Background to our Coir Products

All our coir comes from the beautiful and friendly country of Sri Lanka. Devastated by war, and then the Tsunami, you could help this graceful country benefit from the most effective aid of all - fair trade.

Totally organically grown, as certified by the Sri Lankan Coconut Development Authority, our coconut coir is a renewable resource ideally suited to both replace peat and those ubiquitous plastic pots.
Only around 5% of the United Kingdoms peat bogs remain untouched - and that plastic just keeps on filling up those noxious pits in our small country called waste sites. How much better to leave the wetlands to the wildlife by using coir compost, while also improving your soil with totally biodegradable organic coir fibre pots.
Our coconuts are grown inland away from salty seashores.
The Coir comes from the exterior husk - we do not use the nut itself.

Thoroughly washed over 4 months in regularly changed fresh water, the coir then dried in the sun - or inside during the rainy season.

It is then gently heat treated at around 50 degrees by steam to ensure the trichoderma is not harmed while sterilizing any weed seeds etc that may still be remaining.

During these processes, the coir held between the fibres, becomes separated. This is sorted, and the finest grains compressed into our coir compost discs. [ We compress for energy efficient transportation - and we only use scheduled shipping. ]

The coir fibre has a little longer journey before becoming your coir fibre pot -
every stage on the journey providing employment at fair rates of pay.

It is sorted, and hand sprayed with organically grown biodegradable latex.

Flattened into wide strips.

The pictures above show a small ‘Green Start’ pot. This ‘Green Start’ will then have a compressed organic coir compost disc inserted. Then it’s ready for your customer to add water, then the seed, to give their plant the greenest possible start to life. Then whole set is planted out, ensuring minimal root shock and maximum take up.

Or perhaps they would like to keep a living herb garden in the kitchen, or daffodils indoors, or perhaps some Chard on the worktop for regular ‘plucking’.
There are many ‘ors’ with our pots, which remain sturdy above ground for around 12 - 14 months, but quickly biodegrade within 2 - 3 months when planted out.

Our coir fibre liners, ready filled with organic coir compost, biodegrade more quickly than the pots after planting.

Look at these parsley photographs, grown from seed in our 3 cm liners.

From this ........

Come these ........


All with the help of the people of Sri Lanka.


 

	No wonder they’re happy .......
They don’t have to wash their clothes !