Coir seed starting pellets are compressed coconut coir wrapped in a fine biodegradable net. Add water and each one swells into a ready-made plug. You sow straight into the plug, and the seedling moves on to a pot or the garden plug and all, with very little root disturbance.
Why coir pellets?
- No mess, no mixing. No bags of seed mix to fill trays with.
- Peat free. Made from coconut husk, a renewable by-product.
- Clean start. Kokkonut pellets are pH balanced and low in salts (EC 0.6 or less), which young roots like.
- Easy transplanting. The net holds the plug together, so roots stay undisturbed.
You will need
- A pack of 30 mm coir pellets
- A seed tray, or any shallow container with sides
- Warm water, seeds, and a spot with good light
- Optional: a clear humidity dome or plastic wrap
Step by step
- Expand the pellets. Set them in the tray, flat side down, and pour in enough warm water to cover them. Within 5 to 10 minutes each one swells to a plug of about 40 ml. Tip away any water left in the tray.
- Open the top. Gently loosen the coir at the top of each plug with a pencil or your finger.
- Sow. Place one or two seeds in each plug. A good rule is to sow about twice as deep as the seed is wide. Tiny seeds like lettuce and petunia just get pressed onto the surface.
- Cover and keep warm. A humidity dome holds moisture in until seeds sprout. Most vegetable seeds germinate well at 65 to 80°F.
- Give them light. Once you see green, take off the cover and give seedlings a bright window or a grow light 12 to 16 hours a day, so they don't stretch.
- Water from below. Add a little water to the tray when the plugs feel light, and let them soak it up. Moist but not soggy is the goal.
- Feed. Coir holds almost no nutrients. When the first true leaves open, start feeding with a fertilizer diluted to about a quarter of normal strength.
Potting up and planting out
- When roots poke through the net, move each plug into a bigger pot. Our 60 mm coir discs make about 120 ml of loose coir each, good for a small pot around the plug.
- Before planting outside, harden seedlings off for a week: a few hours outdoors on day one, building up to a full day.
- Plant the whole plug. The net breaks down in the soil, and you can slit it with scissors to help roots spread faster.
Common mistakes
- Too much water. Plugs sitting in water stay cold and invite damping off. Drain the tray after watering.
- Letting them dry out. Small plugs dry fast under lights. Check them every day.
- Sowing too deep. Large seeds like beans and squash go about an inch down; small seeds barely need covering.
- Not enough light. Leggy, pale seedlings are asking for more light.
Good crops to start in pellets
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, kale, broccoli, basil and most herbs, flowers like marigolds and zinnias, and cuttings of herbs and houseplants.
Want everything in one box? Our Coir Seed Starting Kit has 50 pellets, 20 discs and a coco peat brick for transplant pots.
