
It is mainly used in terrace gardening because it is organic in nature and is light weight.
The coir pith is completely organic and environment friendly in nature.
Does Coir Pith For Terrace Garden Provide All Nutrients
Any substrate, to be good for plants need to provide nutrition to them.
Coir pith in that way is too good.
– Coir pith has a good quantity of cellulose and lignin (For cultivating mushrooms, cellulose is essential and thus, coir pith is an excellent medium).
– Coir from countries like India and Sri Lanka has micro plant nutrients (Calcium, copper and Magnesium) and macro (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) plant nutrients but also has high quantities of potassium.
– Potassium is a rare mineral in India, mainly because of acidity and alkalinity in the soil.
– It has natural enzymes
– The pH level of coir pith is 5.6 to 6.4. This pH value is ideal for the growth of plants
– The ready-made ones are also free from bacteria, and fungal spores.
Advantages of Using Coir Pith In Organic Terrace Gardening
– Coir Pith is light weight. It is fifty percent lighter than the conventional soil. As it does not cause stress to the building’s ceiling, it is ideal for terrace gardening.
– Coir piths are available in bags and plants can be directly grown in these bags by simply adding water and manure to it.
– The porous nature of Coir Pith improves aeration and encourages faster growth of roots.
– As it is porous, it cannot be over watered too.
– Also, the Hydrophilic nature of Coir pith makes it to absorb water (5 times its dry weight) and retain it to the most possible extent.
How to Use Coir Pith For Terrace Garden
Coir Pith is available in two forms – as blocks and in loose form. If you water a dry Coir Pith and keep it overnight, it will increase to 5 times its weight.
Coir Pith can be used as a planting medium directly only if you are planting greens or leafy vegetables.
But if you are planting any other vegetable like tomato or any plant which has a strong root/grows tall, then coir pith will not be able to hold the root.
In that case, red soil should be mixed with coir pith before planting.
One more thing to remember is that Coir pith on its own doesn’t provide enough nutrients to the plants.
Thus, Compost needs to be added to the potting mix or vermicompost can be added to the top layer once in 2 weeks.
And the compost should be added once in 15 days.
A quick way to make the preparation for planting:
– Water the dry Coir Pith and keep overnight
– Crumble it
– Add some compost
– Add some soil or worm casts
– The ratio of Coir Pith: Compost: Soil/Worm Cast is 10:1:1
Whatever is considered as a “waste” product has its own virtues. Go Cheap, Go eco-friendly and have a good time with terrace gardening using Coir Pith!
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