Coir source is important. Coir is also useful to deter snails from delicate plantings, and as a growing medium in intensive glasshouse (greenhouse) horticulture. Coconut coir from Mexico has been found to contain large numbers of colonies of the beneficial fungus "Aspergillus terreus", which acts as a biological control against plant pathogenic fungi. Coir is also used as a substrate to grow mushrooms. The coir is usually mixed with vermiculite and pasteurised with boiling water. After the coir/vermiculite mix has cooled to room temperature, it is placed in a larger container, usually a plastic box. Previously prepared spawn jars are then
Coir remove short fibres. Bristle coir fibre is used as bristles in brushes for domestic and industrial applications. Red coir is used in floor mats and doormats, brushes, mattresses, floor tiles and sacking. A small amount is also made into twine. Pads of curled brown coir fibre, made by needle-felting (a machine technique that mats the fibres together), are shaped and cut to fill mattresses and for use in erosion control on river banks and hillsides. A major proportion of brown coir pads are sprayed with rubber latex which bonds the fibres together (rubberised coir) to be used as upholstery padding