RE: Coco fiber (was Worm Castings)

It depends on the state of the coco fiber.  As loose (relatively speaking)
fiber of fine chunks, this material breaks down into a soggy wet mess in an
amazingly short period of time.  When used as fairly coarse (or large
chunks) it does appear to last longer than fir bark.  I wouldn't use coco
fiber in a terrestrial mix.  Even the large chunk material holds a
tremendous amount of water which speeds the breakdown process.  A similar
phenomenon occurs with cork bark.  Large slabs of this material are
essentially indestructable and have been used for years for mounting
orchids.  Someone got the bright idea many years ago to use granulated cork
bark as a substitute for fir bark in orchids.  That material (the fine
grade) turns completely to mush in less than 6 months.  Anyway, pine bark
mulch would be a better substitute in my opinion.

-----Original Message-----
From:	Piabinha@aol.com [SMTP:Piabinha@aol.com]
Sent:	Saturday, October 21, 2000 9:09 PM
To:	Multiple recipients of list AROID-L
Subject:	Coco fiber (was Worm Castings)

In a message dated 10/20/2000 11:26:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
lkallus@earthlink.net writes:

> A while ago there was a discussion about coco fiber.  I understood the
>  general opinion to be that it broke down so rapidly that it was not a
great
>  material to use in potting mixes.
>
i think it's the opposite, les.  coco fiber breaks down much slower than
peat
or orchid mixes (bark etc.).

tsuh yang chen, nyc, USA
http://www.egroups.com/group/orchidspecies
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