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Reptile Bedding

barletta

Bandaid
Veteran
I have seen a few different types of coco bricks being sold as 'reptile bedding/substrate'. Most of the bricks mention that plants love to grow in coco, etc.. I am FAR from a hydro shop, and if I order online, I will pay $20 to ship $30 worth of coco (don't have my $250 order together yet growco...). I was wondering if anyone has used these bricks? I am worried that they may not be flushed fully, would I be ok just to flush em myself with a bunch of (warm) water? They aren't any cheaper @ $4-5 per brick, but they are very convenient if they are usable. I had to throw some pro-mix in my coco mix, as I am running low. At least the Agway knew what the hell I was talking about and offered to order some. The looks that I got at the high-end garden center were priceless. Try it some time. Go to a garden center that sells as much garden furniture as it does plants and ask for coco and/or worm castings. Like I had 3 friggin heads!! I did find that they carry ALL of the espoma line, and most of the neptune's harvest stuff (bottles anyway). The girl said, "worm castings, what are you trying to grow?" I tell her tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, she picks up some ol 10-20-20 and starts telling me how good it is.....
 

GET MO

Registered Med User
Veteran
Try it, flush um till you get the ph and ec down, check the run off to tell where your at, should work.
 

streetsweeper

New member
I here that is top quality...your talking about the Bed A Beast bricks right??With a lizard in the cover!!?

I have this same kind,that I originally purchased to grow shrooms...anyways yeah just hydrate,and then flush very good..then leave it in the sun for a couple days to dry very well and remove the salt!!

Make sure you stir the coir with your hand every other hour so the mix gets evenly dry!!Repeat this again for as many times as you want to remove ALL the salts,etc...


Also make sure you mix the coir with perlite bfore using to grow !!Like 50/50..and throw in some soil if you want dudette!!
 
G

Guest

barletta said:
I have seen a few different types of coco bricks being sold as 'reptile bedding/substrate'. Most of the bricks mention that plants love to grow in coco, etc.. I am FAR from a hydro shop, and if I order online, I will pay $20 to ship $30 worth of coco (don't have my $250 order together yet growco...). I was wondering if anyone has used these bricks? I am worried that they may not be flushed fully, would I be ok just to flush em myself with a bunch of (warm) water? They aren't any cheaper @ $4-5 per brick, but they are very convenient if they are usable. I had to throw some pro-mix in my coco mix, as I am running low. At least the Agway knew what the hell I was talking about and offered to order some. The looks that I got at the high-end garden center were priceless. Try it some time. Go to a garden center that sells as much garden furniture as it does plants and ask for coco and/or worm castings. Like I had 3 friggin heads!! I did find that they carry ALL of the espoma line, and most of the neptune's harvest stuff (bottles anyway). The girl said, "worm castings, what are you trying to grow?" I tell her tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, she picks up some ol 10-20-20 and starts telling me how good it is.....

While I personally have no experience with pet-store coco coir, I have seen a few people cite it as a great source for medium. In your case, it sure beats the hell out of the alternative. I hear a lot of talk about the aging-process coir "should" go through in order to be an effective medium, but who knows where the facts end and advertising begins? If I were you, I'd be all over that stuff.

I prep my bricks like so:
- soak in water for to easily break up the brick
- soak a second time in Cal-Mag to buffer the coir
- do my best to never let the coco dry out
 

streetsweeper

New member
Even_Steven said:
While I personally have no experience with pet-store coco coir, I have seen a few people cite it as a great source for medium. In your case, it sure beats the hell out of the alternative. I hear a lot of talk about the aging-process coir "should" go through in order to be an effective medium, but who knows where the facts end and advertising begins? If I were you, I'd be all over that stuff.

I prep my bricks like so:
- soak in water for to easily break up the brick
- soak a second time in Cal-Mag to buffer the coir
- do my best to never let the coco dry out

What do you mean to never let the coco dry out??Why not?Do you mean with the plants IN IT?

Or when its drying out from the initial soaking??
 

mellovision

New member
I use it when I need it and don't feel like the long drive to the hydro store. I've never bothered checking the ppm's and ph of it, just rinse the ever loving hell out of it with hot ph'd water. After I get a plant in it it I'll worry about ppm's and ph. I mix in the chunk stuff with the brick. They usually carry the chunk stuff also, little pricier than what I can get at the hydro store, but when you're in a bind, do what you have to do.
 
G

Guest

streetsweeper said:
What do you mean to never let the coco dry out??Why not?Do you mean with the plants IN IT?

Or when its drying out from the initial soaking??
I mean to say, once I get the coco wet, I never let it dry out again. Why do you?
 

barletta

Bandaid
Veteran
Added a brick of "Tropical Soil" reptile bedding today. It seemed like it was bricked harder/dryer, as it took a long time to soak, ~ an hour. I soaked it and let it drain, then soaked it again and squeezed the water out. It had a lil sand in it, but it was near the reptile sand, and the brick was the only 1 and the wrapper was beat up, so I think it got in that way. I pinched most of it out. I taste tested both runoffs, and neither had any hint of salt, but how reliable is that? We'll see...
 
Im on my second brick of "bed a beast" reptile bedding. No problems so far...

I just rinsed the heck out of it as a precaution.
 

Klompen

Active member
I have used Eco Earth brand before and had pretty good results. I used it as part of an organic soil mix though, not as a pure coco grow.
 

Hort1

Member
Where I stay there is not much choice and I use what ever I can get my hands on.I have used coco peat from nurserys and petshops. Its all the same just check ec because some bricks need to be flushed more than others . I assume is salt but its easy to flush out just use ec meter to check.
 

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