Peat Moss is Gardening Crack

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When it comes to potted plants and raised beds we’ve used our share of peat moss.  Many bagged soil providers like to say that their peat is “sustainably” harvested. The image above as well as an extensive list of citations and peat alternatives in the Facebook group In Defense of Plants proves that peat moss is as sustainable as tobacco is safe. Here’s those citations:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904165253.htm

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/44/2/312.full.pdf+html

cpl.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/pub__9468201.pdf

http://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/horticultural-peat.pdf

http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/Environmental/Media_Nutrition/COIR%20potential.htm

When I put this article in Facebook, Renate sent a picture of what peat harvesting looks like in Nartum, Germany near where she grew up:

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Leave it to us humans to make a desert in Germany!

We’ve experimented with mixes of coir and compost but still use peat moss occasionally. These images and citations have convinced me to go cold turkey.

What are your feelings about peat? Have you found good alternatives?

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14 Comments

  1. Just an FYI that the third link on Coconut Coir paper didn’t work.

    I don’t tend to use any peat moss in my garden, so it hasn’t been much of an issue for me. There is a local company here in Eastern North Dakota that claims to harvest their peat sustainably, but I haven’t really checked out the veracity of those claims.

    And I hope you don’t mind, but I thought the reddit folks of the world might find this (especially the links) interesting, so I posted a link on reddit.

    • Hi John,
      Thanks for letting me know about the broken links. I have fixed them (I think–for some reason I have an html nightmare every time I try to link to pdfs). And thanks for putting us up on reddit!

  2. I haven’t found an acceptable alternative yet. The peat is harvested a couple of hours from my house. I thought about coir but that’s so far away it first has to be shipped in, then transported by road. I use very little peat now. A 3.8 cu ft bag has lasted me five years so far.

  3. I think North Americans avoiding peat is an example of well-intentioned people doing the wrong thing.

    Importing coir from distant lands adds shipping impacts, and increases the difficulty of oversight on sustainable harvesting.

    Two of the links don’t work, at least on my phone. Two others are European. One of those cites “environmental concerns” without any citation of actual environmental damage.

    At the very least, the European experience is likely not relevant in the North American context. In Europe peat has been harvested for millennia, in North America, peat is increasing, according to Eliot Coleman, who looked into this very question long ago.

    I don’t have a lifecycle analysis for using coir in North America, but it is likely worse for the planet. Here is an article I wrote on this topic, with some choice quotes from Coleman.

    http://www.smallanddeliciouslife.com/peat-or-coir-the-correct-answer-is/

    • Thanks Ruben for chiming in on this issue. I too am conflicted about the importation of coir. Since our own garden soil is contaminated with lead and zinc, this is a tricky issue for us.

  4. I avoid using peat when I can. I have yet to find anything that is really a good alternative. I just use a good mulch and lots of compost instead.

  5. I used peat once planting some blueberries (along with the buried wood). Probably should have just acidulated with sulphur – they didn’t do particularly well (the Berkeley did okay – and we were just north of Berkeley).

    We use coconut coir extensively as a top dressing. It allows us to save a lot of water. When we apply, we wet it down so it forms a smooth layer that dries into an amazing vapor barrier. With a drip emitter buried in the pith, we can get away with very light waterings, for potted plants.

    Humans grow and eat a lot of coconuts, so it’s nice to be using that huge hull and husk for something. And those container ships are coming anyway – I know, since we live near the Port of Oakland now.

  6. I like half coco coir, half compost and a dash of perlite for potting soil. If perlite isn’t sustainable enough for you, rice hulls can be substituted to aid drainage.

  7. I use peat only for creating raised beds for cranberries. I don’t know if there is anything that works as well, but the directions that accompanied my first order of low-bush cranberry plants from Johnny’s Selected Seeds recommend a soil of 1/2 peat and 1/2 sand with the addition of several long-acting nutrients. Cranberries I’ve planted in ordinary soil don’t survive; the Johnny’s plants are lush and huge and provide plenty of sauce at Thanksgiving.

  8. If you watch Shark Tank, there is a new start up who did get funding from the sharks for an alternative to peat moss.

    • Someone just told me about this. its called Pitt Moss from Pittsburgh. Looks promising.

      pittmoss.com

  9. I have been wrestling with this issue for years. Our urban farm and seedling nursery uses a lot of peat over the course of the year. The potting mix we buy, made locally, uses peat. Our plants grow very well in it, though due to the issues discussed here I would like to experiment with alternatives. I would love to hear some discussion on pros and cons of other mediums like coir, rice hulls, etc. I havnt been able to find a locally sourced product that does what peat does in our potting mix.

  10. I have never used Peat and now that I’ve seen these pics, I’m glad I never got into it. Lately I started brewing up “comfrey tea” and pouring it at the base of my fruit trees. I noticed that the leaves seem to be growing in larger and fuller than before. The stench is very, very potent though. I am starting to get paranoid that the neighbors can smell it. O_O

    • Yes, comfrey “tea” is a very potent nutrient, which is also very stinky. I live adjacent to several hayfields that my dairy farmer neighbor spreads with cow manure. Thus, I have no sense of shame about my “tea”….Comfrey is also a good tonic for ruminants; my sheep love it.

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