Should i use peat moss

Espoma Organic Vermiculite. Espoma offers an 8-quart bag of organic vermiculite via Amazon. There is currently very little information on whether this substance is at risk of being depleted in the near future, but there is no way to replace the materials that make it.

There has also been some concern regarding the safety of vermiculite, mostly likely due to an asbestos contamination event at a Libby, Montana, mine, which closed in The Libby mine harvested both asbestos and the material needed to make vermiculite.

The vermiculite became contaminated with asbestos, causing products to be contaminated. Vermiculite sold today would not come from this now-shuttered mine, nor would it be in the supply channel after all this time. Regarding perlite and vermiculite, your best bet is to experiment with these materials to see what you like best. I know many gardeners who choose one option for seeds, another for potting mix, and something else for raised beds.

Another option for supplementing the soil is coconut coir. The outside fibers of coconut shells are used to make this material. You can actually find coconut coir as a stand-alone option or in many garden soil mixes, combined with the other solutions we mentioned, such as peat, perlite, or vermiculite.

Since it is a byproduct of existing coconut harvesting, and was originally considered waste, it is a very eco-friendly alternative to peat. It absorbs water and can also help lighten the density of the soil, promoting drainage.

It has become a favorite among hydroponic growers and worm farmers in the past few years, and is sold to gardeners everywhere on sites like Amazon.

Coco Coir. You can find coconut coir from FibreDust through Amazon. Very few of the resources that we use in gardening are truly renewable.

Mulching and compost, via wasted plant materials and our garbage, are probably among the most sustainable options out there. If you find yourself using more materials and resources than necessary to avoid using this soil amendment, you might be doing more harm than good.

A small amount of peat has the possibility of saving water, fuel for your tiller, or a drive to the recycling plant for DIY mulch ingredients. If you are a good steward of the small amount of this product you purchase, it may be a worthwhile investment for your garden. Only you can determine the total cost of using this dearly loved gardening tool. I know that many gardeners have weighed the impact of using just a small amount of this soil amendment wisely and have found it to be appropriate.

Do you use this product in your garden? I appreciate your article, all are great amendments that are readily available. They are there to buy and someone is going to buy it and more will be delivered. Buy it. Use it. Or someone else will. Excellent informative article. Much better than all the others i read on this topic.

A simple question: should I use peat moss around my tomatoes to help reduce blight caused by water splashing up dirt onto the lower leaves? Seems peat moss would help stop the splash up while softening the soil and retaining water. What do you think? Hey, thanks for the comments — we genuinely appreciate the feedback! I am a beginner in terrace Gardening from New Delhi, India Interested in learning and to practice at the same time share the information to my close contacts.

This was very helpful thanks! I bought a cubic yard of black garden soil. It defintely is not holding onto moisture, and wondering what to add? I added worm castings and plan to add compost, any suggestions on which of these options would be best for water retention?

Glad our guide could help! Peat loam is different from peat moss. And wear a dust mask! All of those ingredients besides the compost are very dusty. A friend gave us several large bales of compressed peat moss and I am wondering what to do with it. What do you think? I think it's time for me to finally answer this question, Barb! My favorite use is to spread some peat an inch or two thick around the base of my acid-loving plants like rhododendrons and azaleas, and then cover that with an inch of compost.

It keeps their soil rich and acidic just the way they like it. I also use peat moss to make my pink hydrangeas turn blue. Sign up today and be the first to know when a new article is posted and when there are special offers too!

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Oops, there seems to be an error, please re-enter your email address. Peat moss is also a good growing medium for the soilless culture. However, people do not use it alone, but often in conjunction with other growing media like perlite , vermiculite. If you wish to use peat moss for pure hydroponic growing, you should know some facts about why it is not appropriate. Because peat moss is an organic matter, if provided with plenty of oxygen and nitrogen, it will start to decompose.

When that happens, the material can compress around plant roots and will choke off your plants. So better to mix with other materials. Peat moss is often blended with growing media such as perlite, vermiculite to balance the moisture and aeration. One of the most useful roles of peat moss is in seed starting because this material is very sterile. Its antiseptic qualities naturally prevent bacteria and fungi from the seeds.

It also gives excellent drainage, good aeration, fine texture, and low fertile, making it very ideal for germination. For this purpose, you can use the peat moss alone or in mixture with some soils. Or remove the hassle by getting the peat pellets sold on the market. Many people also prefer the soilless mix of peat moss, perlite, coconut coir, vermiculite and others in different amounts. This prevents the diseases, fungus, bacteria, weed seeds, and other bad things commonly found in the soils,.

Because of its low pH, peat moss is very suitable for vegetables and fruits that require an acidic environment. These include blueberries, pieris, heathers, azaleas, camellias, tomatoes, and so on. For a material that can not be renewed in several years, but takes millennials to do that, peat moss is not an environmental-aware growing medium to use. Another concern is that harvesting peat moss is considered not a sustainable practice and must be regulated and done with careful analysis. As peatland stores a great percentage of carbon.

Many environmental groups are beware of peat moss mining. The International Peat Society indicates that the harvesting process emits a large amount of carbon into the atmosphere.

And the emission continues even after the mining. This means ecosystem can be affected. And when global warming topics are getting hotter, people are more beware of the material. In fact, there are debates between peat manufacturer and conservationist about the long-term effects of peat moss. People are also looking for a substitute for peat moss, and mostly it boils down to the cost, grower preference, and environmental awareness.

And the alternatives to peat moss mostly share some great qualities with peat moss but is often blended with one another to get its best traits. Compost is made from the decayed organic materials like rotted plants, leaves, vegetable scraps and animal manures. It has a lot of commonalities with peat moss like excellent water holding capacity, and great material for soil amendment. Compost also consists of decomposed organic material, but it decomposed in the presence of the air.

Meanwhile, for peat moss to form the air needs to be absent. Coco coir is the outer husk of the coconut, a by-product of the coconut processing industry. And it is a definitely another excellent alternative for peat moss for over 20 years.

This material is a lot coarser and has larger spaces between their particles, so it is better aerated. Coconut is often manufactured in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam because it is abundant in these places.

Again coco coir shared some great traits with peat moss, including good water retainment, high porosity. There are many other options, which can be listed such as pine bark, PittMoss, Rice hulls, and so on. No doubt, peat moss is a great material for gardening with all of its benefits and good uses as mentioned above. But asking that question, you can base your answer on these points to make the best of the material as well as deciding whether to use it or not.

A better idea to mix with other materials to get the best-mixed traits. So if you grow in large quantity, and the price is an issue, you can use compost. And finally, peat moss is not renewable.