I just recently got some that are in a brick form. That is compacted and you put it in a bucket or wheel bearrow and add water. I got some at an Ace Hardware store. None of the big hardwares places had it but the Ace hardware only. If you have an Ace hardware near you, you could have them order you some. Bill C

I think I saw some at the Petsmart yesterday. You might look there. :)

Thank you both,

Bill, where in Ace did you find it,i mean,what department?

Wayne

I found the coconut coir in the garden department. People use it instead of peat moss. Just make sure they have coir and not the coco hulls. which is used like small bark on top of soil.
Coconut coir retains water and is good for the summmer to keep the soil moist at the top where the worms like to be. I also put some wet cardboard on top and soak it every other day or so to help when it get windy or summer heat gets things drying out. Bill C

Pls visit our website at www.densuventures.com and hit the research tab.
Email me and let me know if I may be of further assistance to you
Jake

I think the brick of coconut husk is great. There is a small pet-shop by my place that sells a "value pack." It is 3 bricks for $10.00 (am I allowed to post prices on the boards?). I have seen them at Petsmart for $5 per brick. I asked multiple Petsmart employees and they had no clue. While I was walking around Petsmart with my puppy, I saw them in the "reptile" section. It was the same in the little petshop by my place. The label had a little lizard on it, so I guess it is used for those pets also.

My advice for hydrating:
For one brick, fill a 5 gallon bucket with ~ 2 gallons water. Drop in the brick and WALK AWAY for ~ 8 hours. Upon your return, the brick will still be in brick form, but much bigger. Carefully lift out of the water and break-up in the worm bin. If you break up in the water, it is a mess and a pain in the butt! You may have known this alreay, but after my first brick of mess, I had to figure out a better way.

Wayne, If you don't mind my asking - what are you using the coir for? Worm bins? There is an easily available, free alternative.

Lee, what "free alternative" are you referring to. Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm talking about newpaper, cardboard, and coffee grounds (which most any coffee shop will give you for free). I run my bins with about 50% newspaper, 33% cardboard, and the rest coffee grounds mixed together as bedding. I figure why pay for something when free alternatives are available.

Hi my name's Diego, and I'm in charge of the Export Sales of a company called Artifibras. Artifibras is a 100% Mexican company located in Uruapan city in the state of Michoacán. Artifibras is dedicated to the manufacturing of coconut fiber products, such as: nursery and greehouses coconut pots, decorative pots, liners, hydroponics cubes, coconut sheets used as mats, and others.

For more info, please contact me.

If you lived in Canada, there is a good place to buy coir. See link below; the baled coir is a great price--it's the shipping that's a killer! Still, I bought a couple of bales some years ago.
Pinetree Seeds also sells the small bricks. https://www.superseeds.com/products.php?search=coir%20brick
I use it for seed-starting. Sometimes I mx it with peat, vermiculite, perlite, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: One source of coir

You might want to check places selling hydrophonic (?spelling) gardening supplies. I paid CDN$ 10 for a 5kg block. There is one in my town, so no shipping. That's the best price I know of so far.

Otis

I'm trying papyrus root mat from my Koi pond - looks just like coconot coir - worms seem happy enough. Maybe bullrushes have similar root mats around the rhizomes.

Here is a link that might be useful: how-to-make-paper.com

african:

I bet. Just imagine all that micro-organism from the pond. Hmmm - yummie. And whenever you need to add water to your worm bin, use pond water.

Otis.

When I used coir as bedding I found coir in the castings, a lot of coir. If you are looking for castings, I like using bedding that will be 'used' by the worms a little quicker than coconut husk. Junk mail, newspaper and cardboard work well for me. Just my opinion! what works for you... works for you!!!

Can I just put "fresh" coir into my bin? My friends work at a green-dump and there are a lot of coconuts dumped there, most are split open. I thought I'd just pick up a couple, strip them of the fuzzy stuff, hydrate (?) and place in my bin.

I'm going to harvest and thought of putting the coir on the bottom instead of burlap. Burlap breaks down to quickly. I have a plastic tote. Holes in cover, bottom, sides - and a couple of pvc w/holes running thru horizontally.

Thanks!

On second thought, I'll take the intact coconuts because I don't know if the open ones were exposed to chemicals.

wormnelly,
just an idea. If you are concerned about chemicals, soaking them in water and changing the water several times MIGHT get rid of it.

Hi wormnelly,
I recycle the green coconuts that are top lopped open for drinking it's water.
When freshly chopped & put in my worm "bin" their moisture content is high; worm bedding seems to remain too wet.
I was not satisfied in the rate of penetration by the worms into it's fibre matrix. The worms just were shying away & found keeping busy elsewhere.
The volume of coconut "chips" seemed to be an impediment & fresh was contributing to heat build up, while sitting there.
Now I shave off the green skin with machete, slice into chunks & set aside the undeveloped inner core; skin + core go into an open air pile for decomposing.
The fibrous part is set to dry out, so it can be chopped up more before doling it out to the worms. The worms will use it more in that carbonaceous stage as a bedding amendment.
Of course if it gets rained on there are fungii that can turn it's color; worms are usually co-existing fine with fungii .
Some then soak the coir to leach out any tannins, but I don't bother with the young nut.
This method of processing fibres does not involve softening by immersion in sea water, so I don't soak it before use to wash out salt.
Commercial operations using sea water are usually associated with mature coconut husks left over from copra/shreds/oil enterprises. The fibre is older & handles differently since drier. Pound for pound of useable coir this dry hull nut gives a much cheaper end product; due to the time consuming labor involved in working with the green coconut verses water loosened fibers.
I have processed ripe coconut & saved/dried the fiber for other purposes. It is quite an upper body work out to pull apart into shreds (mask your nose). Opening the nut is better done against a firmly fixed "spike" than repeated machete cuts.
There are minerals in the coconut fibre, especially potassium; also manganese & phosphorus. Your dry coir can run from about 5.2 - 6.8 pH, which is OK for mixing in with other food for worms.

otis11: Thanks for the suggestion!

gringojay: I've eaten/drank from coconuts that I grew at my old place. The water & meat are so nice when fresh!

I'll try the fuzzy, stringy part in a separate, smaller bin and see how it goes!

Thanks again for all the info.

Lee, it is really great to use newspaper and cardboard, but I find it just mats down, doesn't cover the kit scraps well, doesn't make a bedding of any kind of depth for the worms to work through, and overall just doesn't work for me. Please let me know how you do it with these materials. I use a rubbermade bin.

Socks. I have rubbermaid bins and flow through in tall kitchen waste baskets. I have trouble with cardboard, but the newspaper is working very well for me. I think the difference is that I'm using a paper shredder for the newsprint. After shredding (the old, straight kind, not the newer diamond shaped bits), I fluff it up to separate the individual pieces from their neighbors, put it in water, squeeze it out and then fluff again. It covers the food really well. I easily can make 6 inches of bedding with LOTS of small air pockets. It will eventually be crushed under newer stuff, but by the it's half eaten and doesn't mat.

If anyone is having success with cardboard, please let us know how you process it before putting it in. If I just tear it in to scraps and drop them in (wet), they stick together and can become matted, anaerobic and slimy between the pieces. Yuck. My paper shredder can't handle the cardboard (except the toilet rolls).

I shred cardboard- I have a 16 sheet shredder, that also does credit cards, and so far it's coping with cardboard. Another thing I use cardboard for is as a moisture mat at the top of the bin. Either as a single layer or a few layers, it does mat together, but the worms love gathering under it, and there's always loads of cocoons there. Eventually when it gets too soggy to lift successfully, it shreds and fluffs quite easily by hand- and there's loads of castings between the layers to ensure it breaks down really fast. I sometimes mix this soggy, cast-ridden cardboard through food before adding it, and it speeds up processing.

I think tearing the paper is the best. I did shred (cross cut) for a few months but I don't know what's going on because it doesn't seem to break down as quickly as the torn-by-hand?? Maybe because the small shred cuts it get matted together?

Cardboard makes for nice VC. I swipe the stuff from work - the puffy pieces that protect items in shipping. Tear it up while watching TV and mix with the kitchen scraps.

Didn't get my coconuts yet. . . maybe this weekend!

I HAD that straight cut shredder that you can fit on top of of a 5 gal bucket nicely (didn't come w. a container f. the shredded stuff). It died after I got hooked on Vermicomposting. I also find that straight cut newspaper works better for bedding than the cross-cut but they don't make those simple shredders anymore. I bought that one about 11 yrs. ago to shred the occasional sensitive material.

Cardboard from cereal boxes and the like (not corrugated cardb.) gets folded 2 or 3 times and rolled up and I stick them in the bin like chimneys. The bottom part will suck up extra moisture from the VC and bedding and food, and at that time easy to "pluck" apart in small pieces by hand. So, it's like killing 3 birds w. one stone because those "chimneys" also added extra air pockets.

I use a cross cut shredder for corrugated cardboard and it works well for me. After I soak it, I wring it as well as possible, then fluff it up as I put it in the container. Covers scraps really well, doesn't mat, and is free. Besides, that's less cardboard in the landfill.

OK, Here's how I do my "bedding":
I have a diamond cut shredder that can handle cardboard. First I shred a certain amount of newspaper (for me - 50 sheets) and put it into a plastic bin. Then I add 3 quarts of water and put the lid on and let it sit overnight. The newspaper absorbs most of the water but there is still a little left at the bottom. The next day, I add to it DRY shredded cardboard, coffee grounds, a small amount of sand, a small amount of cornmeal, and a small amount of ground eggshell. ALL dry. Then I mix it all together by hand till there are no more newspaper clumps and no dry spots. After I get it all mixed, I put the lid on the bin and set it aside for a couple of weeks till it becomes "biologically active." Then I began to use it in my bins. The cardboard and cornmeal add protein, the sand and eggshell adds grit which aids in the worms digestion, the eggshell also adjusts the PH of the bedding somewhat and adds calcium which the worms need for reproduction. I have had great success with this mixture. I always have lots of fat worms. Also, the coffee grounds keep the paper products from clumping.

I'd bet if you also added a handful of finished VC it would become 'biologically active' faster. I've seen your name a lot, so you probably already know that. Since you have such a detailed receipt, without mentioning that, I thought I'd say something.

Yes, Susan, you are correct. I also wanted to say that once I get the ingredients mixed, IF you were to squeeze a handful of it, you would hear the "squishy" water sound that lets you know it's moist. But it isn't so moist that any water comes out. That is the moisture level that works for MY bins. Yours may be different. Remember - well managed bins should have NO leacheate coming from them!

Got mine in a brick from Canadian Tire.

For Coir Bricks, I found this great site on e-bay - I think they still have some  Try these guys out  TheyÂre good, very prompt in shipping and their bricks seems to be least expensiveÂ.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=220629990971&Category=75665&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1#ht_625wt_1133

Here is a link that might be useful: ebay - Coconut fiber - Coir Bricks

I am looking for large amounts of coconut fibre.\, i use this as bedding for my finch breeding operation, does any one know where i can get larger quantities to canada?

vantas, I can not get the email to work, but want to know more about coir.

Looking for someplace in Alberta Canada (or just Canada) to purchse Coco Coir for vermicomposting.

Something to think about: I dont know where you live but I live in Vegas. When the winds come blowing through the storms they know branches off the palm trees. I go out and collect them on those days or after. The palms are related to coconut and the fiber (broad bases) are some times greater than 1 square foot. I compost them and as they are wetted I tear them up with heavy duty scissors. The worms seems to love them. Just a thought

newbie here,,,,,been doing lots of reading..Yes,hydroponic store does sell it small brick or "bale"

"If anyone is having success with cardboard, please let us know how you process it before putting it in."

I have a cheap paper shredder that I use on paper and cardboard. It is so cheep that it is labeled as Amazon.com's house brand. It shreds in thin strips and cuts them every few inches.

I feed the cardboard into it perpendicular to the grain of the cardboard. The holes are on the sides of the shreds, like a truss. Not like tubes that go long ways.

I just dump it in the bin, or use it as topping on the bin, or layer it with other things to hold moisture there and provide air spaces. I don't want to play around with wet sloppy paper products, so I put it all in dry and then water it when I think water is needed. It stays well shaped and open until I don't notice it anymore.

What I don't like is how the newspaper just makes a pancake without providing many other benefits besides holding water and being a backup food supply. Mixing the dry paper and cardboard shreds does not seem to work well. It's like they don't like each other. What I've started to do is shred the paper and cardboard at the same time instead of alternating them. This mixes them together much better, but takes more effort and coordination.

Do note that a typical, low-cost, paper shredder is not intended for heavy duty use, nor is it intended for cardboard. Mine has metal teeth and plastic spacers. To prevent a meltdown, I only shred about 2 or so boxes at a time. Then I do something else for a while to let it get back to room temperature. In other words, I don't pile up a bunch of things to shred and then make it a task. I just grab a few items now and then, get them done, and then go back to what I was doing. My shredder came with a bin. When it gets full, I dump it in a large box that was spared (except for its top flaps). When I need some shred, I have all I need in the big box without having to try and crank it all out at once and melting the shredder.

I get cardboard good and wet first, and then hand-tear into strips or pieces. I does not have to be shredded. 4-6" chunks are ok. I guess you would need to dry it back out to feed it dry. I don't, but I have NO moisture issues in my outdoor open bottom bins.

I believe plain thick cardboard is far superior to paper. It does not clump, it has no colors or bleach added, It has built-in air spaces (LOST when shredded), and the glue provides some protein worms love.

I cut corr. cardboard in strips of 6 to 12 inches across the corr. Roll them and use them dry as chimneys in my bins. Once they're damp and partly "eaten" it's easy to tear them to smaller pieces by hand and put in new chimneys. This makes my shredder have a longer life. It also enables me to use thicker (like 3 ply) corrugated cb which is my favourite.
I do have coconut fiber but haven't used it till now. I have it as back up in case any of my bin ever gets too wet. I wouldn't buy anymore of it. Note the word "buy".