COCO COIR VS HEMP
Coir made sense but is it Sustainable?
Coco coir is cleaner than soil and holds water well — which is why so many microgreens growers moved to it. But it needs preparing before every batch, quality shifts between suppliers, and it travels thousands of kilometres before it reaches your tray.
TerraFibre grow mats are ready out of the pack and made in Drayton Valley, Alberta.
THE COIR PROBLEM
It Needs Preparing First
Compressed coir has to be hydrated and expanded before use, and depending on the source, rinsed to flush salts. On a seven-day cycle, that prep is a real share of your handling time.
Quality Shifts Between Suppliers
Coir depends on the source material, the wash, and the processing. Two bales from different suppliers behave differently — a problem when you're standardising results across trays.
Loose Material Travels
Coir clings to roots and ends up in your cut. That means a washing step, and for anyone selling to restaurants or markets, a less consistent product.
Large Co2 Footprint
Coir reaching a Canadian grow room has typically shipped from Sri Lanka, India, or Southeast Asia — thousands of kilometres before it does any growing.
| Coco coir | TerraFibre hemp grow mats | |
|---|---|---|
| Prep before use | Hydrate, expand, sometimes rinse | None — use straight from the pack |
| Batch consistency | Varies by supplier and bale | Manufactured to spec |
| Harvest | Loose material in the cut | Clean lift, no residue |
| Root penetration | Compacts over the cycle | Open needle-punched structure |
| Composting | Slow to break down | Composts with the root mass |
| Typical origin | Sri Lanka, India, SE Asia | Drayton Valley, Alberta |
| Formats | Loose or compressed bale | 10x20, 5x5, blocks, or 120ft roll |
| Water retention | Good | Excellent |
WHY IT WORKS
Nothing to do before you start
Open the pack, lay the mat in the tray, saturate, seed. No expansion, no rinsing, no waiting. Our own FAQ puts it about as plainly as it can be put: step one, open the packet. Step two, put the mat in the tray.
The same mat every time
Every mat is made to the same specification at the same facility. A 300gsm mat this month behaves like a 300gsm mat next month — which matters when you're running standing orders and can't afford a variable in the medium.
Roots go in, and stay in
The needle-punched structure is deliberately open rather than tightly woven, so radicles penetrate the fibre instead of sliding across it. At harvest, cut above the mat and the greens lift with nothing attached.
One mat, one clean disposal
The mat composts whole with the root mass in it. No loose material to sweep up, no bale to store, nothing to sort at the end of a cycle.
Commercial Growers
If you're running coir across a commercial microgreens operation, the switch is worth costing out on a per-tray basis rather than per-unit — prep labour is usually where the numbers move.
Send us your weekly tray count, tray dimensions, and what you're growing, and we'll come back with pricing and a recommended format.
