Coconut Coir
 

New to hydro, setting up eb/flow, processing my own coconuts,[much work], shredding, washing, drying, soaking before using, how tight should it be packed in trough around plants?

Wow, that sure seems like a lot of work. Not to mention expensive unless you get them for free. I used Coco Chips because the Coco fiber would just wash through the holes in the baskets. I used 1 1/2 blocks of coco chips to plant 32 strawberry plants in 3in baskets and each block of coco chips cost $4, so I used about $6 worth of coco chips for all my strawberry. I cant even imagen being able to get the coconuts for that price. You don't need it packed real tight, it is just there to support the plant. So you want to basically lightly pack it so it will provide support for the plants, the roots will grow around the coco and through the basket and keep the plant from being top heavy.

Yeah, indeed lotsa work, I did it too....

Just fill it in your buckets (or whatever) grabbing it with two hands. Do not compress or push it in tightly. I've used it in a "Dutch Bucket" (see picture) setup for a test. It's fine as a media, but decomposes over time. Well in case you use the whole choir and not the extracted fiber. It starts to screws-up your PH in about 6 weeks- 2 months. I am using it now in a mix with rice hulls and coarse Sand. Rice hulls do decompose much slower, and with the little amount of coconut choir, I am having no trouble with the PH. I get it for very cheap shredded (around 3 USD for 200 Liter), or whole (shopped off) choirs for free at the next local market, rice hulls for free at a nearby rice mill. Welcome to Thailand...

http://chiangmai-thailand.com/images...o/hydroe01.jpg

Using peat as growing medium
 

Hi there,

I have been using peat (coir) very successfully for growing seedlings. It is a lot cheaper than using rockwool.

You can see some pictures here:
EASY Home Hydroponics: Using peat to start seedlings