Premium Coconut Coir

This is light and fluffy and awesome (once rehydrated, of course.) I saw others saying its difficult to use/expand, but its not too bad once you figure it out. I am confident I didnt have a single piece left compacted, ALL of my previous 2 blocks were very fluffy, all the way through!It' depends if you want a small amount or to use the whole block, but: I just use a chisel to break off a hunk of the block- more like big flakes due to the way it's compressed... and then I put it in a big bowl or rubbermaid tub or wheel barrow of WARM/hot water and leave it for 5? 10? 15? mins while I do something else. Then I come back and either fluff/break it up a bit with a dinner fork, or hand held cultivator and leave it to sit again..... if it had sucked up all the water the first time, add some more warmish/hot water before leaving it to sit. (Go pull a few weeds or something, we all need to and we all keep procrastinating it, don't deny it..... maybe go feed your pets, or turn your compost bin.) Come back in another 5, 15? mins and either bare/gloved hand or using your fork/cultivator, reach in there and fluff it all up again. Give it a squeeze and make sure its springy. if you feel dense areas, you've got a chunk in there to pick apart. If you do pick a few hunks apart, the middle is still dry, so just pick at it with some of the hydrated coir to get it mixed in. You can let it set a 3rd time if you want, but I didnt have to. Drain any excess that there MIGHT be, but honestly I'd wager you're going to be adding water along the way. The stuff holds WAY more water than you realize. It's fantastic!

Sooooo much came in this block I still have bags leftover from almost a year ago when I got this! I needed it for my curry leaf plants and could not find it in any local stores. Of course Amazon had an answer! Very useful, expanded to a million times its original size, and my plants have been so much happier. Less fungus gnats as well- but I can’t seem to be rid of them completely no matter how hard I try :(

Product is great and easy to use. After I used for about 1.5 months, my plants start to sprout new branches, the leaves are more green and healthy looking. The price is little expensive otherwise I would buy more. I will wait at least 1 more month to see how effective the product is.

EDIT 03/17/2018: Well, in the past year I have bought about 10 of those bricks. They fluff up nicely and I do like them a lot, but they are not perfect when it comes to quality. I have found inside them a few things which I would consider trash, for example I found something that seemed to be a torn cord from a hoodie. For that reason, I brought down my rating to 4 stars. I still like using this product to make my growing mixture for my gardening needs.Also, the customer service isn't the best. I contacted the company about getting a possible discount since I have been buying so many, they gave me a code which did not work. I contacted them again and they never responded.EDIT 07/22/2017: While I am no expert gardener, I have enough knowledge of plants and soil to know what plants need to thrive. It is the first year that I have been using coco peat. I have noted that my plants need the regular help of fertilizers to thrive. Coco peat alone does not provide what plants need. I have been using this coco peat mixed with a little soil and fertilizer. I have also started seeds solely in coco peat and it has worked wonders for me.Recently, I did not have the time to order from Amazon and was forced to buy peat moss and heavily fertilized soil (very smelly) locally for my gardening needs, and having to mix those without coco peat made me regret not buying more of it to always have some on hand. It is compressed so it can be kept stored for a while. All it needs when planting in it is to insure proper fertilizing. Plants do grow a lot bigger and more bountiful in regular fertilized soil. But if you're looking for something that has no smell and is free of pests, coco peat is the best medium and that's what I will be mostly using from now on.Another thing.. I have come across some salt crystals here and there in this coco peat but way less than in another type of coco coir I bought at Home Depot. I have had no issues when it comes to my plants. I really like this product and will definitely buy it again, so I am raising my review from 4 to 5 stars.Original review: Seems like decent coco peat. It becomes nice and fluffy when it gets hydrated with hot water.It is a big brick and I made a huge mess trying to separate it into different planters, but that is not a flaw of the product which is very compressed. It just means it is not a product for me and I will go for the smaller bricks next time. EDIT: My plants are doing great in that coco peat so I bought another brick and, the second time, I was better prepared for the mess that it was going to make so it barely made any.I have not tested the salt level yet and only just planted my seedlings in it yesterday, mixed with organic potting soil and fertilizer. I cannot yet say if the salt level is going to be a problem. I trusted the description of the item which said it had a very low salt content.

This stuff is great. Amazing value for the volume of product you receive. It really doubles in size once wet. Purchased for a bottom layer on raised beds for our SoCal garden. I cut the block into quarters and used about a quarter block (once soaked) spread on the bottom of the raised beds before planting (each bed is 4x7). Would definitely recommend.

I have never used Cocopete before, so this WAS a learning experience. Rule #1, do NOT put the entire brick in the bathtub! WHAT A MESS! I didn't really know what to expect, it grew big...and I mean BIG! After replanting my one lemon tree and my one lime tree, and taking out buckets and buckets of leftover cocopete, hours later trying to clean up before my husband got home, I got my bath tub back to normal. The consistency was of coffee grounds at times, there were foreign items in it such as cords that look like it came from a hoodie, etc. I dumped the rest in my raised garden. After all that, my lemon tree better do better! HA HA HA

I currently have two projects going with it, and I am about to start a third... it is my go to putting soil (mixed with vermiculite and perlite 2:1:1) and it is the substrate for my vermicomposting (this brand is low salt/pre-washed which is a must for this application). I am about to venture into mushroom cultivation, and I am planning on using this coir as a substrate... (wish me luck). My home is in Tucson where i was introduced to coconut husk for succulent and cactus growth media... so nice that this product is now available nationwide!!! I highly recommend coir, and this brand in particular!

Great additive to potting soil mix. Aerated and retains moisture in the soil. Goes a long way. Submerge in water and starts to come apart right away for immediate use.