@Freedom_Fighter I pretty much had my two main points mentioned about peat, if this was also adressed towards me but I think we talk generally so I reply.
Hey Proud Kraut,
I'm certainly not a "soil scientist," nor an expert on this topic, by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know this is a hotly debated topic, among the "experts"; meaning there is no concensus among them.
When thaseus92 described the "peat" industry as "the greatest enviormental crime" of all, and that it's use as a base for living soil mixes is stupid, more or less, well it was hard for me to just let that slide and say nothing about it; especially since I'm Canadian, where the peat industry is very large.
It's one thing to hold firmly to one side of a hotly debated topic, but when you begin to call us on the opposite side stupid enviromental criminals, well, that's going a bit too far, in my opinion. I'm certainly not going to resort to such name calling, but will stick to rational argumentation. I try hard to keep an open mind to "the science" and evolve my understanding over time.
What is it about peat that you think is so great?
One of the leading producers of organic living soil, in North America, is a company named KiS Organics. It has a YouTube channel that is well worth subscribing to, in my opinion. KO has an article posted on its website, which I refer you to, entitled:
Peat vs Coco Coir : KiS Organics
This can be a hotly debated topic among growers as to what's the best media for growing plants. In this article, I'll weigh in with my opinion on the subject as there are Pros and Cons to both.
www.kisorganics.com
This article lists 8 "Pros of Peat Moss," which is a good place to start:
1. Free of weed seeds, pests and pathogens.
2. Can absorb up to 20 times its dry weight in water.
3. Contains beneficial microorganisms.
4. Acidic pH (a "pro" in my opinion because you can add highly alkaline amendments to it).
5. Contains a variety of elements, especially sulfur, which helps with proper terpene expression.
6. Excellent habitat for beneficial microorganisms.
7. Harvested in North America, which reduces the fossil fuel impact to get it to the United States.
8. Better C:N ratio than coco coir.
The C:N ratio of peat moss is 60:1. Now, I must admit that I've taken these claims in good faith, without ever trying to debunk them, because I trust KiS Organics to be a science based and highly ethical company; the furthest thing possible from being stupid, environmental criminals.
The article also lists some "cons" as well, as there are both "pros & cons" to both peat and coco. If you believe the eight listed "pros" are inaccurate, I'm quite open to examining your counter arguments. Feel free to debunk them, if possible.
Not even trying to make the dark sides of coco look better but fact is there's an industry around it, it's a source that renews pretty fast as the plants grow and it got great water holding capacities plus is relatively stable in its structure so will hold its volume for a reasonable time - and I don't throw my substrate away, its there to stay.
I'm certainly not Anti-Coco-coir. Far from it, but I have never grown with it. If I was into sterile growing with synthetic fertilizers, though, I'd probably use coco. My decision to do so would not be affected, in any way, by the "hype" around the "global warming" debate. The global warming "science" is far from "settled", imo. The solar activity of the sun has a far greater impact upon climate than anything else, carbon emissions included.
As for the structural stability of peat moss, there is an old video of the tomato farmer who created the Earthbox, in which he claims to have had many Earthboxes filled with a standard peat moss mix, that he had grown consecutive crops in for 9+ years, with no rest periods and never changing the mix.
He has since moved on to better pastures, so we can't ask for an update on how many years he grew in the same unchanged peat mix, with no breaks in between crops. I can post a link to the video if there's any interest.
You hear people all the time telling you they're 'soil' growers but these 'soil' growers most often run a peat perlite mix that is actually labeled as soilless medium - because peat is no soil and perlite neither.
And then they dump some bottled nutes on top and call it a day.
To each their own but that's not for me.
Coco by itself is also a soilless medium btw.
Yes, that's a bit like growers referring to "soil" as dirt. Many a soil scientist, if not all of them, take issue with referring to soil as "dirt". They are not the same thing, to the educated farmer.
To your point, though, a soilless mix is definitely not soil; though it can be easily converted into a living soil. I'll refer you to another online article by KiS Organics:
7 Important Things When Building a Living Soil – KiS Organics
There are many recipes out there for mixing your own potting soil. I've tried a bunch over the years, including most of the commercially produced soils on the market like Ocean Forest or Pro Mix. I'm convinced that with a little bit of work, you can produce your own soil using many local...
www.kisorganics.com
"It starts with a good base mix. My preference is approximately 50% sphagnum peat moss, 33% aeration (we use 1/3 large and 2/3 medium pumice in our soils), and 17% high quality compost and/or earthworm castings. Many people will go with 1/3 peat, 1/3 aeration, and 1/3 compost. I chose to adjust this based on research showing around 20% to be the optimal amount of earthworm castings on potting mix. You can also use coco coir or other substrates instead of peat moss but see my article on peat vs coco for why peat is my hands down choice."
Sustainable peat farming sound like greenwashing to me. Any idea how long it takes to build up that peat layer? Yeah, not happening any time soon.
Since I'm just an "amateur," I will readily concede that there are places where peat farming is not sustainable; but also places where it definitely is sustainable. The time it takes to regrow it is taken into full consideration, and factored into the total equation, of sustainable practices.
However, the argument strikes me as a little like comparing apples to oranges, in some sense.
Cheers! - FF
