Peat based compost

[Sheal]

This is regarding bought compost please.

In England peat or peat based compost is on the brink of being totally banned and is already very difficult to find and buy. Here in Scotland it's still available and as yet not been considered for banning. I'd like to know please if 100% peat or peat based compost is available to buy in bags in America and where it can be bought. I'm asking for my son who's adopted home is America. He's not really a gardener but needs to repot indoor plants. Britain as a whole has not come up with a decent peat free compost yet and what is being produced is pretty much useless, particularly when starting seeds and seedlings.

 

[pepper2.0]

Here in Canada it can be purchased at any garden store and most hardware/farm supply stores. I assume it's the same in the USA.

 

[Chuck]

This is regarding bought compost please.

In England peat or peat based compost is on the brink of being totally banned and is already very difficult to find and buy. Here in Scotland it's still available and as yet not been considered for banning. I'd like to know please if 100% peat or peat based compost is available to buy in bags in America and where it can be bought. I'm asking for my son who's adopted home is America. He's not really a gardener but needs to repot indoor plants. Britain as a whole has not come up with a decent peat free compost yet and what is being produced is pretty much useless, particularly when starting seeds and seedlings.

Yes, peat is readily available in the US under many different brand names either online or in retail gardening centers. But why peat moss. It has zero nutritional values. It actual does is retain moisture. It is also acidic. It helps with soil structure. It is also slowly being phased out of production but there is an alternative called Coconut Coir. Your son can get potting soil that is nutritional and need not be made from peat. I haven't bought peat or a peat based seed starting medium in many years and I start all of my plants from seeds. All he has to do is go to a garden center and read the lable on the bag to find out what is in the product.

 

[Sheal]

@Chuck it would probably surprise you just how many gardeners here rely on peat as a growing medium. I and many others have tried peat free and it's useless. Seed germination and development of seedlings are stunted with very little root or top growth. In fact many just stall and die. Regarding potted plants peat free doesn't retain water, it goes straight through. The same with diluted fertiliser and again the plants suffer. Until producers of peat free come up with something better many of us in Britain will continue to seek out peat based composts. Yes, we can produce our own compost at home and I'm in the process of starting that for future use, and although it won't contain peat it will be reliable. But those like my son who just need a bag from time to time won't want to get involved in producing his/their own.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I put horse manure through the sieve and mix about 20% with the peat free, it seems to work quite well, I don't know why the producers can't get it right, though looking at it I would say the peat free is almost all wood based.

 

[oneeye]

In the US, you can get Pro Mix HP or Pro Mix BX and use them as soil-less potting mixes. The difference between HP and BX is the HP has a lot of drainage and the BX holds more water. Promix BX has vermiculite added to help hold moisture during dry times. Both mixes are mostly used indoors. The potting mixes have a 300 ppm nutrient starter charge that will have to be supplemented with nutrients after a few waterings. . .

 

[Sheal]

Sorry @oneeye the mixes you describe mean nothing to me this side of the water. I think you must be describing something that is not only soil-less but peat free too? We have vermiculite here but I've never used it.

 

[oneeye]

Sorry @oneeye the mixes you describe mean nothing to me this side of the water. I think you must be describing something that is not only soil-less but peat free too? We have vermiculite here but I've never used it.

Pro mix is a Canadian peat moss potting mix made from pure peat moss with calcium added to maintain the pH. Its used here, and in a lot of large greenhouses. Its very common here and has been for over 50 years.

 

[Sheal]

@oneye thanks for the information.

 

[pepper2.0]

Pro mix is a Canadian peat moss potting mix made from pure peat moss with calcium added to maintain the pH. Its used here, and in a lot of large greenhouses. Its very common here and has been for over 50 years.

I've used it, really good stuff for potting. I had no idea it was Canadian though lol.. good to know!

 

[cpp gardener]

Where in the US is he? Pro mix is available most anywhere in the country, but there are lots of other brands with different compositions. Labeling laws require that all ingredients be identified, but not the percentages. I find Promix to be a bit too fine textured for most of my uses. Great for seed starting though.

 

[Logan]

I have no trouble with peat free compost here in the UK, i grow all of my flowers from seed in it and all of my cuttings but it's not a coir one.

 

[pepper2.0]

I did some reading on it, I had no idea Canada is the world's largest supplier of peat.. supplying 96% of USA apparently. It made me wonder why UK doesn't just get it imported from Canada. Apparently it's because of environmental concerns UK has. That I can understand.. but I can't see it making a difference since Canada is continuing to dredge it and exporting it. A bit off topic, I just don't understand.

 

[Sheal]

Where in the US is he?

His nearest city is Columbus, Ohio.

I have no trouble with peat free compost here in the UK, i grow all of my flowers from seed in it and all of my cuttings but it's not a coir one.

Both Logan and I are members of another gardening forum. We're both aware that a high percentage of the members there are not happy with the results from peat free compost.

It made me wonder why UK doesn't just get it imported from Canada.

Probably the cost of shipping. Most of mainland Britain's peat comes from Ireland and it's the destruction of peat bogs there that has prompted the ban in England. Ironically the Irish continue to use it for burning as fuel. I said earlier that here in Scotland we can still get hold of peat from Ireland although the supply is dropping slowly. Scotland has it's own peat bogs but I don't know how much of that is supplied to the gardening industry.

 

[pepper2.0]

His nearest city is Columbus, Ohio.


Both Logan and I are members of another gardening forum. We're both aware that a high percentage of the members there are not happy with the results from peat free compost.



Probably the cost of shipping. Most of mainland Britain's peat comes from Ireland and it's the destruction of peat bogs there that has prompted the ban in England. Ironically the Irish continue to use it for burning as fuel. I said earlier that here in Scotland we can still get hold of peat from Ireland although the supply is dropping slowly. Scotland has it's own peat bogs but I don't know how much of that is supplied to the gardening industry.

According to google it's not the cost of import, it's because UK wants to avoid the impact it causes on environment. I've no idea.. this is just a rabbit hole I jumped into this morning while having my coffee. What my mind is thinking is yes I understand not wanting to destroy your own land (UK) digging it up, but if it's going to sell from someone else's land (Canada) regardless if you buy it or not.. why not just have it imported with the crude fuel we send over there?

It's just how my mind thinks.. not my business or concern or anything but more often then not I just don't understand. I'm not making fun of UK's choices.. I'm Canadian.. me making fun of any other country would be something I couldn't do with a straight face lmao.