Chemical and physical properties of coir
| Property | Range found in literature1 | Median value from literature |
|---|---|---|
| Total phosphorus (% dry wt) | 0.036 - 0.41 | 0.036 |
| Total nitrogen (% dry wt) | 0.24 - 0.5 | 0.45 |
| Total potassium (% dry wt) | 0.4 - 2.39 | 0.819 |
| Total carbon (%) | 42 - 49 | 47.1 |
| Total hydrogen (%) | 4.4 | |
| pH | 4.9 - 6.9 | 5.9 |
| Cation exchange capacity (cmol/kg) | 31.7 - 130 | 50 |
| Electrical conductivity (ds/m) | 39 - 2900 | 582 |
| Total calcium (%) | 0.18-0.47 | 0.40 |
| Total magnesium (%) | 0.11-0.47 | 0.36 |
| Total copper (mg/kg) | 3.1-10.3 | 4.2 |
| Total zinc (mg/kg) | 4.0-9.8 | 7.5 |
| Total manganese (mg/kg) | 12.5-92 | 17 |
| Bulk density (g/cm3) | 0.025 - 0.132 | 0.06 |
| Water holding capacity (% by wt) | 137 - 1100 | 566 |
| Total pore space (%) | 85.5 - 98.3 | 95.2 |
| Primary references for this data: Cresswell; Abad et al., 2002; Abad et al., 2005; Asiah et al., 2004; Kumar et al., 2010; Lodolini et al., 2017; Shrestha et al., 2019 | ||