Short version? For most growers it's CANNA Coco Natural, £13 for 50 litres, buffered and forgiving if your watering isn't exactly military. Want more air round the roots without mixing anything yourself? Ecothrive Coco Lite (£18.90) is a ready-made 70/30 of coco and perlite. Running drippers several times a day, go for CANNA Coco Coarse (£22.95). And if lugging bags up the stairs has lost its charm, a Ugro Basic Coco Block weighs 5kg and swells up into 70 litres.
The best coco coir and coco mixes
CANNA Coco Natural 50L
The bag we'd point most people at first. 100% natural coco, washed and buffered, and it'll put up with the odd late watering while you find your feet.
- 100% coco
- Pre-buffered
- 50 litres
- Hydro, hand watering or soil blends
- Buffered before it's bagged, so it isn't busy locking up your feed
- High air-to-water ratio, which keeps the roots breathing
- Happy in a hydro system, under a watering can, or blended into soil
Want the full rundown on that feed? Read our closer look at CANNA Coco A&B.
View CANNA Coco Natural
CANNA Coco Professional Plus 50L
CANNA's other big seller on the shelf, for £2.60 more. Fully buffered, with an even structure the whole way through, and you can run it more than once.
- Full buffering
- Even structure
- Reusable
- 50 litres
- The buffering stops the coir hanging on to nutrients your plants wanted
- CANNA's production process keeps it free of harmful viruses and soil diseases
- Finished with it? It makes a decent potting mix improver, so none of it goes to waste
Ecothrive Coco Lite 50L
70% coco, 30% perlite, no bucket-and-trowel session required. More air, quicker drainage and less compaction than straight coco.
- 70/30 coco and perlite
- Contains Ecothrive Charge
- Pre-buffered
- 50 litres
- Enriched with Ecothrive Charge. That's insect frass, which is a polite word for bug droppings, and it helps counter coco's habit of binding calcium, magnesium and nitrogen
- Gentle enough for seedlings and cuttings if you keep the pre-wet at EC 1.2 or under
- Suits drippers and flood and drain, aiming for 25 to 30 percent runoff
CANNA Coco Coarse 50L
Bigger husk fibres, bigger air pockets. It's the grade we suggest once you've outgrown hand watering and you're feeding several times a day.
- Coarse particles
- High aeration
- Hand or automatic irrigation
- Reusable
- Drains fast, so the root zone gets its oxygen back quickly after each feed
- Holds its structure across the full cycle under heavy, frequent feeding
- Aim for 10 to 20% runoff with short feeds rather than a few big ones
Kaya Loose Fill 100% Coco Grow Bags
Pot and coco in one. Hydrate it, plant it, crack on. No buffering, no fluffing, and no bag of coco spilling across the tent floor.
- 1, 2 and 3 gallon
- 100% RHP-certified coco
- Very low EC
- pH 6.0 to 6.5
- Around 65% water holding and 30% air-filled porosity, so there are real numbers behind the pitch
- Loose-fill structure that resists compaction through the grow
- Works hand watered or on an automated system
Ugro Basic Coco Block
A compressed brick that expands when you soak it. The 70L block weighs 5kg dry, which your back and your top-floor flat will both appreciate.
- 11L or 70L
- Compressed
- pH 5.5 to 6.5
- EC under 0.6
- About 22p a litre on the 70L at £15.50, the cheapest coco in this guide
- Washed with soft water and buffered
- Low fibre, fine grit, and it stores in a cupboard until you need it
Feeding and watering coco
Coco is close to inert. It holds water and air, and you supply everything else. Which is the point, because you stay in charge of the feed. But it does mean plain water won't cut it for long.
Use a coco-specific base feed. Those account for how coco behaves with calcium and magnesium, and they carry the levels it demands. We stock plenty, starting with CANNA Coco A&B, and there's a wider look in our hydroponic nutrients guide.
- Pre-wet before planting. Saturate the coco with pH-adjusted feed so it's evenly moist all the way through. CANNA suggest a root zone pH of 5.5 to 6.2 on their coarse grade.
- Water little and often. The coarser or airier the mix, the more often it wants feeding. Short feeds beat one big drench.
- Get some runoff. It's what keeps salts in check. 10 to 20% on CANNA Coco Coarse, 25 to 30 percent on Ecothrive Coco Lite.
- Reusing it? Pull out the old root mass, flush well, then buffer it again with a calcium and magnesium solution such as CANNA Calmag Agent (from £12.95).
A pH and EC pen earns its keep here, and we've rounded those up in our pH and EC meters guide.
At a glance
Per-litre prices are worked out from the shelf price, so you can compare a 50L bag with a brick.
| Coco | What's in it | Size | Price | Per litre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 CANNA Coco Natural |
100% coco | 50L | £13.00 | 26p |
 CANNA Coco Professional Plus |
Coco | 50L | £15.60 | 31p |
 Ecothrive Coco Lite |
70/30 coco and perlite | 50L | £18.90 | 38p |
 CANNA Coco Coarse |
Coarse coco | 50L | £22.95 | 46p |
 Kaya Loose Fill |
100% coco | 1, 2 or 3 gal | From £3.90 | 57p to £1.03 |
 Ugro Basic Coco Block |
Compressed coco | 11L or 70L | From £2.60 | 22p to 24p |
Prices as at November 2026. Check the product page for the live price. Kaya per-litre figures are for single pots.
How to choose
- First time in coco, hand watering? CANNA Coco Natural. It holds more moisture, so a slightly late watering won't end in tears.
- Planning to run the same coco again? CANNA Coco Professional Plus.
- Want more air without mixing it yourself? Ecothrive Coco Lite, or Cultivator Coco Plus if you're counting pennies.
- Automated drippers, several feeds a day? CANNA Coco Coarse.
- Hate the prep? Kaya Loose Fill. Hate the stairs? Ugro Block.
- Two more bags worth a look: Budplus Coco 100+ Natural (£13.00) is triple washed, RHP certified, pH 6.0 to 6.5, and Plagron Cocos Premium (£14.00) is also RHP certified and needs no rinsing. Building your own blend? Cultivator Coco Pure (£14.00) is plain 100% coco to start from.
Sorting out pots too? Have a read of our fabric pots guide. And for a bit of help at the roots, there's the root stimulators guide.
Quick answers
What is the best coco coir for beginners?
CANNA Coco Natural suits most beginners. It is buffered, holds a good amount of water and forgives the odd late watering, and at £13 for 50 litres it won't sting much if you get it wrong.
What's the difference between coco and 70/30 coco perlite?
70/30 is 70% coco and 30% perlite. The perlite adds air and speeds up drainage, so you get less compaction and less chance of overwatering, but it dries back faster and wants feeding more often.
Do I need to buffer or rinse coco before using it?
Not with the bags in this guide. They are sold buffered, and Plagron say no rinse is needed. Blocks are washed and buffered too, but you do need to soak them in pH adjusted water to expand them.
How often should you water plants in coco?
Little and often. Coarse grades and perlite mixes dry back quickly, so many growers on automated drippers feed several times a day. Aim for runoff each time, about 10 to 20% on CANNA Coco Coarse.
Do I need special nutrients for coco?
Yes, use a coco feed. Coco behaves differently with calcium and magnesium, and coco specific feeds such as CANNA Coco A&B are built around that.
Can you reuse coco coir?
Yes, if you prepare it properly. Take out the old root mass, flush it thoroughly to clear salts, then buffer it again with a calcium and magnesium solution before replanting.
How many pots does a 50L bag of coco fill?
Roughly four 11L pots, two and a half 18L pots or one and a half 30L pots, depending on how lightly you fill them.
Still stuck? Give us a ring on 020 8686 9643 or email info@thehydrobros.com.
Or pop into the shop for a natter: Unit 12, Progress Business Park, Progress Way, Croydon CR0 4XD.
More grow guides
- Best fabric pots
- CANNA Coco A&B: a closer look
- Best root stimulators
- Best propagators for cuttings and seeds
- Best pH and EC meters
- Aquaking pumps: a closer look
The Hydro Bros Team. We sell this kit and talk growers through it every day in our Croydon shop.
