Soft fruit businesses can increase productivity by improving water and fertilizer efficiency with the launch of a revolutionary new wetting and water conservation agent, H2CoCo®, specially formulated for use in coir substrate.
“Available exclusively from Cocogreen, H2CoCo delivers a raft of tangible benefits throughout the lifetime of the crop,” says Thomas Ogden of Cocogreen. “Saving valuable time during set up, as well as water and fertilizer during cropping, it helps optimise yields while extending the life and performance of coir growing media.”
Non-ionic and pH neutral, H2CoCo’s InstaWet™ technology delivers considerably faster decompression of compressed coir, compared to standard wetting agents – in the process rehydration time is up to 50 times quicker.
“At the start of the crop H2CoCo promotes quick and total wetting of the substrate,” explains Thomas. “On average it takes in the region of 2-3 days to completely hydrate compressed coir growbags ready to plant. With H2CoCo, this has now been slashed to under an hour.”
To view the timelapse video of one hour rehydration visit https://vimeo.com/133560961.
Up till now loose coir growbags have the advantage of wetting up more quickly, although on the downside are considerably more labour intensive to position in the field. With the launch of H2CoCo, compressed coir growbags - which are highly efficient to layout - have become a highly attractive option.
Easy and flexible to apply, H2CoCo’s rapid spreading and penetration characteristics ensure water, and hence fertilizers, move vertically and horizontally throughout the entire substrate - not just the surface.
“H2CoCo’s blend of surfactants helps reduce overall irrigation requirements – an important factor as water becomes an increasingly costly and, in some areas, scarce resource,” says Thomas. “With less run off, especially during initial wetting, the overall volume of irrigation water is significantly reduced.
“While reducing fertilizer and irrigation requirements, H2CoCo helps optimise yield and uniformity across the crop. In addition by removing water repellent fertilizer deposits it helps extend the life and performance of the substrate and ultimately the crop.”
Cocogreen operates a vertical in-house supply chain and is the only coir manufacturer to be fully accredited in quality (ISO9001:2008), environmental (member of LEAF) and social areas (SA8000) of its business.
“We supply a premium quality product offering unrivalled reliability, performance and traceability, which is important for supermarket audits,” says Thomas. “By overcoming specific and common technical barriers, H2CoCo now gives growers increased efficiency while helping to reduce inputs allowing for greater profitability.”
For more information
Cocogreen
Thomas Ogden