56 replies to this topic

[mobile]

I got a free sample of Fertile Fibre and made a Moorland Gold:Fertile Fibre mix with a small handful of potting grit and it makes a lovely water retentive, free draining mix. Much better draining than Moorland Gold/grit mix alone.

[Tim Bailey]

mobile, on 08 May 2011 - 14:04 PM, said:

I got a free sample of Fertile Fibre and made a Moorland Gold:Fertile Fibre mix with a small handful of potting grit and it makes a lovely water retentive, free draining mix. Much better draining than Moorland Gold/grit mix alone.

Agree.

At the 2010 End of Season meeting a few members took away a mix of Moorland Gold and Fertile Fibre I prepared for trial. Would be interested to see how you got on?

Like Mobile I add some grit (aquarium in this case), which also adds a bit of weight to my Sarracenia mix. Must post some photos when the traps are fully formed. Anyone who visited the EEE at Chester Zoo would have seen some of my plants growing in this mix, which, if I may say myself, were pretty good and show that there is life without cut peat! Been free of my addiction for 5 years now and not looking back.

Also set up a large flood and flow hydroponic system for a British species display. Will take a while for the plants to establish, but will do a blog soon to show what I've been up to.

For interest my disa orchids absolutely love the peat free flood and flow system I developed (expanded clay and sphagnum moss mix) originally. Given up growing them any other way in my greenhouse.

[Vic2]

Any news on DEFRA's conclusions re. peat use?

[Tim Bailey]

Vic2, on 11 May 2012 - 07:50 AM, said:

Any news on DEFRA's conclusions re. peat use?

Hi Vic et al link to the White Paper, etc. Defra Peat

As expected peat will be phased out for amateurs by 2020, though that doesn't mean you won't be able to get hold of any. Hopefully by hook or by crook people will have reduced or completely stopped their consumption of peat for a lot of cps, in particular Sarracenia which uses most of the stuff.

[Phil Green]

Tim Bailey, on 11 May 2012 - 19:40 PM, said:

As expected peat will be phased out for amateurs by 2020,

Are you sure of that Tim ? As that's not exactly how I read that link.

What it says is
"•a voluntary phase-out target of 2020 for amateur gardeners; "

Voluntary and 'target', don't sound very finite to me.

[Richard Bunn]

I'm really worried about this.  Here in Ireland it's not all that easy to find a place that sells peat.  But I can get it.  Trouble is there is absolutely zero alternative to it as a growing medium available over here.  The only place I've been able to buy Sphagnum moss is bloody Aldi for the love of God! I'm really worried about what to grow my plants in considering what's available over here.

[mobile]

Peat is getting increasingly difficult to find in the UK too, with none of the major garden centres I've visited stocking it. There are alternatives and some of us have been trying various ones for a few years now. mantrid and I currently have VFT growing in various pine needle mixes: http://www.cpukforum...showtopic=42183. I could probably dispense of the peat by adding another water retaining material, such as Sphagnum moss.

[Tim Bailey]

Phil Green, on 01 June 2012 - 20:57 PM, said:

Are you sure of that Tim ? As that's not exactly how I read that link.

What it says is
"•a voluntary phase-out target of 2020 for amateur gardeners; "

Voluntary and 'target', don't sound very finite to me.

Hi Phil

Yes, safe Defra words indeed. The bottom line is that although voluntary, if difficult to find now will be extremely difficult from 2012, and perhaps expensive to source. Voluntary in Defra language is 'if you don't expect legislation to follow'.

We have to be careful we are not seen as sitting on our hands, but seen working together to reduce, and I'd like to think eliminate, our reliance on extracted peat. I think we can all sign-up to that sentiment.

The CPS are knocking a few proposals together to get to grips with this and properly evidence sound alternatives. News to follow.

Tim

[Tim Bailey]

Richard Bunn, on 01 June 2012 - 21:23 PM, said:

I'm really worried about this.  Here in Ireland it's not all that easy to find a place that sells peat.  But I can get it.  Trouble is there is absolutely zero alternative to it as a growing medium available over here.  The only place I've been able to buy Sphagnum moss is bloody Aldi for the love of God! I'm really worried about what to grow my plants in considering what's available over here.

Hi Richard

The CPS is working in the background on this to help growers with this very issue, whether in or outside the British Isles. It's a topic very important to us and we're keen to identify safe, cost effective and readily available peat-free ingredients. News to follow.

You can get Big Moss Sphagnum from Big Moss. Search well online and you can get it for around 7 quid. Needs to be chopped up a bit though which can be a pain. Or you could use Supersphag instead.

I use organic certified coir blocks from Fertile Fibre Fertile Fibre, mixed with perlite on all my Sarracenia. I don't grow with peat, other than some Moorland Gold I experiment with on a few plants, and haven't done for several years. Why not get and try a bit on a few spare plants, perhaps mixed with chopped re-wetted dried sphagnum (sustainably sourced of course).

Tim

Edited by Tim Bailey, 26 June 2012 - 19:59 PM.

[Richard Bunn]

I'll look into the coir blocks.  I'm less worried about sphag now as I've come across several online sources.  I want to get some live to start growing so I can use it in my Nepenthes.  I don't know about Moorland Gold though, I've heard about it and am totally for it but it would be far too expensive to import to Ireland.

[Alexander Nijman]

Well its good they ban peat now! Here in The Nerherlands peat was always used in large quantities for growing potplants and other plants  comercially. How many peatbogs have been sacrified for that scandalise practise in the past...

Alexander

[Tim Bailey]

Dear all

Update from the Defra led Peat Task Force.

My view is a well balanced report and would be interested to hear your thoughts - good or bad.

Chairman’s Report and Roadmap

The Chairman of the Sustainable Growing Media Task Force has published today his report and draft roadmap, Towards Sustainable Growing Media.

This is available on the Task Force website at:

Chairman's report

This report sets out the Chairman’s thoughts on the work of the Task Force to date and the challenges ahead as well as presenting a draft roadmap that shows how his proposals can be taken forward into actions.

Unlike the Interim Report, this report does not provide a project by project update of progress. Instead the focus is on highlighting observations that have arisen across the piece.

Part 1 of the report is a personal take by the Chairman on the current state of the debate and the challenges ahead.

Part 2 focuses on setting out emerging messages and observations building on the work of the Task Force focussed around a series of consensus points, although it highlights both areas of agreement and areas where it has not been possible to come to a consensus on the detail.

Finally, Part 3 sets out a draft roadmap building on an exercise undertaken by the Task Force at its meeting on 11 May.

Disclaimer

The Task Force has continued to make significant progress since the publication of its Interim Report in March and there is a great deal of consensus amongst Task Force members in many areas. Naturally, there remain some areas where consensus was harder to find. This report is the chairman’s summary of what he believes is a sensible, commercial and practical way forward and does not represent Government policy.

[Nigel H-C]

Playing devils advocate, but if the general population really cared (rather than jumping on a somewhat ill-informed band wagon), would they not be lobbying overseas governments of countries who burn millions of tons of peat every year in peat fired power stations? Ireland, Finland, Argentina, Russia... Far, far more than the comaparatively piddly amount used in the UK horticultural industry. That's where it all goes, and of course for the carbon footprint team, this releases more carbon as its burnt?

Then of course I believe most of the vegetables we consume are grown in peat plugs, but that's not mentioned either-perhaps it's too unpalatable for people to acknowledge?

Still, it's easier to kick the soft target in the balls, and gives said population something to chew on to keep them out of trouble.

Nigel HC

[Tim Bailey]

Nigel H-C, on 13 July 2012 - 05:20 AM, said:

Playing devils advocate, but if the general population really cared (rather than jumping on a somewhat ill-informed band wagon), would they not be lobbying overseas governments of countries who burn millions of tons of peat every year in peat fired power stations? Ireland, Finland, Argentina, Russia... Far, far more than the comaparatively piddly amount used in the UK horticultural industry. That's where it all goes, and of course for the carbon footprint team, this releases more carbon as its burnt?

Then of course I believe most of the vegetables we consume are grown in peat plugs, but that's not mentioned either-perhaps it's too unpalatable for people to acknowledge?

Still, it's easier to kick the soft target in the balls, and gives said population something to chew on to keep them out of trouble.

Nigel HC

Well I asked for the good and the bad.

I totally understand where you are coming from, just take a view that we need to do what we can in our patch rather than do nothing based on the actions of others. Of course I would want to do that with commercially viable alternative ingredients that provide plants of comparable quality and cost of production. I hope some quality research will achieve that, or at the vary least help reduce the amount of peat used in composts. Who knows for some cps we may be able to produce better plants. I'm convinced from anecdotal evidence that some of my Sarracenia grow better without peat, but do not have controls/quality of data to back that up. Peat-free grown plants could, at least in the UK, even open up a premium market given time - though I think the economic outlook needs to cheer up first!

One to debate over that pint.

[Nigel H-C]

Hi Tim,

Great, let me know when you're over this way.

I agree that with everything we can all do our bit, but my whole point is that the peat argument has been blown out of proportion, with no mention of where 95% of extracted peat is really going.

Nigel HC

[ada]

You think we'd be used to blinkered bureaucrats who only tell us half the storey trying to run our lives by now.
Even when faced with all the facts and figures they still ignore all common sense approaches and try to ride roughshod over us.
How do these people get these jobs in the first place?
Don't answer that,i know.

Have any of them even grown plants?i doubt it!
ada

[Tim Bailey]

ada, on 13 July 2012 - 15:44 PM, said:

You think we'd be used to blinkered bureaucrats who only tell us half the storey trying to run our lives by now.
Even when faced with all the facts and figures they still ignore all common sense approaches and try to ride roughshod over us.
How do these people get these jobs in the first place?
Don't answer that,i know.

Have any of them even grown plants?i doubt it!
ada

I see a happy B'day is in order!  

Tim