Coir IS coconut...and it comes in compressed "bricks"...a peat like texture, a Fine and a medium. It is a cheaper form of bark which I also use to maintain moisture and rewet. But it must be rinsed and soaked for 24 hours at least 3 times.....worth it!!
curled/rolled leaves
What is the purpose of rinsing them? Then do you mix them with the potting mix or what? Jeanette
Coir is a byproduct of the coconut milk industry as well as copra. Coconut trees grow in great farms close to the seashore areas directly in the face of the seabreeze/wind- So, they are saturated with salt. The husks (without the shell in side) is chopped up in the various sizes and probably rinsed with seawater. The salinity level is not consistent so you can get a batch with almost no salinity (relatively speaking) and then a batch very saline. The coir itself expands like twice its size when hydrated and the trick is to mix it in the potting mix when they are wet and the mix is damp. It's terrific for "aerating " the soil. They are fairly slow to decompose - by then you are repotting anyway...right? lol
If you are growing in big pots, you could put the bottom 1/4 or something in heavy portion of coir where it would stay moist longer than a mix with more potting soil...and the roots would stay down in the pot instead of coming up looking for H2O...Just a guess. When I put them to grow outside, I put wet coir in the bottom of the hole...then a mix of coir with the cinder and some peat. Planting in pure cinder just courses the nutrients away! HTH
Carol
This is a picture of a Brug with a severe case of calcium deficiency.
It started with the leaf edges curling under and worsened before I found out what was causing it.
This is a seedling suffering from calcium deficiency. The top new growth is light, stiff and distorted.
After treating the plants with gypsum (landplaster) all new growth was normal.
The old growth will never become normal again but the new growth will.
Terry, I've seen a few leaves like that here. Tell me about gypsum (landplaster)? Is that something I can buy locally or do I have to order it on the net? What do I look for?
Most feed and seed stores should carry it Brinda. It is sold as Gypsum but is also called landplaster. I bought a small bag(5lbs) last year at my local Agway store and this year they have it in the 25lb bag.
Mine developed the deficiency two years ago. Some kind person told me to use it and stubborn as I am I could'nt believe that a deficiency could cause so much damage.It got worse and worse and I finally bought some. I added a tbls to a gallon of water and watered them with it once every week for 3 weeks.
Last year I sprinkled some in each hole before they were planted outside and I had beautiful leaves all summer. I will continue to do this at planting time as it only needs to be done once.
Brinda, they have it at Lowe's. Let me ask this - does too much calcium cause the same sorta stuff, like the side effects of many meds are the same as what the med is supposed to cure. Did that make sense?
Wow - I was just googling and I found http://www.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=5&id=289 . Even I can understand it!!!
Carol
I thought so many of you guys used Cal-mag. Wouldn't that take care of something like this? It is real hard to find up here. My daughter happened to call a place that only sold wholesale and he was so surprised that she was asking for it that he sold her some.
Jeanette
Good question SherryLike. When I had some discoloration problems with Hoya, I was told it could be too much Magnesium...so when I added Epsom salts/gypsum to the water....they thrived!
Yes, Epsom is something I add every couple of times I water. On my roses and tomatoes I usually put 1/3 to 1/2 cup each season. Roses per season.
Jeanette
The fertilizer, additives, minerals, etc, confuse the heck outta me. Ever since I had an entire petunia crop whipped out, over night, not even a petal or leaf left, I've tended to over chemical, fearing the same thing would happen. But the main reason I do it is because I get leaves riddled with holes without having a clue what did it - only time I knew for sure was the end of the season, when cats were in full force..
Jnette - Could you expand on that? is the 1/3 to 1/2 cup each plant total...or each time?
SL - I am with you!!! With my hoyas if I am going to "do" a chemical, I try it on one plant and see what happens! Then it is a go or a no as to the reaction. You might try going out at night when the beetles come out of the ground to feed...check the backs of the leaves for the critters.
:>)))
Sure Carol, when I plant the tomatoes I mix it in as I add dirt. The roses I put it on scattered around and scratched in and watered good. Per season.
I will relate to you all a little story about my wonderful mom who passed away 5 or 6 years ago.
Her favorite flowers were roses. She had between 50 or 60 of them. And this was quite a while before the Epsom salts were known to help tomatoes and roses. She went into a drug store, who at the time carried Epsom Salts in half gallon containers like milk cartons. Well, she got all of the containers that were on the shelf, don't remember exactly how many there were, and when she got to the check out she asked the checker if they had any more.
The checker, whose eyes got big when she saw what mom had, and was asking, asked her what she was going to do with them. When mom told her she was going to put them on her roses the girl started yelling so everyone in the store could hear her what mom was going to do with them. Mom was horrified. She was a very shy person and she never went back to that store again.
Jeanette
Jeanette, that is a fun story and I've been in your mother's very same position. My Goldens eat raw, raw chicken, turkey, beef, fish, generally the cheapest, and if there is a sale, I stock up. There was a new employee and when I got to the checkout, I had a carriage full of turkey necks, 39 cents a pound. When I started stacking them on the stand, the new cashier said, with big eyes and loudly, 'good God, what are you going to do with all those necks, are you taking them to the pen?' I said 'what in the name of heaven would make you think that?'. He said, 'I heard their favorite meal out there is noodles and necks!' I got so tickled and told him I bet they wouldn't have noodles & necks this week because all the t-necks were going home with me...
This message was edited Jun 26, 2005 10:11 PM
Thanks Jeanette - I may do it twice with all the rain we get! Sweet story about your Mom...
SL - HA...do your Goldens eat raw TNs?
I had to laugh today: I have been reading An Evening Garden and in it he, of course, talks about Brugs and says they do get bothered by a lot of beetles, mites etc., but they seem to cope and it does them no major harm...then in the morning I am inspecting my plants closely for spider mites, looking at the leaves spotting calcium deficiency, magnesium problems, short on iron.... It was a GOOD laugh! After all, it is the flower we wait for...and what did they do before Home Depot? Guess I have been a bit OCP about them.... And them ARE gorgeous!