you could if you have the patience i guess. but ive tried soaking over night whole they never soaked up all the water and they were still dry inside. And even after you break them up to soak, you have to get your hands dirty to crush the rest of the lumps. these are the only type of bricks ive tried and they are extremely compact. There might be a brand that makes a less dense coir brick. back when i was doing guerrilla, and prepping holes, brigging out whole bricks was a mistake. i had thought they would absorb water and expand quite quickly but that was a mistake, the sourounding ground was soaking up the water faster than the bricks so we had to break them up by hand in the middle of the bush, and it was a major pain in the ass.