Greetings,
Recently I have been plauged with an infestation of moss, and I have it from very good authority that my peat is to blame. I took a suggestion from Tamlin to purchase a TDS meter, and discovered that my peat is extremely high in dissolved solids
I'm now faced with the problem of re-potting my entire utric collection. Unfortunately, I don't have the space or time to age peat outdoors nor do I have enough R.O. water (I buy mine) to suffeceintly leach the peat. I've come up with a few cost and time effective options but I am unsure as which is best...so I'll posit them to you good folks:
1. Use milled New Zealand or Chilean sphagnum as a peat substitute. I don't know how to mill sphagnum, nor do I know how well sphagnum holds up in a waterlogged environment.
2. Use a mixture of ground osmunda fiber/spagnum and shredded orchid bark. Not quite sure of the pH or reactivity of osmunda or orchid bark.
3. Take utrics off tray system completely and water overhead using a bucket to collect excess runoff. The problem with this is that I really don't like moving my plants too much. I have butterfingers.
4. Chemically treating the peat with somekind of solvent. Something cheaper than R.O. water.
So, at this point I'm pretty much open to anything.
Peace,
Damon
Recently I have been plauged with an infestation of moss, and I have it from very good authority that my peat is to blame. I took a suggestion from Tamlin to purchase a TDS meter, and discovered that my peat is extremely high in dissolved solids
I'm now faced with the problem of re-potting my entire utric collection. Unfortunately, I don't have the space or time to age peat outdoors nor do I have enough R.O. water (I buy mine) to suffeceintly leach the peat. I've come up with a few cost and time effective options but I am unsure as which is best...so I'll posit them to you good folks:
1. Use milled New Zealand or Chilean sphagnum as a peat substitute. I don't know how to mill sphagnum, nor do I know how well sphagnum holds up in a waterlogged environment.
2. Use a mixture of ground osmunda fiber/spagnum and shredded orchid bark. Not quite sure of the pH or reactivity of osmunda or orchid bark.
3. Take utrics off tray system completely and water overhead using a bucket to collect excess runoff. The problem with this is that I really don't like moving my plants too much. I have butterfingers.
4. Chemically treating the peat with somekind of solvent. Something cheaper than R.O. water.
So, at this point I'm pretty much open to anything.
Peace,
Damon