What techniques doy ou use to dry cocofiber substrate?

[DannyH]

In my opinion, its the most annoying thing to get it in a brick, and have a bucket of dirt that you wait to dry, but no petstores near me have it in loose form. Anyone have any creative ways of drying it faster?

 

[robinsonxcr]

1 use less water, i use 2 quarts when it says 4
2 use hot or boiling water
3 break the brick apart with a knife, don't use a good knife the bricks always have sand/pebbles presed in
4 after it expands and it's still hot put it in the oven at 300 and stir it often, use a big shollow dish so there's a big surface area,
after it dries close to where you want it shut the oven off and let it cool, it's also pretty sterile now. oh and don't load up a bunch of plastic cups before it's fully cooled.

 

[Kazahmish]

actually I did some research last night/this morning and found Petco has some loose stuff that it seems you can order on the net.. haven't tried it yet, but I believe that is the way I will go when I need it

 

[Quazgar]

Being as it's the summer and quite hot in most places right now, put it into large shallow dishes with a lot of surface area in the sun and it will dry out within a day

 

[catfishrod69]

i find the exxo terra plantation soil in the bricks to be the best...it dries quickly..and i dont go by what the water ratio says, if you put in what it says, then it will be no where near enough.....i just go by judgement, and it turns out right....when i dry mine, i basically just leave it in the bucket i mix it in, and, keep stirring it, with a fan on it...but you could always put some in the oven, or spread it out really thin...

 

[Jayz159]

I kinda just hairdry it lol.

 

[Kirsten]

I skip coco fibre all together and use straight peat for my terrestrials and peat with moss or vermiculite and a false bottom for my arboreals.

 

[RayH]

I just make up large amounts of it some time before I need to use it and leave it in a well ventilated area to dry out.

 

[webbedone]

I use the all mighty powerful SUN!!! you can also bake it in the oven at a low setting with the door open if you dont mind the smell

 

[paassatt]

actually I did some research last night/this morning and found Petco has some loose stuff that it seems you can order on the net.. haven't tried it yet, but I believe that is the way I will go when I need it

There's a difference between coco fibre and coco husk. Most of the loose stuff you'll find in bags is husk. Very stringy and doesn't make a good substrate, in my opinion.

 

[Cuda1973]

I lay it out on a tarp and spread it very thin. Set it out in the sun to dry, stirring occasionally. Will be dry in just a couple of hours.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

In the summer I put it in a large aluminum pan and leave it under the sun, stirring it periodically. In the winter I bake it.. I've considered accelerating the summer method by placing it on the roof, but I never really need it any faster so have never bothered.

 

[Hendersoniana]

my bro has a marine fish tank and a chiller, so i use the chiller fan outside to blow dry my sand and coco peat for my Ts and Scorps. Works really well as the air is warm and it dries fast if its a sunny day and no rain to interrupt.