Hi thank you. I had already looked it up and definitely recognise it!Plenty of it in our garden! I never use weedkillers! Too many squirrels and birds about! yes I am in the chilly UK! Frosty and cold here tonight!
new owner help
- Thread starter rafsmum
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- Nov 17, 2013
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Yes, it was the first two replacement items at the top of the page that Amazon had suggested you consider when the one you ordered was out of stock which I noticed perlite. At the right hand top of that same page are the coco coir bricks which you could use instead of buying the coco coir as a mulch or a powder. The bricks are much more economical to use. You just have to soak them in water to expand them before use. Sorry for the confusion.
No worries yes, this is a large brick. Its a 5k one which expands to about 70L Worked out at a far better deal than the 650g bricks. I assume i will just break some off and soak it? It will be delivered Sunday apparently, so I will add some to the existing substrate for now, which is a week old, so he gets used to it without it being a total change, then in 2 weeks i will change it for just the coir. About how much would i need to soak, for each time?
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By the way, are these a good idea to use on the bottom, underneath the substrate? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08JPCZQVX/?tag=
not needed, waste of money imo. The substrate should be 4-5 inches deep at least.
I thought of it more as saving the bottom of the enclosure from getting soft and damaged. as you can take it out and wash it. ?? Will it do any harm? How much of the brick would i need to make the substrate that deep throughout? Should it be the same size in his bed? thanks
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Not sure about the mat keeping the bottom of your enclosure from getting damp. I think it will absorb moisture just as the loose coir does. Additionally, in order to keep the coco coir substrate damp, you will actually need to dump more water into the enclosure and mix it into the coir again about once a week or so depending upon the humidity level in the ambient air in your home (if you are not using a closed chamber).
One of the small bricks of coco coir requires one US gallon of water to rehydrate it. This results in 7-8 liters of substrate. You will have to extrapolate to figure out how much the item you bought weighs in comparison to a brick and use the appropriate amount of water. Or try cutting pieces of equal size to the bricks and use a gallon of water for each piece.
For those big bricks I just mix it with a hose in a wheelbarrow, add water until its the consistency I want. The one in the ad he linked was 5kg, they are pretty big, the typical bricks are 1kg.
@rafsmum the matt wont do anything different from the loose coir as Zovick says. You need to use a pond liner or similar waterproof membrane to protect the enclosure if it is made of unprotected wood. You need to think of the substrate as a moisture container from now on, you will basically need to water it like a plant.
