Buyer's guide
How to buy coco peat from India: EC, buffering and container loading
What the numbers on a coco peat spec sheet actually mean, how washed, buffered and raw grades differ, how much fits in a container, and what to put in your first enquiry.
8 min read · Updated 13 August 2026
Coco peat is straightforward to buy badly. The material looks identical across grades, the price per tonne varies more than the quality does, and most of what separates a good consignment from a poor one sits in three or four numbers on a specification sheet. This guide explains those numbers, in the order they matter.
What coco peat is
Coco peat — also sold as coir pith or coco coir — is the spongy material left when coir fibre is separated from a coconut husk. It holds several times its own weight in water while keeping air space around roots, which is why it replaced peat moss in a lot of horticulture. India and Sri Lanka supply most of the world's traded volume, and in India the bulk of it comes out of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
It arrives compressed. A 5 kg block is roughly 30 × 30 × 15 cm and expands to 65–75 litres once soaked, which is the whole reason it is economic to ship halfway around the world.
EC: the number that matters most
Electrical conductivity measures the dissolved salts in the material, reported in mS/cm. Coconut husk grows in coastal soil and holds sodium and potassium, so raw pith is salty enough to damage young roots. Washing removes most of it.
| Grade | Typical EC | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Raw / unwashed | 1.5 – 3.0 mS/cm | Soil conditioning, land reclamation, industrial use |
| Washed | under 0.5 mS/cm | General horticulture, nursery media, potting mixes |
| Low EC washed | under 0.3 mS/cm | Sensitive crops, propagation, premium substrate blends |
Ask which method produced the number. A 1:1.5 water-extract reading and a saturated-media-extract reading of the same material differ by roughly a factor of two, so an EC figure without its method is not comparable between suppliers.
Washed, buffered and raw
Washing and buffering are different processes and buyers regularly conflate them.
- Washed means the material has been rinsed, usually in fresh water, until conductivity drops. It removes the salt that is loose in the material.
- Buffered means the material has then been soaked in a calcium solution — normally calcium nitrate — so that calcium displaces the sodium and potassium bound to the coir's cation exchange sites. Those bound ions are not removed by washing alone.
- Raw is untreated pith, cheaper per tonne, fine where EC is irrelevant.
Buffering matters if you are running a controlled feed programme. Unbuffered coir will release potassium into your solution and take up the calcium and magnesium you just dosed, which shows up as a calcium deficiency that looks like a nutrient problem and is actually a substrate problem. For open-field soil conditioning it is an unnecessary cost.
The rest of the specification
| Property | Typical range | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| pH | 5.5 – 6.8 | Coir is mildly acidic and suits most crops without correction |
| Moisture | up to 20% | You pay freight on water; a wetter block is a lighter block of product |
| Fibre content | 10 – 15%, or fibre-free | More fibre means more air space and faster drainage |
| Sand and silt | under 2% | High silt means poor washing or contaminated drying yards |
| Compression | 5:1 typical | Determines expanded volume per block, and how hard it is to break up |
Moisture deserves more attention than it usually gets. At 20% moisture, one fifth of the weight you are paying freight on is water. A quoted price per tonne means little until you know the moisture level it is quoted at.
How much fits in a container
Coco peat loads out by weight rather than volume once compressed, so the arithmetic is predictable.
| Format | 20ft container | 40ft high cube |
|---|---|---|
| 5 kg blocks | ≈ 4,000 blocks (20 MT) | ≈ 5,300 blocks (26–27 MT) |
| 650 g briquettes | ≈ 28,000 pieces | ≈ 40,000 pieces |
| Grow bags | By specification | By specification |
Two things move these figures. Block density varies between producers, so a 5 kg block from one yard is not the same size as another's. And some destinations cap the gross weight that can move on the road behind the port, which means a container that loads legally in Cochin can be undeliverable at the other end. Confirm the destination's road weight limit before you fix a quantity.
What to send in your first enquiry
A supplier can quote firmly from a short message if it carries the right details. Include:
- 1.Grade — washed, low EC washed, buffered, or raw
- 2.EC and pH you need, and the measurement method for the EC figure
- 3.Format and size — 5 kg block, 650 g briquette, grow bag dimensions
- 4.Quantity, in blocks or containers rather than tonnes where you can
- 5.Destination port, and the delivery term you work on (FOB, CFR, CIF)
- 6.Whether you need a third-party analysis certificate with the shipment
- 7.Your timeline, including any seasonal window you are buying for
Five mistakes worth avoiding
- Comparing prices per tonne without comparing moisture levels — you may be buying water.
- Accepting an EC figure without asking which extraction method produced it.
- Skipping the sample. A 2 kg sample costs a courier fee and tells you more than any specification sheet.
- Ordering buffered material for an application that does not need it, or unbuffered for a hydroponic system that does.
- Leaving fumigation and phytosanitary requirements to the end. Some destinations require treatment certificates that have to be arranged before loading, not after.
Common questions
What EC level should coco peat be for hydroponics?
Under 0.5 mS/cm as a washed grade, and buffered with calcium if you are running a controlled nutrient programme. Unbuffered coir will exchange potassium into your feed solution and take up calcium, which reads as a deficiency in the crop and is actually the substrate reacting.
How many 5 kg coco peat blocks fit in a 40ft container?
Roughly 5,300 blocks, or 26–27 MT, subject to block density and the destination's road weight limit. A 20ft holds about 4,000 blocks or 20 MT.
What is the difference between washed and buffered coco peat?
Washing rinses out loose salts and brings the EC down. Buffering then soaks the material in a calcium solution so calcium displaces the sodium and potassium bound to the coir itself, which washing alone does not remove. Hydroponic growers generally need buffered material; soil conditioning generally does not.
How much does coco peat expand?
A 5 kg block yields roughly 65–75 litres of usable medium, and a 650 g briquette about 8–9 litres, at a 5:1 compression ratio. Expansion varies with how thoroughly the block is soaked and broken up.
Does coco peat need fumigation to import?
It depends on the destination. Several markets require a phytosanitary certificate, and some require fumigation or heat treatment on top of it. Confirm your country's requirement before the container is booked, because the treatment has to happen before loading.
Buying rather than reading?
We supply the products in this guide from Kerala, in any quantity — a few bags within India or full containers for export. Send the grade and quantity you need and we will quote it.