Re: [SAG] peat moss
- To: s*@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
- Subject: Re: [SG] [SAG] peat moss
- From: M* T*
- Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 01:35:50 -0500
Fastest way I've found to moisten dry peat is pour boiling water on
it. Takes a lot of it, but seems the hot water penetrates the peat
fibers faster than cold water, in my experience.
Will chime in on the use of peat with rhodies. I generally reserve
peat for the mix I make to plant rhodies and azaleas. Note I said
"mix". I'd NEVER plant something in pure peat moss. But, peat is
highly acidic and this genus demands acid soil, so I add some to the
rotted wood chips, pine bark fines and native clay mix, since
although my native soil is acid, rotted organic material tends to be
neutral in composition. Sand is also good. As has been noted, these
plants require that hard to obtain item "continually moist soil that
drains sharply".
Making sure they do not dry out is critical, as is planting high in
clay or poorly draining soils.
If all cultural practices are right, and a newly purchased plant
dies, it is also possible that it had acquired one of the fungal
diseases they are prone to at the nursery. Whenever rhodies (more so
than either evergreen or deciduous azaleas) get stressed in any way,
they tend to fall prey to the various fungi that can do them in or
severely injure them. Be sure to remove any dead branches or
branches where you see leaves wilting while the rest of the plants
leaves are fine. Dip your clippers in a bleach or alcohol solution
between cuts as those fungi can be transported by tools.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> From: Lynn Barbee <msgardens@HOTMAIL.COM>
> Date: Sunday, March 18, 2001 10:13 AM
>
> I have trouble every time I use sphagnum peat moss. It seems like
it never
> really gets broken up enough to get mixed in with the soil. I once
mixed it
> into a hole for a rhodo I planted, and noticed a few weeks later
(when
> removing the dead rhodo...sigh...) that there were still places
that were as
> dry as can be, where I had not mixed enough to moisten the peat.
Any ideas?
> Lynn
