Cocopeat for hydroponics.

The short answer: for drip-irrigated hydroponics, specify washed low EC cocopeat, a peat/chips ratio matched to your irrigation frequency, and a format, grow bag, slab or block, matched to your bench and dripper layout. EC of the substrate matters more than any other single number because your nutrient recipe assumes the substrate starts near-neutral.

Why coir works in hydroponics

Cocopeat holds water like peat but keeps more air at container capacity, re-wets easily after dry-down, and is stable enough to run multiple crop cycles. For growers moving away from rockwool, coir is also plantable and disposable without a waste stream problem.

The numbers that matter

• EC. Unwashed coir carries potassium, sodium and chloride from the husk. Washed low EC material lets your fertigation recipe behave as designed. Our tested block sample reads 0.43 mS/cm, verified by an independent laboratory. Always compare EC values measured by the same method, because different methods give different readings on the same material.
• pH. Coir sits naturally in the 5.5–6.8 range that most fertigation programs want; our tested sample reads 6.2.
• Moisture at delivery. Drives block weight, hydration speed and whether compressed formats expand evenly. Our tested sample: 16.1%.
• Peat/chips ratio. More chips, more air and faster drainage, useful for high-frequency drip. More peat, more water buffer, useful where irrigation events are fewer.

State your EC target with its test method in the RFQ. "EC below 0.5" means different things under different test methods, and getting this wrong is the most common specification mistake we see.

Choosing a format

• Grow bags, ready-to-plant, holes cut to your layout; the default for vine crops on gutters.
• 5 kg blocks, hydrate and fill your own containers; the flexible, freight-efficient option.
• Chips blends, for long-cycle crops that need the root zone to stay open.