Coco Husks Etc.

[Smithson]

I've found a place that dumps all it's coco nut inner husks, this is the soft inside part without the hard shell. This stuff is a great mulch, it takes a long time to break down, doesn't compress even if walked on, will retain a good balance of water and air for a long time and isn't attacked by termites.

I'd like suggestions on the best way to use it. Generally I just spread it around, however I think it might be a bit acidic. Would it be better to leave it in a pile for a while, maybe with some manure/compost to reduce the acidity? Another method I use is to leave it in my fish pond filter for a few days after which it's full of fish poo.

Other members may consider checking around for coconut processing plants, many burn or dump pickup loads of husks and will give them away free provided you collect them.

Another thing I've been using is coco fibre matting from the inside of old mattresses. I have ppl collect it from the rubbish and sell it to me. This is great for laying out underneath trees on top of a layer of compost/manure. It's woven tightly enough that the weeds can't penetrate.

I'd be interested to hear other members thoughts on coco husk.

BTW, this sub forum is really coming along, it's a shame I've been flatout with work and have little time to read or contribute.

Edited May 29, 2009 by Smithson

[Smithson]

Today I loaded my pick up with coco coir, this is in large pieces from the inside of the coconut. It's very light and spongy.

On Fri I will take it to my property. Does anyone know the best way to handle it? Should I just throw it straight under my trees or let them sit in the rain for a few months (too lessen acidity). Would it be helpful to compost them with chook poo? I was thinking the heat was speed process of breaking down a bit.

[jandtaa]

Hi Smithson 

Yeah know how you feel I'm flat out chefing in the UK at the moment, just getting over a killer bank holiday/half term !!

I get my husks on a smaller scale from a neighbour who sells coconut desserts at the local market (couple of rice sackfuls at a time). I tend to chop them into 2-4" pieces with a machete and then soak them for a couple of days in a 55 (seems to take this long for the water to fully penetrate, recommend breaking a piece open to check). I then add to a hot compost mix. Some further discussion here link to post

Good to here from you again

J 

[Smithson]

Thanks Jandtaa,

My pick up is crammed full, so chopping isn't really an option. These are inners husks with nice loose fibers and can lay pretty flat on the ground.

I'll dump them in a pile and let the rain wash through for a while, then mix with about 40 bags of chook poo, should do the trick.

I'll try and post some pics.

[WatersEdge]

Hi Gents,

I occasionally venture over to this other side,

Organic Farming Forum

hoping the natives accept me

since I'm obviously one of those Normal Farmer types.

I mean well, and I don't use a lot of poisons on the times when I do indulge.

I recently came across the local coconut merchant with a disposal problem for the coir.

I now haul away a pickup load every day for free.

He's glad to see it go, and of course, I get all giddy about anything free.

Started by spreading it deep,

perhaps 0.30 m when first dumped loose

trying to get rid of a daily truckload after all,

watering it drenched from the hose,

and walking it down,

under the meter wide eaves of my house.

When all soaked and packed, it might spring back up to 0.10 m thick

Working my way day by day around the whole house eventually

Next I'll cover the stark landfill clay that built up the grade of my yard.

Photos on request by PM to email.

But what has me most excited is to spread it on my hog barn roof,

where I already have sprinkler cooling on the bare corrugated cement panels.

The dry coir will insulate the roof, so I expect significant results immediately.

The stuff is so hydrophilic that it will absorb dew in the night even if there is no rain.

When a rain shower comes, it will be captured in place on the roof.

Then during dry season, a good drench from the sprinklers will keep the barn much cooler.

What works on my hog barn will also serve on anyone else's house.

Imagine that your house doesn't have to be hot?

I can almost imagine how pleased the ladies will be to find coir on top of their houses....

For those who rush out to do it,

consider the water weight of soaked coir on top of the roof

will be far greater than some Thailand structures are intended to bear.

I'm not responsible for your collapsed house or barn.

It holds more than 3X its weight in water.

Just this minute tested it:

A 64 gram dry sample,

drenched air squeezed out underwater,

drip drained over open space,

came out 280 gram

(280-64) / 64 => 3.375

That means you can weight the dry coir,

and calculate 4.375X that weight will sit on your roof after a storm.

The next idea is to make vertical panels of hardware cloth with coir stuffed in between,

the thickness maintained by wire ties

Breeze passing through soaked coir matte will give good evaporative cooling.

The other obvious is to dump it into the corral as hog bedding.

The evaporative effect under the eaves of my house is dramatic.

even just at ground level

It's always much cooler to the bare feet than the adjacent concrete.

The reason is the huge surface area of water exposed on the coir fiber

So a problem of hogs keeping the concrete floor wet with urine and splash bath water,

will soon become a solution of evaporatively cooled bedding.

When it is fouled beyond useful purpose,

then simply send it out with the rest of the manure to the compost heap

It will also absorb the Ammonia in the waste,

which in turn eliminates the odor,

maintaining my hogs reputation far and wide

as the ever fragrant variety.

I understand that coir has salt in it,

so that for a potting bag medium it must be leached first.

A nursery friend in Chiang Mai told me he learned the hard way,

as a whole batch of new plants were salted dead from fresh coir.

Can't say for my own experience,

and at this point don't care as it's water absorbent mulch,

where I don't want weeds to grow...

and where the odd lot of salt will leach downward into the deep soil.

Always on the lookout for the next commercially feasible product,

and this certainly could be it.

Landscape and Wall Panel Cooling.

Now I've left farming and gone to chemistry and engineering...

enough for the day.

[teletiger]

Nice posting there WE. I can certainly vouch for the dead, potted on, seedlings, thanks to my....slackness.

I've noticed that when I steep the coir for more than 24 hours, it turns the water a rich brown colour, suspiciously like tannin (tannic acid). So could unrefined coir be saline and acidic?

Regards.

[WatersEdge]

Hi teletiger,

At your mention I did some searching on coconut,

and found that Tannic Acid is indeed there.

I didn't see any mention of salt,

so it seems that acid is what kills anything planted in unleached coco fiber

Silly me, I took someone's word for it,

and you can see how he had the wrong information,

as a plant dying from salt is about as dead as from acid.

It's not the cause of death that defines the event.

To answer your question in the chemically correct way,

It is possible that a salt and an acid can occupy the same solution,

in your words...saline and acidic.

A salt is defined as the result of mixing an acid and a base,

so in the case of excess of acid,

you'd have salt with unreacted acid remaining.

The general chemistry term of salt not to be confused with common table salt NaCl

NaCl Sodium Chloride is one of many salts....it happens to be the one that mammal life depends on.

It depends on what acid and what base you blend, which determines which salt you get out.

For instance,

Limestone CaCO3 is technically a salt

Gypsum CaSO4 also

Then there are things that aren't NaCl but act very similar

Potassium Chloride KCl

Calcium Chloride CaCl2

Back to the topic of Coir,

I've some across a second coconut merchant in the same town,

so both of them now are pleased that I carry everything away for free.

Referring back to Smithson's original post,

Coir is steadily available as you put forth the effort to haul it from the merchant's work area.

And as for Rice Hull,

some merchants may charge a little for it,

but a good many of them are glad to see it gone for free.