Why I’m Now Peat-Free
I’ll admit, I’ve been an advocate for adding peat to your potting mix for years. I was raised with the idea that using peat in your potting soil was both beneficial and benign.
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What I didn’t know — and have since learned — was the environmental impact of extracting peat. I’ve previously written that peat can and should be added to a multitude of mixes, and today I want to correct that advice.
Peat has been a traditional source of fuel in Ireland and the UK, and is a great growing medium for many of our plants because it’s basically a blank slate so it’s easy to add different fertilisers to it for better growth. It’s airy enough and captures enough water to help establish good root systems. However, it’s no longer sustainable to extract it for horticultural use.
Peat — which is made of partially decayed plant matter that accumulates in wet environments — takes hundreds, even thousands of years to build up as sphagnum mosses and other plants from the surface die back and regrow. In fact, “the layers just 60–90cm (24–36in) below the surface are often many hundreds of years old” (The Complete Gardener, Monty Don, 87). Some peat even dates back to the last ice age!
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Peatland (or peat bog) is a type of wetland that exists on every continent and is a massive carbon sink. Wetlands like peatlands store “twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests.” When peat is harvested that carbon is released into the atmosphere. In addition peatlands are a unique and fragile ecosystem, home to an incredible array of plants, insects, and animals that are adapted to the harsh, acidic conditions.
As plant people and gardeners, we can help by checking the bag before we buy potting mix, compost, topsoils, etc. to make sure it’s peat free. If we have the space, time, and the will we can make our own compost. Leaf mould is a particularly good replacement for peat — and it’s easy to make your own — as is coco coir, or bark composts.
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When I’m wrong I’m wrong, and this is why I’m now peat-free in all of my plant-keeping. To learn more about the importance of peatlands start here: https://www.globalpeatlands.org.
If you want to have real conversations about houseplants and gardening, join us in House Plant Hobbyist on the Mesh Communities app — we’ll be glad to see you there!
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