Whats the best "PEAT Substitute"
 

Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to gardeners.

What is the best thing to use instead of PEAT for PEAT loving plants?

Thanks

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:19:38 +0000, tom wrote:

Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to gardeners.

What is the best thing to use instead of PEAT for PEAT loving plants?

Thanks

Well rotted leaf mould is fine.

Peat *is* widely available and will continue to be so for the
forseeable future. The arguments pro and anti peat ebb and flow with
monotonous regularity. The scientific evidence and serious
professional opinion amongst botanists, ecologists,
conservationists/environmentalists and horticulturalists is by no
means all against continued use of peat in horticulture so long as
it's coming from responsibly managed deposits.

That'll be 2p please.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

"Rod" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:19:38 +0000, tom
wrote:

Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I
havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to
gardeners.

What is the best thing to use instead of PEAT for PEAT loving
plants?

Thanks

Well rotted leaf mould is fine.

That might not be acid enough for acid loving plants.

Peat *is* widely available and will continue to be so for the
forseeable future. The arguments pro and anti peat ebb and flow with
monotonous regularity. The scientific evidence and serious
professional opinion amongst botanists, ecologists,
conservationists/environmentalists and horticulturalists is by no
means all against continued use of peat in horticulture so long as
it's coming from responsibly managed deposits.

That'll be 2p please.

Franz

tom wrote:
Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to
gardeners.

What is the best thing to use instead of PEAT for PEAT loving plants?


Well, a lot of quite well respected people have been campaigning
against the depletion of wetlands and the sale of Peat, so it's a good
and sensible question.

Snag is, there is no ready answer. Rotted pine needles or bark
chippings are available, but seem quite expensive.

If you take the environmental problems of the planet seriously enough -
and I think we should - then we should be doing more than just protect
wetlands. The fuel cost of shipping ('compost-miles'?) and the
environmental impact of the roads used and your own trip to the garden
centre can't be ignored. Some of the most widely advised peat
substitutes (Coir and "agrowaste") are shipped from India, for heaven's
sake. The aussies are composting eucylptus trimmings, but have to add
huge amounts of nitrogen fertiliser to get them to compost at all.

So the lowest impact answer seems to be 'compost made on your own land
from your own plant materials'. And if it's not acid enough for your
plants, pick different plants...
(http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/gg35.htm)
(http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/peatfree.html)

In the end everyone makes thier own compromises and value judgements.
I'd ask the plantsman at the local garden centre, take what they offer,
and balance off the benefits that way.

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 23:06:27 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"Rod" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:19:38 +0000, tom
wrote:

Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I
havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to
gardeners.

What is the best thing to use instead of PEAT for PEAT loving
plants?

Thanks

Well rotted leaf mould is fine.

That might not be acid enough for acid loving plants.

I was thinking more in terms of physical conditioning of the soil.
imho if anybody's considering growing acid loving plants in an
alkaline soil, they should think again or consider growing in raised
beds or containers. There are so many beautiful lime lovers and it is
not easy to get the pH of an alkaline soil down sufficiently to suit
the lime haters. A great many of the lime haters don't need extremely
low pH 6-6.5 is fine for many and and most won't thrive much below 5.0

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

In article .com,
writes

In the end everyone makes thier own compromises and value judgements.
I'd ask the plantsman at the local garden centre, take what they offer,
and balance off the benefits that way.

The only peat we use is a small amount which may be in the 40litres of
seed compost we buy annually for very fine seeding work. Everything else
is done with our own made organic compost, supplemented if necessary
with sharp sand, ash or soot. An urg FAQ on composting can be seen at:
http://www.nugget.demon.co.uk/MetaFAQ/organic.html
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

tom wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to gardeners.

What is the best thing to use instead of PEAT for PEAT loving plants?

Thanks

Hi Tom,

I haven't used peat in years (and refuse to do so), but manage very well by
mixing composts to my own recipe and adding an ericaceous feed.
I order my composts mail order from CPL (Charringtons as was). I buy large
quantities, so it's great to have it delivered.

For acid-loving plants I mix: Levington's Soil Improver and Mulch
(composted bark, to a peat-like consistency) and John Innes No2. to add bulk
and weight. Sometimes I add a little horticultural grit, which opens up the
compost texture to improve drainage. Remember to add some ericaceous feed.
Water in with saved rainwater, not tapwater.

I find CPL's prices very reasonable. Eg: L's Soil Improver and Mulch 75ltr.
is £5.29, or £12.48 for 3 bags.
Check them out at: www.cpldistribution.co.uk

Hope this helps.
Spider

[quote=

Well, a lot of quite well respected people have been campaigning
against the depletion of wetlands and the sale of Peat, so it's a good
and sensible question.

Snag is, there is no ready answer. Rotted pine needles or bark
chippings are available, but seem quite expensive.

.[/QUOTE]

What about composted bracken? The red haired lady had some on GW - did she not mention it as a peat substitute? There's certainly no shortage of bracken in these parts, perhaps you could chop your own?

Bob

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:19:38 +0000, tom wrote:

Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to gardeners.

Where can one buy composted bracken as used by Carol Klein on GW.
I guess it would be fairly acidic. It looked wonderful stuff but I've
not seen it for sale. Would it be a peat substitute?


Pam in Bristol

In article , Pam Moore
writes
On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 17:19:38 +0000, tom wrote:

Hi All,

I have just bought a plant & it says that it likes peat soil. I havnt
seen PEAT for sale lately & guess its nolonger available to gardeners.

Where can one buy composted bracken as used by Carol Klein on GW.
I guess it would be fairly acidic. It looked wonderful stuff but I've
not seen it for sale. Would it be a peat substitute?

Well, that's what Carol as recommending it as! ;-)

She said she got hers by mail order. Google is remarkably silent on
possible sources, but did throw up the following interesting summary of
research into peat alternatives:

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/grou...ents/page/odpm
_plan_606234.pdf
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 12:09:13 -0000, "Spider" wrote:


I haven't used peat in years (and refuse to do so), but manage very well by
mixing composts to my own recipe and adding an ericaceous feed.

For acid-loving plants I mix: Levington's Soil Improver and Mulch
(composted bark, to a peat-like consistency) and John Innes No2. to add bulk
and weight.

Do you know what JI contains? I can't remember the exact proportions -
it's a long time since I made any, but I can tell you that it contains
a significant amount of peat. That's if it's made to the original JI
specification - if not it shouldn't really be called JI compost,
though trade usage seems to be to call any soil based compost JI
compost. Again the JI spec calls for loam produced in a specified
manner but most so called JI composts I've seen seem to contain any
old soil they could get hold of.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

In article , Rod rodcraddoc
writes

Do you know what JI contains? I can't remember the exact proportions -
it's a long time since I made any, but I can tell you that it contains
a significant amount of peat. That's if it's made to the original JI
specification - if not it shouldn't really be called JI compost,
though trade usage seems to be to call any soil based compost JI
compost. Again the JI spec calls for loam produced in a specified
manner but most so called JI composts I've seen seem to contain any
old soil they could get hold of.

A.G.L.Hellyer gives the following John Innes mixtures in the 1981
edition of Sanders Encyclopedia:

Basic formula for potting:
Medium loam 7 parts by bulk
Peat 3 parts by bulk
Coarse sand 2 parts by bulk

A basic fertiliser is prepared separately consisting of:
Hoof and Horn meal 2 parts by weight
Superphosphate of lime 2 parts by weight
Sulphate of potash 1 part by weight

For most greenhouse plants add 4ozs of basic fertiliser plus 3/4oz
ground chalk or limestone to a bushel of basic potting mixture,
increasing the amount of fertiliser for strong growing plants.
For lime hating plants the chalk or limestone can be left out.

Basic mixture for seed germination:
Mdium loam 2parts
Peat 1part
Coarse sand 1part

To each bushel of this mixture add:
1.5ozs superphosphate of lime and
3/4oz ground chalk or limestone.

John Innes mixtures were first demonstrated and standardised at the John
Innes Horticultural Institution by W.J.C.Lawrence in the 1930s, which
explains the antiquated nature of the measures given.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

On 7/3/05 19:56, in article , "Alan
Gould" wrote:

snip
John Innes mixtures were first demonstrated and standardised at the John
Innes Horticultural Institution by W.J.C.Lawrence in the 1930s, which
explains the antiquated nature of the measures given.

This got me wondering what the Irish use instead of peat in their power
stations. Somewhat tongue in cheek, I offer you this:
http://www.hempfood.com/fuel.html
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Sacha
writes
This got me wondering what the Irish use instead of peat in their power
stations. Somewhat tongue in cheek, I offer you this:
http://www.hempfood.com/fuel.html

Interesting. Food for thought? :-)
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.