Back to the Roots Organic Coir, 51 Quart Expanding Soil, Great for Seeds and Potting

I used several bricks of coco coir to add organic matter to a 10x12sqft garden plot that was previously hard, compacted Arizona clay soil and sand. It works beautifully with our soil- coco coir soaks up moisture but releases it slowly, and by doing this, it also soaks up tons of excess minerals and locks them up, which I am confident will help prevent caliche buildup. Tilling the first few inches and mixing with a rough 1:1 coir-to-clay ratio, then covering with a top layer of a denser, 1:2 coir-to-clay mixture, resulted in firm beds that are a little spongy when compressed down by hand, which is exactly what I wanted for starting seeds in situ.This stuff is fantastic- it works exactly how you expect it to, and you can just drench it with your hose, so hot water is not required, it’s just slightly faster. I was able to hydrate a whole brick in about 20 minutes this way. It is an excellent soil amendment, especially if excess minerals or fertilizer are a concern. It also works somewhat as a mulch, and I regularly dust a thin layer on top of my plant beds to ensure their roots remain fully covered. I go through it extremely quickly whenever I need fresh soil, so if you have plans beyond a few pots, having one or two extra bricks will not hurt, and you can store it indefinitely until you need it.I will note here that using this alone will be sufficient for some plants, but you should have a source or clay, sand, or some other inorganic substrate to blend with coco coir most of the time. It is not prone to rotting quickly, but like any organic matter it will begin to decay once moist. In my experience (I’ve planted a few separate greenhouses and plots with it) it tends to pick up the odors already coming from your garden. This is probably because the coir becomes a host to the bacteria and fungi that are currently living around you, so keep that in mind if you’re concerned about odor- it actually smells kind of fresh and woody when first hydrated, but that will change after a few days or weeks once it’s been colonized by local bacteria and fungi. If the odor becomes a serious problem, it is likely you have a larger microbial issue with your garden, and it is not directly the coir, but it could potentially add to that problem. I would argue that, over time, it may improve your soil health, and by extension reduce unpleasant odors once a new microbial equilibrium is reached- but definitely test it in a small area or pot if you want to be sure. I have never had a major issue with odor that didn’t resolve itself after some amount of time, but allowing it to dry out will almost certainly be effective.Overall, it’s a low risk soil amendment, and I’ve never encountered any serious issues with it. If you’re new to gardening, it is extremely forgiving and easy to use, compact for storage, and can be used for pretty much any project. I’ve successfully used varying amounts in soil for tomatoes, herbs, plants native to the Sonoran desert, cacti, wildflowers, and roots.

I love this brand and so do my vegys. I put the block in a storage tub with warm water over night. The bricks break down very nicely and with a little fluffing are ready to use the next day. I have purchased multiple bricks and (unlike other brands I have purchased) haven't found any "junk" in them at all. Only once did I receive a short weighted brick and contacted the company. They immediately responded and within 3 days I received a replacement brick. Very pleased!!!

I ordered two bricks to mix with the top soil in our yard where the dogs have worn out the foilage. I tossed them into the yard tonight (wet ground from the rain today) and added water from the garden hose. Went back 15 min later and it looked like Jurassic Park poo 💩😄... I'll rake it out tomorrow after the sun comes up and I'm assured no 🐘 or dinosaurs are about...

I think my four star was result of me being dumb and not having used this format before I left pkg on the ground in my greenhouse. There was rain, the pkg got wet and basically exploded. All over floor. I didn’t really lose much but felt like a maroon. One usually hears:buyer beware. Beware of this buyer.

I was looking for something for helping start veggie seeds, other than a bag of potting soil and this had great reviews. This seemed like a decent size but I was still unsure how much it would make.I didn’t have a big bucket so put it on my raised bed where the seedlings would ultimately be planted and started pouring water over it - omg, it was amazing seeing this huge pile of of light brown soil-like mix appearing in front of me., so much more than I expected.So far I’ve filled 60 small pots and 12 large biodegradable pots for my vine prunings, and it looks like I’m only half through the pile - the consistency of the soil is really ideal to work with and easy to handle - I’m looking forward to seeing my seeds appear in a week or two, assuming from the other reviews this stuff is a seed’s best friend !

Great product. I did not realize how compressed it was and thought I’d just chunk off a bit at a time to use. It doesn’t work like that and you do have to follow the provided directions. I purchased a second one.

Works really well for homemade potting soil, and I'll be also using it in raised beds. The packaging said that it expands to 52 quarts, but I completely filled two 32 quart bins after adding water, and that's even though it's now dried out. The texture is nice, and I think I'll be using coco coir regularly in the future.

I live in Colorado and brought home some trimmings from my mom's Garden and this worked perfectly for the succulents I had! I got the double bag and this soil filled up 2 medium sized pots with soil to spare! Took a little over two weeks for my succulents to start growing their roots back but this soil was wonderful