[PBS] coir mats
John Bryan
johnbryan at worldnet.att.net
Fri Jul 11 12:26:12 EDT 2003
Robert:
May I suggest you contact an orchid grower or the orchid society in your
area, they should know where to obtain coir. Cheers, John E. Bryan
ROBERT PARKER wrote:
>
> Hail to thee, blithe spirits......! (especially Arnold and Kelly)
>
> At a nursery the other day, I acquired a coir hanging basket liner, with the
> intent of cutting it up to fit into 4" square plastic pots on the bottom , to
> contain the potting soil from coming out of all those holes that manufacturers
> seem to think are needed for drainage. In the old days, I used sphagnum moss
> crammed into the pots and it worked very well. I can't always find bags of sm
> nowadays, so I hit upon the use of SHOP TOWELS. These are rolls of thick
> blue paper towels available at Albertson's and most Hardware stores. I cut
> each in quarters, fold to fit in each square 4" pot, then fill with mix , then plant.
> It lasts long enough till repotting or transplanting time, and is certainly very
> economical.
>
> The sphagnum moss was ideal, especially when one could find rolls of compressed
> moss to use in hanging baskets. Some of it always lasted at repotting and could
> be used again. Also roots could be dislodged from it with minimal damage. Prior
> to this I used wire screening cut-to-fit in the bottom of the pots, but at repotting
> time root damage was excessive.
>
> My current method is dictated by the amount of things to be potted up. Since
> becoming a PBS member, and being a staunch supporter of the BX offerings -
> (WHAT an understatement!) I now purchase pots by the case, SUPERSOIL by the
> ten bag lots, sand by the six bag lots (they're so HEAVY!) and I now suffer from
> carpel tunnel syndrome from all the labels and lists that must be made. I owe all
> of this to that warlock Jim Waddick, who suggested to me that I purchase a
> computer, from which I learned about PBS, and through the loving and benign help
> (or is it wicked and malign - since it has become almost an obsession) of Cathy
> Craig and Mary Sue Ittner, among others, to try planting things I never tried before.
> Today is totally different from the way things were when I started. Working with
> 40 to 50 pots at a clip, I no sooner finish a session, when another BX offering pops
> up - sometimes three in one month! when I must needs (or is that needs must?)
> start again.
>
> In a way, I sometimes laugh out loud when I consider that I started purchasing from
> the BX mostly to help out the organization which I assumed was small and struggling to
> make it - WHO KNEW! that it would become the behemoth it threatens to be!
>
> To get back to the subject: What I am presently looking for is a source for coir
> compressed squares say 4" square, which can be popped into a pot prior to filling
> it with potting soil. Working with large quantities at a time (such as a commercial
> nursery does) there may be an outlet for such an item - it would save a lot of time,
> a commodity of which some of us are in short supply. I did explore the websites
> provide by Kelly (I think) and the vgrove.com/wholesale.htm site offers something
> called pot covers with no further details. Maybe I should consider the chips?
> Any info will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Also, a source of square 4" pots with NO BOTTOM HOLES - only four slits on the
> sides like Farrand Jardiniere pots (no longer being made, Farrand informs me) would
> also be appreciated.
>
> ROBERT PBS 10038
>
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