Coco Moss for Houseplants

One of the best things about running HealthyHouseplants.com, which I created in 2006, is meeting indoor gardeners from all over the world. Mahdi Tajalifar, who lives in Iran, first contacted me in 2014 about the trials he has done using coco moss on houseplants. Although we’ve had a bit of a language barrier, I have come to discover that Mr. Tajalifar is a member of the Iranian Chemists Association (ICA-ACS.i) and an agricultural engineer and houseplant expert in Qazvin. He has tested the growing of a variety of plants in coco moss indoors, and his findings have also been published in Iran.

Also known as coir or coco peat, coco moss is made from coconut shells, making it a renewable resource and a terrific alternative to peat moss, which takes hundreds of years to develop in its native bogs and is not being harvested at a sustainable rate.

Coco moss is often used to make liners for hanging baskets. The lightweight yet water-retentive nature of coco moss, along with its disease resistance, makes it a perfect “light and rich soil” for various apartment plants, including African violets, Ficus benjamina, and cacti and succulents, says Mr. Tajalifar. He noted that using coco moss for seedlings indoors also helps to prevent damping off, a serious fungal disease that can quickly kill tiny seedlings. Additionally, coco moss helps prevent pests, including mealybugs.

Considering all of the research that Mr. Tajalifar has put into studying the use of coco moss, it makes sense to try growing houseplants and indoor seedlings in this growing medium. I will soon be giving this a try so I can report back my findings, and I invite you to do the same. Thank you, Mr. Tajalifar, for contacting HealthyHouseplants.com and sharing your research about coco moss and houseplants.