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Alternatives to peat and Sphagnum

  • Thread starter Nflytrap
  • Start date
Soem research has brought up the issue which I imagine has been discussed before.

Is there any enviroment friendly alternative to "harvested" sphagnum and peat?
 
We have dissucussed this before and as of now we still don't have a real alternitive to peat and sphagnum.
There have been some talk about coconut fiber, but I don't think it's the best idea.
 
The concern with the coconut fiber was that it could contain salts if the fiber was collected from areas near beaches. At least this is one reason.
 
I use coir, the ground coconut husk material, and haven't had any problem. It's sold as a brick which gets reconstituted with water.

I haven't seen any evidence of salt injury to any plants I've used it for but, if you're concerned, fill the pot a few times and allow it to drain in between. I use coconut husk chips (CHC) for orchids and just soak and drain them a few times to remove any (potential) salt. My N. x Ventrata is thriving in CHC, by the way.

I've read the salt comes from coconuts that are floated down rivers into brackish areas where they're corralled for processing. I try to picture men hopping from coconut to coconut during the big river drives, but can't quite see it.

Coir has a wonderful texture and I use it when making all my various potting mixes. If there's a problem to consider, it's that the stuff breaks down to goo more quickly than sphagnum peat. I use coir as an addition to bulkier materials, such as sphagnum or perlite or vermiculite, so haven't worried too much about it. It seems to take a year or more, but I would recommend monitoring coir if used as a primary potting material.

Using coir allows us to use an agricultural waste product instead of consuming more peat and I think it's a good idea.
 
Sounds pretty good to me!

What plants have you tried this on?
 
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