Coir Pots

I came across a load of these at work today, someone had a sort out and they when going to be thrown away.
Now I do hate to see anything wasted. So, has anyone used these before?
Is there anything they would be particularly good for?
I was thinking of just using them in the same way as any other biodegradable pots, for growing plants on and then planting the whole thing, pot and all.
Any other suggestions?

 

I guess not.

Well, I did find a good use for them in the end.

I've used them for starting off my cucumbers. Once the cue plant is big enough, I plant the whole thing, coir pot included, in its final location ( a large 10lt pot).

I plant them with the rim of the coir pot slightly above the level of the surrounding compost and this definitely seems to help reduce losses through neck rot. Perhaps the coir absorbs any excess moisture which would normally collect around the base of the plant and result in neck rot.

Here's one I did earlier.

 

It looks like they were worth keeping Trunky. I don't bother with anything made of coir the sparrows just strip it for nesting material.

 

Waste not, want not. I'm glad you didn't let the forum lack of suggestions cramp your style!

 

Assuming that coir pots are on a par with peat ones? then I wouldn't use them. I haven't used Peat pots for years because they dried out after planting, making it neigh on impossible for the roots to grow through them. We used to tear off all the top rim of the pots so there was nothing above / near the soil surface, because when that dried (in the sun / wind) it acted as a wick and dried out the rest of the pot (under ground) exacerbating the situation.

 

@Kristen I'd say the coir pots perform better than peat pots.

I haven't found drying out to be a problem, either with the pots themselves or with the surrounding medium. The coir pots have a much more fibrous structure than peat ones, 'wicking' away of moisture doesn't seem to be a problem with coir pots.

Possibly this is because the coir fibre itself doesn't seem to absorb much water, so I think the water is held in the air spaces between the coir fibres.

Their fibrous structure also means they do allow the roots to penetrate into the surrounding medium, more so than peat pots do. The photo below shows two coir pots in which I sowed cucumbers a little over three weeks ago. You can see how the roots have easily penetrated the bottom of the pots.



I probably wouldn't rush out to buy them, but I'd say they are definitely preferable to peat pots.