UGRO XL Organic 70 Litre Compressed Coco Block - Big-Volume Organic Coco Coir
Best for: Growers who want a large, ready-to-hydrate block of organic coco substrate without paying premium prices for pre-bagged coco.
Our thoughts
A compressed block does all the same jobs as bagged coco but at a fraction of the shelf space and cost per litre - you're just paying for coir, not packaging and shipping air. UGRO's XL Organic expands to a genuinely useful 70 litres from one brick, which is enough for several medium pots or a couple of big ones. Straightforward, no-frills growing medium that does exactly what it says on the tin.
The UGRO XL Organic is a compressed block of 100% organic coconut coir that expands into 70 litres of growing medium once hydrated. The dry block itself measures roughly 10-11 litres in compressed volume and weighs around 5kg, so it's compact to store and transport before you add water. Add around 20 litres of water and the coir swells to its full 70 litre volume, ready to fill pots or beds.
The coir is washed and sieved to remove fine particles and salts before compression, giving a medium with a water holding capacity of around 60-65% and a naturally low EC, so there's less risk of nutrient lockout or salt build-up compared to unwashed coco. It sits at a near-neutral pH of roughly 5.5-6.5 out of the bag, which makes it easy to dial in with a standard coco feed rather than having to buffer it extensively first.
How it compares
UGRO sits in the value end of the coco coir market, competing on volume-per-pound rather than premium branding.
- Costs noticeably less per litre than pre-hydrated bagged coco from brands like Canna Coco or Plagron, since you're not paying to ship water
- Washed and low-EC like Canna Coco Professional Plus, though Canna's coco is typically pre-buffered with calcium/magnesium, where UGRO's is not
- Larger single-block yield than most compressed coco bricks on the market, which commonly expand to 40-50 litres rather than 70
You give up the convenience of a pre-hydrated, pre-buffered bag, but you gain a lot more growing medium for your money.
Usage guidance
Hydrating and using the block correctly makes a real difference to how the coco performs.
Hydrating the block
Place the block in a large tub or bucket and add roughly 20 litres of water gradually, breaking it up by hand as it absorbs. Leave it to fully expand for 15-20 minutes before use.
Buffering
Because this coco isn't pre-buffered, it's worth running a cal-mag supplement for the first couple of feeds to satisfy the coir's natural cation exchange and prevent early-stage calcium/magnesium deficiency.
Filling pots
Fill pots loosely rather than packing tight - coco needs oxygen at the root zone to perform, and over-compacting reduces the aeration that makes it a good growing medium in the first place.
Feeding
Coco drains fast and holds little nutrient reserve, so plan on feeding little and often with a coco-specific nutrient schedule rather than the less frequent feeding you'd use in soil.
Technical specifications
- Material: 100% organic coconut coir
- Compressed volume: approx. 10-11 litres
- Hydrated volume: 70 litres
- Net dry weight: approx. 5kg
- Water required to hydrate: approx. 20 litres
- Water holding capacity: 60-65%
- pH (out of block): 5.5-6.5
- EC (1:1.5 extract): below 0.6 mS/cm
- Format: washed and sieved to remove fines
Who this is for
- Growers who want a low-EC, near-neutral substrate without paying for a pre-hydrated bag
- Anyone filling multiple pots or a larger bed who needs volume without a big spend
- Coco growers happy to add their own cal-mag buffering rather than pay extra for a pre-buffered product
- Growers with limited storage space who'd rather store a compact block than bulky bags of wet coco
Best suited to growers who are comfortable running a coco feeding schedule and want maximum growing medium for their money.
Our take
This is coco coir doing the basics well: washed, low-EC, and a genuinely large yield from one block. It's not pre-buffered or fancy, but that's reflected in the price, and a quick cal-mag top-up in the first week or two sorts out the one thing it's missing.
If you're growing in coco and don't need a premium pre-buffered bag, this is at a price that makes sense for the volume you get.
