Coco coir smells little bit like shit/manure/decaying stuff

Hey guys,

i activated a brick of coco in a bucket and put a lid on it so it doesn´t get contaminated with fungi or other stuff. I did this a few weeks ago. Well tomorrow is transplant day so i opened the bucket yesterday for the first time since then and it smelled somewhere like shit or manure or when you´re at a ranch but not like fresh coco when you activate it with water. I can´t see any contaminations like mold or insect. Now my question is, is it possible that this coco just started to rot? If yes can i still use it? I mean it doesn´t look bad at all.

Thanks

Sounds like it's rotting. I'd dump it.

DarkWeb said:

Sounds like it's rotting. I'd dump it.

Click to expand...

do you think it makes any difference if i dry it totally out? it doesn´t smell so pungent anymore like when i opened it for the first time.. that sucks if i have to dumb it cause i don´t know when i can get new coco in the next few weeks around here but i don´t wanna use outdoor soil either because my grow environement is sterile..

When you put a lid on the bucket you created an Anaerobic environment. The air and surfaces around us are full of many billions of bacteria, spores and the like. Placing something wet in an air tight container lets only the anaerobic bacteria thrive. Hence the smell. Leave the lid off an allow the substrate to dry a bit. If after a few days the smell remains or you see indications of mould, bin it and start again with a lesson learned.

Cheers,
Will

Will Thayer said:

When you put a lid on the bucket you created an Anaerobic environment. The air and surfaces around us are full of many billions of bacteria, spores and the like. Placing something wet in an air tight container lets only the anaerobic bacteria thrive. Hence the smell. Leave the lid off an allow the substrate to dry a bit.

Click to expand...

i´m afraid of getting this soil contaminated by some "funny guys" even in my grow area... fuck... guess i´ll have to try it atleast, thanks alot buds

Yes dry it and maybe use it later. Good soil has lots of rottin shit LOL!

DarkWeb said:

Good soil has lots of rottin shit LOL!

Click to expand...

yea and thats what bothers me... after all soil is just decomposed biosmass, right.. i mean on farms they also just use the shit of animals as fertz. but the smell of mine just freaked me out, also because it´s coco and this is actually a high-grade coco coir which i use

You are correct they use animal waste to fertilise agriculture. That process starts with bacteria and microbes breaking down the waste into nutrients that plants can use. The smell was just an abundance of anaerobic bacteria. the substrate will be fine. I have used bacteria for years to benefit plants. Have a look at THIS if you are interested. If you encourage the right environment many microbes and fungus form a symbiotic relationship with plant in the root zone. I assume you are using hydro?

my grandpa used to plant fish left overs under bananatrees as he said it helps the plant, remembere that they tasted delicious. Therefore i´m kinda aware about benificial bacterias and microbes. but when it comes to weed a lot of ppl acting like they´re dealing with some transplant-organs or premature birthlings and they kinda infected me with this over-cautious-manner...
yep with 30% hydroton, why? btw great link thanks a lot