Government consultation on phasing out peat use

[John Walker]

@Tony Hague

Good to see that point reiterated Tony (it links well to the points I made in my post of 30.12.10, above). And of course peat is a fossil fuel like oil, coal and natural gas, and liberating the carbon dioxide it contains is also, according to 97% of climate scientists, helping to warm the planet.

That's why bringing an end to the destruction of peat bogs globally - whether to make compost or to plant palm oil trees to make our margarine - is such an ecological imperative. Restoring peat bogs can turn them back into sponges that soak up carbon dioxide gas, so they have a hugely important role to play in helping us limit and reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Yes, vermiculite needs looking at.

[John Walker]

@alan refail

Suggesting that we can't even debate peat use until we have stopped driving our cars, stopped buying imported goods and stopped flying in aeroplanes (and on) i.e. jumped over some excruciatingly high bars that a few folk wish to set, is yet another puzzling distraction.

Surely better to set the bar ridiculously low to let everyone join in, and then use the peat debate (keeping it solidly grounded in science) to trigger thoughts about wider sustainability that feed back into the driving/flying/buying/etc discussion? But shall we stick to discussing peat for now?

I start most things in modules and I am unwilling to risk losing crops because of poor compost.

I'm interested in how much more evidence, over and above that which has been discussed so far in this thread, you would need to actually nudge you in the direction of at least contemplating it might be time to go peat-free? Given that peat is a non-renewable resource, where do you imagine your 'tipping point' might actually come?

We know there are good quality peat-free composts (as evidenced by Jekka's Herb Farm mentioned in my previous comments), so the excuse that all peat-free is 'poor' doesn't hold up, and we know that some gardeners (including professional ones) get great results without any peat.

Do you agree, given the existing scientific evidence, that it might be better if we - gardeners - combined our efforts to lobby for the best peat-free compost we could get our hands on? Gardeners do, after all, in many ways hold the key to the future fate of many peat bogs.

[Cider Boys]

Like most things in life it is about achieving an acceptable balance between the need for slowing down any global warming affects and the pragmatic use of a beneficial element in horticulture, a balance between conservation and a rural industry. Some have suggested that multi nationals are involved in peat extraction, this is not so in Somerset. Studies show that although we may have the largest number of peat producers in the country they consist of perhaps say 50 small producers many of whom supplement their farming by extracting sedge peat. What I object to is the arrogance of those that wish to BAN anything that does not fit in with their prejudices and as the link below proves action has been taken to lessen the destruction of peat bogs where it does not have an immediate effect on the economy of hard working law abiding rural families eking out a living from the land.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/a ... ture.shtml

Barney

[DBayGardener]

A simple way to replace peat from the ground is to use the renewable Coco-Peat made from coconut fibre. It is a waste product from the Sri Lankan coconut industry. And any other tropical country which has a coconut industry will potentially be able to make this product.

The coir fibre is chopped and compressed into large bales or small bricks. The large bales are fine for bulk users. The small bricks swell up to 9litres when soaked in a bucket. They are simpler to use for home gardeners.

No idea if this product is available outside of Australia but if not, perhaps it can be with some entrepreneurial application.

The cocopeat/coir fibre call it what you will, acts like from-the-ground peat, it swells up with water, holds water and nutrients, breaks down eventually into humus. It is good as a seed bed too.

Coco-peat is an integral part of the much-modified Mel's Mix which I use instead of bought potting mix and instead of soil in my above-ground beds. Mel being Mel Bartholomew from the States, the developer of Square Foot Gardening. Anyway ... the mix is 1 part Vermiculite, 1 part Perlite, 1 part soaked coco-peat. Add compost/worm castings/mushroom compost and any other nutrients plus some earth or compost worms and some mix from an existing garden for the micro-organism content.

Since I have only ever gardened in the sub-tropics I won't be contributing to the ongoing discussions on this forum. I was asked by a fellow-Twit (? :-O) Twitterer perhaps to say something about my use over 20 years of coco-peat from coconuts.

Happy to answer any specific questions bearing in mind I have never gardened in cold conditions (which might be significant).

Cheers from very wet Brisbane ... some parts of the city are under water as are many parts of south-east Queensland and other parts of Australia ... the garden is wet but we are dry.

Elaine

[peter]

Interesting article on this subject on February's KG.

[Primrose]

There's an article on peat free composts in the Gardening section of the Telegraph today. They refer to tests carried out on 20 composts in the Jan/Feb issue sof Which? Gardening.

The Best peat based multipurpose compost was deemed to come from B & Q at £4.28 for 70 litres (which I suspect is the one which Alan Refail mentioned in an earlier post) It comes comes in pack of 12 - 120 litres.

B&Q's peatbased Sowing & Cutting compost also produced high germination rates with tests on antirrhinums and cabbages rated as outstanding. This is only available in 12 litre packs.

The best peat free compost was found to be New Horizon Organic & peat Free Growbags available from www.william-sinclair .co.uk (Cost not given).

On that basis, looks like my future compost purchases will be from B&Q.

[DBayGardener]

It's interesting to read about compost made with peat. It is spoken of as though it were a given that compost is always made with peat. This is a total surprise to me!

None of my reading and discussions in 40 years of gardening has mentioned using peat in compost.

There was a mighty old girl in England who made what sounds like fantastic compost in the Biodynamic mould. The late Miss Maye Emily Bruce MBE (1879-1964) developed a composting system which worked well for her and she called it Quick Return compost or QR. I was fortunate enough to come across a website with the text of one of her books available to read. Since then Andrew E Davenport has updated the QR system and his book is currently available. Quick Return Compost Making by Andrew E Davenport, QR Composting Solutions 2008 ISBN 978 0 9560087 0 1. I have a copy of it and it at least is interesting. For those who are used to making compost with peat and cannot imagine any other system, I can recommend a read of this book to shed some light on a possible alternate compost-making method. The compost starter is still made today in England by Chase Organics http://www.OrganicCatalogue.com/. I did not buy any as it could be a hassle getting it through quarantine so I have found another solution.

From my reading about Biodynamics, there is no peat in BD compost so it is not necessary to make excellent compost - there are alternative systems and alternatives to peat from the ground.

Elaine

[alan refail]

Hi Elaine

It sounds as though you are confusing "compost" as in "A mixture of decaying organic matter, as from leaves and manure, used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients" and "compost" as in "a mixture of ingredients used as a growing medium". The two are not the same and clearly peat would have no sensible place in the former.

There has recently been some discussion on the forum about just such confusion -

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9245

For anyone interested in your reference to Maye E Bruce there is the full text of Common-Sense Compost Making By the Quick Return Method here -

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/QR/QRToC.html

[JohnN]

This is probably a naive question, but forgive me What exactly is the difference between "multipurpose" compost and the various other types - seed, potting, 1,2,3 etc? Is MP very clever compost that actually changes its composition as time passes? Is there any point in buying different ones if MP does the lot - or doesn't it?
Ta, JohnN

[Primrose]

I was under the impression that Seed compost contained a lower level of nutrients than other composts because seedlings were only in it for the short time of germination and growing to a certain point before nutrients were exhausted and they were potted on to a more permanent place. But I know some people pot on their seedlings to larger cells or pots before planting out, and I'm confused as to whether gardeners are then expected to migrate from a Seed compost to a multi purpose compost. (Obviously there are specialist composts for ericaceous plants such as heathers, azaleas, etc )..

I must confess that as I have little space for different bags of compost I often use multi-purpose compost for germinating and if my seedlings are destined for bigger pots for their permanent growth (like aubergine, chillies & peppers) I supplement this by mixing in some chicken manure pellets which hopefully will ensure any nutrients in the compost are not exhausted before I pick my crop.

What do other people do?

[Monika]

We get 'Gardening Which?' and, yes, they produced some very interesting research about different multipurpose and seed composts and, overall, the peat-containing composts certainly outperformed the peat-free composts. In fact, the differences between composts (not necessarily peat-free versus peat-containing), both for germinating seeds and then growing plants on, were absolutely staggering. As Primrose says, B&Q came out tops for the second year.

Unfortunately, they did not test the two composts which I often buy locally, perhaps they are only available in this area or the north of England.

[alan refail]

I see that Kent County Council are selling composted garden waste and claiming:

You can get rid of garden waste (prunings, clippings, mowings and soil) at all 18 Kent County Council Household Waste Recycling Centres. We use it to make peat-free compost, certified by the Soil Association, to use in the garden as a soil improver.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/environment_and_ ... mpost.aspx

I do have to wonder what the Soil Association standards for this type of compost are.

Maybe it's their version of GREENWASH

[Parsons Jack]

Interesting that they are selling it for £2.50 for a 40 litre bag as well. That makes it more expensive than the garden centre 3 x 70 litre bags for £10.

[Nature's Babe]

Elle, a plant only takes about 20% of it's nutrients from the soil, the rest it makes from the sun, so if all vegetable waste is added to the soil as a mulch the soil gains not loses and it adds to soil depth rather than deplete it. for seedlings I collect fine soil from mole hills etc or sift some and add half homemade compost, the seedlings come up strong and healthy with no damping off or rotting as used to hsppen with bought peat based compost.
I do my best to keep all soil mulched and the soil is dark rich and crumbly,
it also holds moisture much better, the only problem is keeping the cats off it, yes, they even scratch off the mulch to get to the good stuff underneath
LOL

[alan refail]

I realise I am displaying my complete ignorance here, but do all countries have peat areas to use for compost? I am wondering what gardeners around the world use for these purposes? Are there any success stories that we can look to elsewhere?

An answer for you from Wikipedia

Peat deposits are found in many places around the world, notably in Ireland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Scotland, Poland, northern Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, New Zealand and in North America, principally in Canada, Michigan, Minnesota, the Florida Everglades, and California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The amount of peat is smaller in the southern hemisphere, partly because there is less land, but peat can be found in New Zealand, Kerguelen, Southern Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, Indonesia (Kalimantan (Sungai Putri, Danau Siawan, Sungai Tolak, Rasau Jaya (West Kalimantan), Sumatra).
Approximately 60% of the world's wetlands are peat. About 7% of total peatlands have been exploited for agriculture and forestry. Under proper conditions, peat will turn into lignite coal over geologic periods of time.

Full article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat