Hey Peeps! I did do a search on this but nothing came up so thought I would make a thread. Went to the garden center today to pick up some seed trays and found some bags of cocoa shells, so I grabbed a bag... just done a search on google and found some good info... "Cocoa shell is a natural fertiliser, containing 3 percent nitrogen, 1 percent phosphorous and 3 percent potassium, commonly referred to as \t\t\t\t\tan NPK fertiliser. The pH factor of the mulch is 5.8. Bark and wood mulches contain much lower levels of these nutrients. \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tIt also contains 0.5 percent magnesium which is a key nutrient for plants. It is 100 percent natural organic matter, which carries no health \t\t\t\t\trisk or fire hazard. It contains no dyes, and exudes a rich natural colour." "Cocoa Shell Mulch is general purpose mulch for gardeners, both professional and amateur. It is used for horticultural & landscaping purposes, \t\t\t\t\tbeing ideal decorative mulch with it's deep attractive copper colour, and rich in nutrients. The rich colour contrasts beautifully with the \t\t\t\t\tvibrant green of plants and foliage, setting them off very well." "Cocoa Shell Mulch is perfect for suppressing weeds and retaining moisture in garden beds and borders. It will also protect the ground from \t\t\t\t\tfrost. Bark mulch and other variations only cost a fraction less than Cocoa Shell Mulch according to GardenCentre.co.uk, and they lack many key benefits. \t\t\t\t\tCocoa Shell Mulch contains natural slow release plant fertiliser and trace elements, which are very beneficial to your plants." "The Cocoa Shell Mulch breaks down over time, rotting into the soil. This improves the structure of the soil and simply topping it up every \t\t\t\t\tfew years will maintain the benefits." "Also called Sunshine of Africa, Cocoa Shell Mulch is actually a by product of the chocolate industry, the shells being from the cocoa bean. \t\t\t\t\tThis effective mulch will not only suppress weeds and retain moisture, but will also repel slugs and snails. Once the Cocoa Shell Mulch has been \t\t\t\t\tspread over the ground and has been watered or rained on once or twice, a crust will form which binds the mulch together. This crust helps to keep \t\t\t\t\tout the slugs and snails. Cocoa Shell Mulch gels into a sticky mat just below its surface and forms a highly protective layer if left undisturbed." So... Does anyone use them? Mulch ? mix in with your soil ? Lemme know, would love to hear what you guys think!
Thank for sharing the information related to Cocoa Shells. I have read some articles related to Cocoa Shells that it is a natural fertilizer and 100% natural and most important it's not hazard, and lots of thing.
Cocoa shells make a great aeration amendment, similar to rice or buckwheat hulls. Good score! They smell nice too. J
Yeah. Not like the bag of Neem that came in the post today.... stinks nearly gagged when I opened the bag lol...Jez I am going to use the cocoa shells as a mulch but I do like your idea for aeration so will give that a try too thanks for the sugestion
I use them as an aeration amendment along with rice hulls. The micro- beasties love chocolate and I have observed that the chocolate ends up being more a nutritional amendment than an aeration amendment. HH
Not like the bag of Neem that came in the post today.... stinks nearly gagged when I opened the bag lol. Wait until you start making neem botanical teas - after it soaks for a few weeks in the summertime you'll really find the smell is beautiful! I'm helping a fella from the Philipines get his first organic soil mix together. One of the items discussed was, of course, neem cake/meal. He told me that he has a giant neem tree in his backyard and wanted to know if he could grind up the seeds and leaves. What a lucky guy!! My soil would have a lot of composted neem leaves in it - I'll tell you that much. Lucky, lucky guy. I couldn't imagine having big piles of neem leaves to compost; plus all the neem seed to grind. It would also be very simple to cold press the oil from the seeds with a simple screw press. Between his water buffalo dung and his neem tree this is one lucky fella HulkHolzer - yes, this is one of the benefits of using cocoa shells, or rice or buckwheat hulls like I use - they do end up breaking down over time giving us the nutritional value as well as their aeration benefits and its simple enough to add some more between runs during recycling every few times if they've broken down too much and lost the aeration value. I'm sure W89 would be interested too - have you noticed how long it takes for the cocoa shells to break down? I had found some once at a little landscape supply, but I hadn't gotten them. I think I'd like to try some at some point too - W89, let me know how you like them? J
Good morning Jerry. Pleasure. Im really fortunate to score cocoa, rice, and coffee hulls on the free and regular. So I use em( ha. I use EM also). In my last mix I added equal parts cocoa, rice and perlite. Within a months cycle the cocoa is pretty much a fine humus. It should be noted that as my friends say, " your worms eat better than I do". And as a side note. Jerry, do you have any experience with Rock dust local? HH
HH - I have wandered their pages and have never ordered from them but after just going there now, they have a new advertisement on their home page - 30 lbs. Basalt Microfines Delivered Anywhere in the USA for $35. 20 lbs. Basalt Microfines Delivered Anywhere in the USA for $25. (Prices include all charges for materials and shipping!) The Basalt Microfines is our Premium New England Rock Dust in a True Stone Flour gradation. Loaded with macro and micro-nutrients and paramagnetic. To order please enclose your complete shipping address, with a check or money order to: Rock Dust Local LLC 1445 Hemenway Rd. Bridport, Vermont 05734 Not a bad deal for anyone looking for quality stone dust - most shipping rates are ridiculous for "shipping rocks" but that isn't so bad! Basalt is at the top if the list for rock dust, too, so I would recommend this to anyone. They also have numerous other dust and dust mixes. Rock Dust Local - Home J
My plants are in 1 ltr pots at the mo so wouldnt have been a good idea to add the shells to such a small pot but when I re-pot in couple of weeks I will deffo give it a go and let ya know what I find out. Also the guy in the Philippines id one lucky dude! Neem compost! wouldnt have a bug problem that's for sure!
I am currently experimenting with cocoa hulls for the first time, thanks to hulk! I added them to my last mix as part of my aeration amendments, along with non par boiled rice hulls- lol, perlite, grow stones (expanded recycled glass bottles) and vermiculite. As recycling goes down the line, I plan to only add the rice hulls and cocoa hulls as an indicator of when should re-ammend. I have also been adding them to my worm bin and they seem to love em too. It has been also pointed out that most epsoma fert mixes include an item called cocoa meal, which I assume is the same thing as well. I will report back as time goes on with these, but I am pretty sure they are a win-win. Thanks for the informative posts guys, I am in. Sub'd. Rock dust local appears to be what we all have been looking for- sweet!
I bought A 10kg Bag of volcanic rock dust, here is a link to the stuff I got.. Verve Volcanic Rock Dust 10Kg, 0000004090328 Basalt based crystalline mineral compounds which include feldspar, pyroxene, hornblende, chlorite and magnetite Sustainable natural mineral and trace elements which boost soil fertility Organically approved for healthier plant growth, increased flowering / yield whilst improving pest and disease resistance Organically approved by soil association and organic farmers and growers Increases microbial activity, minimises dependency on synthetic fertilisers
Jerry I made up another soil mix today, I'm gonna give the coco shells a go a the aeration with a lil perlite too. gonna add 5 parts aeration which will make my mix up to 1.5cuft I added 2 cups of kelp, 1 cup Neem and i've ordered some crab shells to grind up into crab shell meal and I will add 1 cup of tht too does that sound good to you 1 part homemade worm casts 1 part forest duff from under a tree sieved at 1/8inch 2 parts coco coir 2 parts re-used organic potting soil mixed with 33% perlite