PSA: Peat Moss

curlydoglover

I see this a lot because of the popularity of SFG, so I thought I'd point out this is not a very eco-friendly product.

It is a non-renewable resource (or, it takes hundreds of thousands of years to renew it).  It is mined, which is environmentally destructive.  Peat bogs in the UK and Ireland have been almost completely destroyed - 94% of the bogs in the UK are gone for good (along with all the plants and animals that used to live there).  Over 40,000 acres are mined yearly in Canada, with 90% of that shipped hundreds of miles to the US (Canada is the largest producer of peat moss used in the US).

More info:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Ask-Our-Experts/Organic-Gardening/Peat-Moss.aspx

http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/0712/asknlpeat.html

http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/04/ken-druse-dishes-the-dirt-about-peat-moss.html

GreenGardener

Thanks for the reminder.  I wish I had known this when I put together my SFG last year.  I'll definitely avoid peat moss when I build more boxes next year.

I heard Coir is a good substitute.  Anyone use this in a SFG before?

treesapplaud

I've heard about coir as well. I have just avoided needing peat by digging in composted horse and sometimes cow manure.

Alisha_A

I don't even really know what it is! I think I remember learning it wasn't a very good thing to buy, but I've never really known what one would use it for.

Jeff & Em

Alisha_A:

I don't even really know what it is! I think I remember learning it wasn't a very good thing to buy, but I've never really known what one would use it for.

It's a precursor for coal, I think.  Like peat's been sitting around in bogs for 10,000 years and coal's been sitting around in bogs for 100,000 years.  People use it for planting in because it can hold a ton of water and because it's probably got lots of nutrients in it.  A lot of greenhouse starter kits come with peat pellets that are super tiny and small, but when you add water to them they puff up huge for you to start your seeds in.  And a lot of containers of seedlings will come in peat pots.  I suppose they'd probably break down over time and maybe you can plant in them?  But there are other pots you can plant, too, that you can make or buy that are already biodegradable. 

SuperGreen

Thanks for the reminder, I knew that peat was not good to use for those reasons.  I haven't used coir personally, but I just attended an organic gardening class yesterday and the instructor said to use coir.  It's shredded coconut shells, so a byproduct that would otherwise get thrown away during the coconut manufacturing process.  He said a brick of it is like $5, and he wet it down and we watched it swell up to 5x its size.  I'm going to use his homemade seedstarting soil recipe next year, which includes coir.