Cocopeat Quality Testing and Batch Laboratory Reports

A grower can design a fertigation programme around almost any substrate, provided it behaves the same way in every delivery. A supplier who reliably ships EC 0.6 is worth more than one who averages 0.4 across a range of 0.2 to 1.1.

That is why we test every batch and send the results with the goods, rather than describing our product as high quality and leaving you to find out.

• Electrical conductivity (EC) — recorded per batch, and at each stage of the wash so we can see where a variation came from rather than only that it happened.
• pH — recorded per batch.
• Moisture content — measured before dispatch, because moisture at loading determines what arrives.
• Particle size distribution — sieve analysis, to confirm the grade matches what was ordered.
• Water holding capacity and air-filled porosity — the two properties that actually decide how a substrate behaves in your system.
• Expansion ratio — measured rehydration, so the litreage on the specification is the litreage you get.
• Foreign matter — screened and recorded.

Sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and chloride analysis is available on request and is relevant mainly where buffered material is specified.

We measure EC by the 1:1.5 volume extract method.

This matters more than almost anything else on this page. The two methods in common use — 1:1.5 volume extract and saturated media extract — return numbers that differ by roughly a factor of two for the same material. A buyer who measures by saturated media extract and compares against a 1:1.5 figure will read our substrate as twice as salty as it is, and reject a sample that was never out of specification.

If your specification uses saturated media extract, or any other method, tell us and we will supply the equivalent figure. We would rather do the conversion than lose an account to a units mismatch.

Batch numbering. Each production batch carries a reference traceable to its production date and the husk intake it came from. Husk is graded and recorded at the yard, which is what makes yield and quality variation readable later instead of mysterious.

Samples. Every sample ships with the test report for that exact lot, enclosed in the parcel and emailed with the airway bill. We keep a sealed duplicate under the same batch number.

Shipments. Batch documentation is available with every container, and loading is recorded against the batches loaded.

Certifications currently held are available on request — ask and you will get an accurate list rather than a wall of logos.

We do not hold organic certification. Our cocopeat is a natural material with no chemical additives in its unbuffered form, which is how we currently supply it. Where buffering is requested, the material is treated with calcium nitrate to displace sodium and potassium from the exchange sites. That is standard horticultural practice, but it means buffered material cannot be described as chemical-free. If you require certified organic substrate, tell us and we will advise honestly whether we can supply it.

We do not heat-treat or sterilise, and we do not currently test for pathogens, so we do not describe our product as pathogen-free. Where a programme requires certified sterilised material, we will say so before you order rather than after.

Cocopeat quality questions buyers ask

Our products: Coco grow bags · 5 kg blocks · Coco chips · 600 g bricks · Open-top bags · Coir fibre

Crop guidance: Tomato · Strawberry · Cucumber · Capsicum · Blueberry

Read next: Buffered vs unbuffered · Our factory · Private label & OEM

Ask for a sample and the batch report comes with it.