Organic Coir, 51 Quart Expanding Soil, Great for Seeds and Potting

This organic coir is fantastic quality and exactly what I needed. It hydrates quickly, expands beautifully, and provides excellent moisture retention and aeration for potting mixes. It's clean, consistent, and has zero weird odors or debris mixed in. Definitely a reliable go-to for starting seeds, blending custom soil, or potting up plants. Highly recommend!

While this wasn’t my first experience working with plants, it was my first time needing to completely replace soil to rescue a plant from gnat-infested soil. I chose Back to the Roots Organic Coir, 51 Quart Expanding Soil because I wanted a clean, organic option that would help eliminate pests rather than reintroduce them. I also was working with a small space to replant. I did this in the bathroom. I placed the compressed block directly into a 27-gallon tote and added water let it expand and did a little chopping with a spatula. What stood out the most was just how much soil this product produced. Expanding the coir directly in the 27-gallon tote nearly filled the entire container, which really exceeded my expectations for a single compressed block. The soil has a rich, fine texture and looks evenly hydrated and well-aerated, as shown in the image. It was easy to work with and didn’t feel heavy or muddy, making it ideal for gently replanting without compacting the roots too tightly. Overall, this expanding soil made a stressful plant-rescue situation feel manageable and successful. The lightweight texture retains moisture while still draining well, which is especially important when dealing with fungus gnats. Since switching to this soil, the plant feels more stable and supported, and the surface stays clean instead of soggy. For anyone needing to refresh contaminated soil, repot stressed plants, or simply wants a clean and reliable organic growing medium, Back to the Roots Organic Coir delivers excellent volume, quality, and peace of mind. Picture is of the newly repotted plant.

Excellent coconut coir. I used to germinate multiple seeds in mini greenhouses. Excellent water retention and high germination rates. This brick is a good price, just use a large bucket to reconstitute or break it up beforehand for smaller batches. This is a home gardening essential.

Good stuff and I use it exclusively. I add perlite, osmocote, vermiculite, a spade full of chicken coop dirt and a handful of wood ash. Mix well and prepare for stellar results. I have amazing plants every year and don't see myself using anything else.

UPDATE: Back to the Roots also reached back to we when I contacted them to make work with me to fix the issue. :) These are each supposed to be 10 pounds. I only weighed them because of the huge size difference in each package. If I had only ordered one I would have never thought about weighing it. The weight varies from 6.6, 9..0, 10.8 and 12 pounds for the four different packages I received. The product itself however works great in my garden and I have had great results with my plants. Last year, I used these in my tomato beds and had very nice yields. It worked so well last year I ordered more this year to add in more spots. Amazon worked with me to return the packages that were underweight and I received delivery very quickly.

I used several bricks of coco coir to add organic matter to a 10x12sqft garden plot that was previously hard, compacted Arizona clay soil and sand. It works beautifully with our soil- coco coir soaks up moisture but releases it slowly, and by doing this, it also soaks up tons of excess minerals and locks them up, which I am confident will help prevent caliche buildup. Tilling the first few inches and mixing with a rough 1:1 coir-to-clay ratio, then covering with a top layer of a denser, 1:2 coir-to-clay mixture, resulted in firm beds that are a little spongy when compressed down by hand, which is exactly what I wanted for starting seeds in situ. This stuff is fantastic- it works exactly how you expect it to, and you can just drench it with your hose, so hot water is not required, it’s just slightly faster. I was able to hydrate a whole brick in about 20 minutes this way. It is an excellent soil amendment, especially if excess minerals or fertilizer are a concern. It also works somewhat as a mulch, and I regularly dust a thin layer on top of my plant beds to ensure their roots remain fully covered. I go through it extremely quickly whenever I need fresh soil, so if you have plans beyond a few pots, having one or two extra bricks will not hurt, and you can store it indefinitely until you need it. I will note here that using this alone will be sufficient for some plants, but you should have a source or clay, sand, or some other inorganic substrate to blend with coco coir most of the time. It is not prone to rotting quickly, but like any organic matter it will begin to decay once moist. In my experience (I’ve planted a few separate greenhouses and plots with it) it tends to pick up the odors already coming from your garden. This is probably because the coir becomes a host to the bacteria and fungi that are currently living around you, so keep that in mind if you’re concerned about odor- it actually smells kind of fresh and woody when first hydrated, but that will change after a few days or weeks once it’s been colonized by local bacteria and fungi. If the odor becomes a serious problem, it is likely you have a larger microbial issue with your garden, and it is not directly the coir, but it could potentially add to that problem. I would argue that, over time, it may improve your soil health, and by extension reduce unpleasant odors once a new microbial equilibrium is reached- but definitely test it in a small area or pot if you want to be sure. I have never had a major issue with odor that didn’t resolve itself after some amount of time, but allowing it to dry out will almost certainly be effective. Overall, it’s a low risk soil amendment, and I’ve never encountered any serious issues with it. If you’re new to gardening, it is extremely forgiving and easy to use, compact for storage, and can be used for pretty much any project. I’ve successfully used varying amounts in soil for tomatoes, herbs, plants native to the Sonoran desert, cacti, wildflowers, and roots.

I will NEVER use anything else. This expanded EXACTLY as described, and filled my flower containers. The best soil I have ever used. Flowers and veggie plants are thriving!!

Works great. One brick of this fills a 30 gallon grow bag quite nicely. Just be prepared to use A LOT of water to get this fully expanded, and open outside if you don't want dust/particles all over the place. Makes a great amendment to any type of soil. Keeps the water in longer too.