Re-using your growing medium is a great way to save some money, as long as whatever you were growing in it before was healthy.  Coco coir does not break down as quickly as other commonly used growing media, like peat, nor is it prone to harbor diseases or fungi, which is why it can be successfully reused up to 2-3 times with some prep work.

Prepare coco coir to reuse it 

To ensure the coco is in optimum state to re-use in your pots, follow these steps to recondition it:

1. Remove old roots: Remaining roots can rot and create an unsafe environment for your plants, so remove as many old roots as you can.
2. Check for bugs: If you notice any critters that may have been munching on the plants roots, its best to toss out the coco coir as it will also affect your new plant. If there are no bugs, then you are good to go. If you want to be extra cautious, you can sterilize it in your oven by heating it at 180° F for 30 minutes to kill off any eggs, larvae, or fungi that you might have missed. We do not bake our coco coir, but it’s an option.
3. Rinse: Rinse the coco coir to flush out accumulated nutrients or salts
4. Verify salt levels: If you are using high quality coco coir and if your previous plant was healthy, this should not be an issue and is most likely not necessary. High salt levels can block nutrients from reaching your crops, ultimately killing it.  We will be explaining how to properly measure the salt content in your coco in another post, so if you are curious about salt levels keep an eye out for that post.  For good quality, pre-washed coco coir, try this one out.
5. Add nutrients and amendments: Coco coir does not provide nutrients to your plants naturally, so remember to add your plant’s favorite nutrient mix before potting. Something else that you can add is coco chips to help with aeration for optimal root health.
6. Re-use! Your coco coir is now ready to be reused.

A good quality coco coir will make reusing it much easier and will most likely allow you to reuse it more than once.

Note: Reconditioned coco coir is great for all your established plants that you may want to repot, but we suggest that you avoid using it for seed starting as seedling are fragile and using fresh new coco coir would be best.