Good day, I am a bit late on the subject but just my two cents on coir. Don't be scared of it, work with it - in my opinion there is no ideal media on its own, it depends on how you water and fertilise as well. We do tissue culture and potted plants (Zantedeschia /calla lily, which hate waterlogged conditions) and I would almost exclusively use coir as coco peat if it wasn't so expensive. When I plant tubers in pots I re-use a 50:50 fine coir and bark (6 mm) mix after cleaning it and then mix it with fresh coir and a bit of sand (10 %) just to add drainage and I like to think a little silicone is important (I am still experimenting with the sand). The mix is quite fine, but we irrigate (with water solluble fertiliser - fertigate) accordingly so that it doesn't become overwet. If you use "unbuffered" coir you need to add calcium and magnesium as Steve suggested in a 2:1 ratio, this is very important to establish a good nutrient balance as it affects availability of some ions. You can easily use calcium sulphate (as gypsum) and magnesium sulphate (as Epsom salts) which are both obtainable in small quantities at most pharmacies. For one 5 kg block, making approx 45 l medium when loose add about 50 ml gypsum and 25 ml epsom salts. Soak until coir block expands (approx 3 hours),mix thoroughly and let water drain out - we actually do this in a bath outdoors and pull the plug to let the water drain. If you are very worried about salt, rinse the medium with water twice (after expansion) before soaking with above mentioned calcium / magnesium mix. Just don't overwater and fertilise regularly and you should have very happy plants. Regards, Marieke Mendes From sunny South Africa highveld where winter bit quite harshly (all my albucas are brown) but seems to be over already. I dare lift the frost cover now...