When we treat coco coir for planting, we are using the byproduct from coconut processing to make a growing media. With the weight of the coconut, coir accounts for 30%. After peeling, we will get the coco peat. This is the material to compost the trees, of which many famers commonly use. So what do we need to do with coir before planting? Why should we do this? The article below will give you the answers. 

Coconut coir is an ideal growing media

Coir after treating helps increase the plants fertility and stimulate the roots development. In addition, treating coco coir also increases the capacity of the buffer zone which helps prevent the roots from heat on hot days and keep the plants moist in the dry weather. It also has an impact on increasing the soil porosity and creating a kind of safe microbial organic fertilizer for the soil.

In addition, many large-scale farms also use coco peat as a biological padding to reduce some toxic gas, such as NH3 from livestock manure. After selling each litter, the farmers can use this as a rich-in-nutrient fertilizer to promote plant growth.

Why do we need to treat coco coir for planting?

Before using coir to plant trees, you need to treat coir. The reason is in coir containing Tannin and Lignin – the two substances that prevent the plants to grow efficiently. Tannin and Lignin will absorb some nutrients and air from plants, while they are very difficult to decompose. Both of them will decompose in some certain kind of chemical environment, which makes plants intoxicated and stunted. Therefore, if you do not treat coco coir for planting, your plants are going to die soon.

To treat coco coir for planting, we need to take advantage of the properties of Tannin and Lignin. Tannin is a kind of salty substance which can decompose in water and make proteins precipitate. On the contrary, Lignin can not decompose in water, in many solvents or even in acidic environments. However, the alkaline environment can decompose or saturate Lignin  partially. After at least 12 hours of treating, you can completely eliminate the Lignin substance.

Moreover, you also need to iterate the process of treating coir because it will ensure that you have completely eliminated the two harmful substances Tannin and Lignin. If you do no treatment or do treatment only once, you are not able to create the most ideal environment for plants to grow. Additionally, the environment will only worsen the condition and health of your plants.

How to treat coco coir for planting?

Before using coco coir to plant trees, we need to treat coir to remove some bad substances and create a great environment for plants. There are a great deal of methods to treat  coir However, in this article, Tropicoco Vietnam will inform you of the method of eliminating Tannin and Lignin.

Step 1: To treat coco coir for planting, you first create coco peat

If you want to treat the raw coco coir and create coco peat, we will need to chop coco coir by using a specialized cutter. For the coir suppliers specializing in treating coir, the specialized cutter is a crucial machine. With this machine, you can easily separate and chop the raw coco coir into coco peat. In this coir-chopping process, you can also add some additives such as bagasse, corn stalks, etc. Using the specialized cutter will help you save much more effort and time.

Step 2: Eliminate the Tannin substance

To eliminate Tannin, you will have to soak the coco coir in a bucket of water for about 2-3 days. Then you will get the red coco peat, while the water in the bucket will turn dark after pouring the water out. Although Tannin decomposes in water very easily, if you want to ensure to remove Tannins completely, please iterate this step 2-3 times.

Step 3: Discharge the Lignin substance

If you want to discharge Lignin as quickly as possible, you should use the lime environment. First, you pour the lime into a bucket containing clean water. Then you add the treated coco peat in step 2 and stir it up evenly with a stick. You soak coco peat in the lime water mixture for about 7 weeks. Then Lignin will completely discharge in water. Finally, you just need to treat all coco peat with clean water and you will get the Lignin-eliminated peat.

Besides, if you want to ensure that you have totally removed all the Lignin and lime, you can soak coco peat in clean water for about 1 day, then iterate this process from 3 to 5 times to clean much more Lignin and lime thoroughly. Once you finish removing this toxic substance, you can take the coco peat out and let it squeeze as dry as possible.

After we treat coco coir for planting, we can make use of it to compost and grow plants. At this time, you have completely removed all the Tannin and Lignin substances, which creates the most ideal environment for plants to grow.

Conclusion

Tropicoco Vietnam have provided you some information about why and how to treat coco coir for planting through the article above. Coco coir is an excellent growing media which has many advantages stimulating the plants to grow. However, if you do not treat it thoroughly with enough 3 steps above, some substances of coir can cause damage to your plants. Therefore, please keep in mind the guide to treat coir. Otherwise, if you want to buy the carefully-treated coco coir as well as other high-quality products, please contact us.

Contact information

Tropicoco – The best substrate
Address: No.20 Ngan Long Villa, Nguyen Huu Tho street, Nha Be dist, Ho Chi Minh City
Email: giathe@tropical.vn
Hotline: +84 983230879
Open Hours: Mon-Sat: 8.00AM-5.00PM; Sunday: Closed