Coir / Cocopeat
Fertile Fibre is the alternative to using peat in horticulture. Better for you, the plants and the environment.
Click the link below to view an analysis of Fertile Fibre’s coir.
Fertile Fibre’s base is coir, otherwise known as coconut fibre. Coir is used throughout the world in the production of many products, including rope, string and coconut matting.
Coconuts when picked are around four times larger than the ones seen for sale in the shops, thanks to a large outer casing. The familiar coconut is sent for sale or to be processed into desiccated coconut, or coconut oil, and its shell ground up for use as fertiliser.
The outer covering is soaked in water to soften, and then put into a carding machine which removes the fibre used for rope.
During this process dust and small fibres fall beneath the machines, and for us this is the interesting part. This dust and fibres use to be dumped as waste, but now it is collected, dried and compressed into blocks.
Not all coirs are organically equal
You may think that coir is simply a standard commodity and But if it has been produced by a factory near the sea, salt water will have been used to soak it. This makes it unsuitable for our Fertile Fibre.
Also, some coir is sterilised with methyl bromide. This powerful chemical is used as a soil fumigant, and to control pests. But it also helps deplete the ozone layer, so is completely unacceptable in an organic product.
Quality assured, organically certified
Our stringent quality control procedures on the coir we import ensure that it contains no contaminants.
Fertile Fibre coir comes only from organically grown coconut trees: Certification of the organic produce is entirely done by international agencies accredited to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).
Fertile Fibre products are certified by the Soil Association, the UK’s leading campaigning and certification organisation for organic food and farming.