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Sundew Seeds on Ground Coco Fiber?

  • Thread starter Acro
  • Start date
Have you ever tried to sprout Sundew seeds on pure ground coco fiber? You know, the stuff that looks like this:
coco-peat.jpg
 
some of the suppliers of the coco coir, are not so good at rinsing it of it's salt. so my advice is to soak and wash the coir very well with rain or r/o distilled water. with that said other day i bumped into a thread on here talking about sundews grown on coco.


i myself would love to know more about this, because coco is more accessible to me , and does not seem to shrink on me as much as peat moss does in a given period of time.
 
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I would recommend searching for a coco product that's been thoroughly rinsed (try products intended for hydroponics use) and make sure you soak and test it before using. If you can find some coco coir that's clean enough then it can work, but don't expect every CP to like it.
 
The general consensus among cp growers is to just leave coco coir alone when it comes to growing carnivores. Peat is readily available and inexpensive and most go with that. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't be interesting to experiment with the stuff to see what results come. But doing so does involve risk to plants and seeds. I would consider this a more advanced project and go with the more common medium. If you haven't seen this it is a good overview of peat growing media: International Carnivorous Plant Society

Wishing you good results!
 
Most of the resistance to coco coir use is the result of how salty most products are and how difficult those are to clean. If you can find a very clean product, then it's worth a try.

It should also be noted that Borneo Exotics ONLY uses coco coir and coco chips for every Nepenthes they grow, but they have easy access to clean coconut products being located close to where the plants are grown.
 
Thanks for the thoughts everyone! :)
Seems the answer to the question "Have you ever tried to sprout Sundew seeds on pure ground coco fiber?" is a "no" huh? (Mine seem to be sprouting fine, I'm just looking for info from others.)
Let me know! :D
 
Thanks for the thoughts everyone! :)
Seems the answer to the question "Have you ever tried to sprout Sundew seeds on pure ground coco fiber?" is a "no" huh? (Mine seem to be sprouting fine, I'm just looking for info from others.)
Let me know! :D

I did not realize you were already attempting this. Have you soaked it and tested the TDS?
 
Although I know better, and although I've been growing CPs for about 3 or 4 years, I'm a rebel and never rinse my growing mediums. So far, I've been lucky and haven't had a problem. As for the coco fiber, it's a seed starting mix from Burpee. Comes as a dry brick like this:
prod002893.jpg

I've got a bunch of lil sprouting tokaiensis and capensis 'wide' popping up. The top layer (quarter inch?) is coco fiber, under that is LFS mixed with perlite. They have been alive for a few days and if there is salt in the coco, they aren't bothered by it yet.

Just an extra thought: ground coco fiber is also sold for use as amphibian bedding. I imagine that would be a better source as a CP growing medium, as amphibians are extremely sensitive to salt, thus ground coco fiber marketed towards amphibians would likely be very well rinsed.
 
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Good luck with your experiment. I expect seed starting mixes are probably cleaner than most, but it's hard to say for sure without testing it. It's a good sign that the seeds germinated and are growing though.
 
  • #10
Yep, things seem to be going well at the moment. :)

I've read of a few success stories with coco fiber over the internet and on this website, but I'd still like to hear from more of our Terraforum's members.

So . . . Have you tried to sprout Sundew seeds on pure ground coco fiber? I'm sure there's a few more of you out there who's at least tried it . . . right?
 
  • #11
On pure ground coir? No. But then I never use just pure (100%) peat either. I have used a blend of ground coir and coarse sand or chic grit with no issues. Both Drosera and Byblis seeds germinated and grew just fine.
 
  • #12
On pure ground coir? No. But then I never use just pure (100%) peat either. I have used a blend of ground coir and coarse sand or chic grit with no issues. Both Drosera and Byblis seeds germinated and grew just fine.

This is what I'm looking for! Thanks DragonsEye, you always come through! My question was based on pure coco fiber because I've sprouted sundews on pure peat before. But I'm really just looking for others who have used it one way or another.

What type did you use, or where did you source it from?
 
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  • #13
Can't recall the brand name but pick it up at herp shows. It comes in compressed bricks and is sold for use as bedding. Getting fertilizer free peat can be difficult sometimes and storage space is always an issue. The compressed coir takes up a lot less space and I don't have to worry about the mold issues that sometimes exist with keeping a moist bag of peat.
 
  • #14
Can't recall the brand name but pick it up at herp shows. It comes in compressed bricks and is sold for use as bedding. Getting fertilizer free peat can be difficult sometimes and storage space is always an issue. The compressed coir takes up a lot less space and I don't have to worry about the mold issues that sometimes exist with keeping a moist bag of peat.

I hear you there. I won't store peat wet any more. I've been thinking about picking up a package of Aurora Innovations | Coco Fiber from the local hydroponics shop to try out but that's a ton of coir to find something to do with if it turns out not to be safe.
 
  • #15
Do we have any first hand accounts of people who's plants have been salted to death by coco fiber? Do we know anyone who's actually tested the TDS?
I've heard the salt story several times, but haven't seen much first hand with it. Is this just one of those stories that perpetuates?
There aren't many plants that do well with salt, I imagine it would be in the best interest of sellers to have salt free coco fiber, or they wouldn't have many customers . . .
 
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  • #16
I have heard of people killing plants with coconut coir before, and bricks I've bought in the past have had visible salt crystals on the inside of the plastic wrapper. I've also read stories about people soaking coir for 24 hours repeatedly and still not being able to clean it well enough to use for CPs.

That said...I don't know what the average salt content of coir products is. I may have a small brick of typical quality coir laying around somewhere I could check, I just need to find it...
 
  • #17
i know some guys using coir for mycology, aLotta mushrooms are salt sensitive, and most i have spoken with say they have not had salt issues, one of them even tds'd tested it, said generally salt was no issue in his tests. that being said i think most the modern day vendors get it from sources that thoroughly wash it, so it is my feeling most the stories of salty coir come from the early days.
 
  • #18
I have Burmanii volunteers I didn't even sow growing happily in it. I'd sowed venus flytrap seeds. They germinated, hung around for a bit, then died. Was going to empty the pot, except I saw LOADS of tiny burmanii seedlings. So I let them have the pot. I do nothing special for them. They don't get the best light, they get water runoff dripped on them from the pot above them... they don't seem to mind.

drosera-burmanii-cocopeat.jpg


Earlier, when I wasn't that good at growing CPs (still not too good, actually) I had tried to grow drosera capensis and spatulata in pure cocopeat. Zero germination. But if it is any consolation, ALL my pots had zero germination then, so...
 
  • #19
I have Burmanii volunteers I didn't even sow growing happily in it. I'd sowed venus flytrap seeds. They germinated, hung around for a bit, then died. Was going to empty the pot, except I saw LOADS of tiny burmanii seedlings. So I let them have the pot. I do nothing special for them. They don't get the best light, they get water runoff dripped on them from the pot above them... they don't seem to mind.

Earlier, when I wasn't that good at growing CPs (still not too good, actually) I had tried to grow drosera capensis and spatulata in pure cocopeat. Zero germination. But if it is any consolation, ALL my pots had zero germination then, so...

Hey, I just saw this! Thanks for posting Vidyut! And the photo speaks volumes!

As for my plants, they've had no problem sprouting on coco core. I've had so many sundew plantlets that I've been giving them away! With sprouting seeds, I used long fiber sphagnum mixed with perlite and covered that with about an inch of pure coco core. For older plants I'm using a mix that is about 1 to 1 to 1 of coco core, long fiber sphagnum, and perlite. I have 2 different types of coco core, one marketed as being used for sprouting seeds, the other meant for reptile/amphibian use. They both work! :D
 
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