# "Baking" Coco fiber



## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

So I mixed up 3 bricks or coco fibers and strained them and put them on a huge piece of cardboard to dry, but so far they are still pretty moist. I have a small heater blowing on them also. I was thinking of baking them in the oven for a bit as i know some of you do. What temp and how long should this be done? How thick of a layer of coco?

Luke


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2005)

i baked mine at 250...it probably be best to bake it in 1 inch layers for a about an hour


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## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

make sure you mix it from time-to-time. The edges will dry faster than the middle unless you stir ever 20min or so...


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

I finally finished the back wall. There are a few little spots i'll need to redo, but the main thing i see is that light bounces off of the silicone in certain areas where it is not as thick. Does anybody else have this problem? How can i eliminate it? Or does it gradually reduce?

Luke


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## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

I just finished my background this weekend. I baked my coco bedding at about 350 degrees mixing every couple minutes and only doing thin layers at a time. 

The silicone is hard to touch up with because when you put it down on the spot it needs to be, it gets caught on the bedding next to it. That is my experience. The spots without it are so small though on mine. I would say try and put it on with your finger. I wore gloves which made it a little tougher to do. Or just put a whole bunch then throw down the bedding and smother it and hope it covered good. 

Just my ideas and experiences.

Oh yeah, attach enough plants so that it isn't visible or noticeable.


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## Keroppi (Nov 23, 2004)

I had a big problem with that a few weeks ago. I sprayed my background with the sprayer on stream and tons of the bedding just washed away. This made me think that it would not survive misting and them clinbing all over it. I had to rub off as much as possible in the thin layers. And then go over the it with brown silicone. I couldnt find brown by GE so I bought DAP Window & Door 100% Silicone in "bronze" ( just looks brown to me). Worked great now the thin spots don't have that yello tinted reflective quality. You can only see them if you look really hard.

Only problem is - I wish I had just done the whole background in brown. The spots that were ok are now thinning ... and it really bothers me. I will never do a background with clear silicone again! Good luck and I hope whatever you decide works out.

Eve S.


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## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

I use the Black GE Silicon II, if a spot is missed or "rubs off" it does not look too bad. The brown is great as well, maybe even mix brown and black to provide even a more natural color if a spot is rubbed too thin...


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

Yeah, i used the brown silicone II and it worked pretty well. It's just that in some spots were the coco isn't as think, you can see the silicone because the light bounces off of it and creates a sort of shiny surface. I'm not sure if i should attempt to touch it up, because after plants are on the surface and it gets wet etc. i doubt you will still be able to see them. 

Luke

Edit: Here are some pics so you can see what i mean:
http://www.dendroboard.com/coppermine/d ... 291&pos=10
http://www.dendroboard.com/coppermine/d ... =291&pos=9

It's sort of annoying, but i don't know how to fix it.


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## Cory (Jan 18, 2005)

What it looks like is you worked on to large of an area and the surface skinned a little before you could stick the coco on. What I did to mine and it has held for two months with constant water action is; cover a small area, maybe 6 in by 6 in with brown GE Silicone. I used my finger to spread it and make sure it has good contact with the great stuff. Then I dumped a mixture of cocohusk and peat on top. Then I pressed down firmly and let dry. You can do several sections in different areas at one time. Then when dry brush off extra, it should take some good abuse. Fill in areas that you missed last time. Like I said I have a constant water wall over it and have not had any sluffing or degredation. I think you could fix yours by going over it again with small dots of silicone smeared in the area and husk put on top.


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

I did the back wall in 3 parts. I doubt it had any time to dry, but i couldnt really press the coco in well because of all the odd shaped greatstuff.

I guess i'll try to fix it up a little.

Luke


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## Darks!de (Nov 16, 2004)

I figured out the problem. When putting on the coco i didn't "mash" it into the silicone enough. I just sprinkled it on and patted it a bit. You really have to press it into the silicone. 

Is there anything i can do to fix this without redoing the entire wall?

Luke


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