Coco coir... How often to replenish?

Hello!

I'm new to SFG and gardening in general. I'm getting very excited/impatient as the season ramps up. I have a 4x8 SFG that is filled with Mel's Mix with coco coir as a substitute for peat moss.

My question is: How often does coco coir need to be replenished in my garden? One season, two seasons, etc...? I'm assuming it breaks down just like other organic matter. I've been searching for quite some time to this answer and haven't been able to find any.

Thanks a bunch and happy gardening!

Hi Mehalso,  You don't have to worry about coir (peat moss) or vermiculite again once the bed is filled.  That said, I know of one SFG who tosses her Mel's Mix into the flower beds every 5 years and makes new Mel's Mix.  Mine is 5 years old and I don't foresee having to make any new Mel's Mix anytime soon.  My homemade compost is slightly chunky so there are nice small air pockets for the roots.

Hi BMehalso. Welcome from Atlanta, GA.

Sanderson is correct. You should only have to add compost from here on.

What are you planning to grow? We like pictures, hint, hint.... :-)

Coir compost  rots down a lot quicker than a quality peat based moss does .
.
 Peat moss is if you think about it is dead matter preserved for a long time  in de oxygenated rain water , with little or no food value in it Thus it takes several years to decay once it has been removed from th peat bog .
Coir onthe othr hand is steam cleaned dried chopped up decayable  matter , that takes three or so years to reduce to a slightly heavier matter than peat .

I've set up all my 22  my 36 inch high raised beds using it . by year three the granules of vermiculite had vanished into a fine water holding dust & the coir had reduced by about 1/6 so I've  topped up the beds with  newly made MM to keep the depth at 36 inches deep .

In the meantime I've also  been adding a lot more than needed of my home made quality straw compost as well ... this gives good crop results & has slowed the decay  drop in the level of the ( MM initiated )  growth medium in all my  beds  .

 This year I've also been adding into my composting  bins well mixed in  spent contents from last years tub tomato growth medium & also  that from seven large  flower tubs that  grew lots of geraniums in .

Plantoid, You must be feeling better. ??

ARRrrrrrrrr !  , the secret lies in the soil & my 36 inch high raised beds 

I'm finding my feet again after the new knee & the memory loss thing , it took a lot longer than I was led to believe . I'm now doing things slowly , carefully & steadily now as it's all I can do

 So glad I took to writing everything down & making grid sheets for my crop planning all those years ago .... I'd find it difficult to play on the computer & do it these days .