This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

[SG] Peat Moss Alternatives, part 1

Well.  It appears my response was too long & was rejected so I
am re-submitting it in 2 parts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Cheryl.

I didn't realize that was such common knowledge.  Long ago I
determined that peat does little to nothing as a soil amendment
so I have limited it's use to what it is supremely good at.
I've been hauling around the same bale for 8 years now.  Since
it is such common knowledge that peat is a non-renewable
resource, surely there are others on the list, such as yourself,
that have come up with alternatives.

The post "merely alludes" to alternatives, because as I said it
was part of an ongoing thread.  However, since "alternatives" to
peat & all related soil issues are among my top 3 most favorite
topics, I'll be delighted to ramble on.

First I'd like to say there there are a few applications for
which peat is pretty much indispensible as far as I can tell.
Most notably, that is in the form of milled sphagnum sifted on
the top of seeds to help prevent damping off and for air
layering.  I'm sure there are a couple of other applications as
well.  If that were all we used peat for, there likely wouldn't
be much of a problem with bog destruction.

There is a product that seems to be available pretty much
everywhere in North America (per discussions with other
gardeners around the country and Canada.  It is a soiless mix
material that is wood-based.  I've been using it for a couple of
years now and I absolutely love the stuff.  It goes by several
different names depending on the distributor (large distributors
use their own labelling and names) but it is made by a Canadian
company called ASB-Greenworld with distribution points in
Ontario, New Brunswick and Valdosta, Georgia.

I've had no problems with damping off, molds or any of the other
common problems of seed starting.  In fact, the fine-ground wood
particles hold moisture better (not scientifically proven,
simply my observation) yet drains faster than peat.  It's quite
inexpensive, though I've not been able to find it baled yet.

jknoble@warwick.net
Z6/5, NW NJ
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index