Homemade coir?

[Fusca]

I recently cleaned off my Livistona chinensis trunk and found a seedling growing in the fibers of the old leaf boots.  I know that coco coir is an excellent ingredient for potted palms/plants so I thought I could grind up some of this fiber to use in my mixes.  Has anyone else tried this?  If nothing else I could use it for organic mulch.

[flplantguy]

I have not but love the idea.  I have a ton of sabals and even a dead tree that could make for some interesting potting mix, with sand and perlite.  Ill do some experimenting and post back. Concerns would be ensuring the pH is good and microbial life is not an issue.  Keeping the mix light and fast draining would also be a must so it does not turn sour (biochar or charcoal would also help).

[Fusca]

3 hours ago, flplantguy said:

I have not but love the idea.  I have a ton of sabals and even a dead tree that could make for some interesting potting mix, with sand and perlite.  Ill do some experimenting and post back. Concerns would be ensuring the pH is good and microbial life is not an issue.  Keeping the mix light and fast draining would also be a must so it does not turn sour (biochar or charcoal would also help).

I tried mixing some of the coir with my existing soil mix and it drains very fast.  I hadn't considered using biochar or charcoal. 

[flplantguy]

27 minutes ago, Fusca said:

I tried mixing some of the coir with my existing soil mix and it drains very fast.  I hadn't considered using biochar or charcoal. 

I personally love the fast drainage so thats encouraging! Microbes and changing mix conditions during organic matter breakdown are a concern, but adding charcoal helps limit nutrient loss from decay, and orchids do great with it, so i think it would be a good addition but my mix now doesnt use it so it may not be needed.