Physical properties of various coconut coir dusts compared to peat

By M. Abad, F. Fornes, C. Carrión, V. Noguera, P. Noguera, Á. Maquieira, R. Puchades. 2005

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Selected physical properties of 13 coconut coir dusts from Asia, America, and Africa were compared to physical properties of sphagnum peat. All properties studied differed signifi cantly between and within sources, and from the peat. Coir dusts from India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand were composed mainly of pithy tissue, whereas most of those from Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, and Mexico contained abundant fi ber which was refl ected by a higher coarseness index (percentage by weight of particles larger than 1 mm in diameter). Coir dust was evaluated as a lightweight material, and its total porosity was above 94% (by volume). It also exhibited a high air content (from 24% to 89% by volume) but a low easily available and total water-holding capacity which ranged from 1 mm had only a slight or nonsignifi cant effect. Sphagnum peat is a widely used medium constituent for the production of container- ized crops (Bunt, 1988; Puustjarvi, 1977; Raviv et al., 1986, 2002; Schmilewski, 1996), particularly in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. However, given the rising price of high-quality horticultural peat (Raviv et al., 1986), peat's highly conducive effects for diseases caused by

Subfields: Earth-Surface Processes

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