Peat?

[guyforks]

i'm just glad we're not sat round a table disgussing this..... i wouldn't feel safe!!!

[King Carrot]

King Carrot,

I have to agree with some of your comments.

Irelands small peat reserves are being depleted at an alarming rate and non are regenerating.
However when you fire your power stations with peat and make peat briquettes and use peat in feminine hygiene products (RHS) is it fair to blame it all on the gardener.

Small (and poor pre EEC) country in natural resource exploitation shock.

King Carrot,


You may be glad to hear that mechanical peat extraction will cease in Ireland in the not to distant future as your state owned extration company turns to other things.

That'll be the oil and the gas off the west coast

King Carrot,


Canada one of the world main source's of peat is entirely different annual harvest 1.3 million tonnes annual accumalation 70 million tonnes.
The world energy council's report dated 2007 stated peat extraction and peat accumalation are in balance.

All depends which ex-spurt you believe I suppose.

Colin

Glad to see we've come a long way towards solving the impending world fuel shortage and I suppose if you want to use peat in your gardening, Canada would be a good place to be in the not too distant future

[Davyburns]

we grow our own to reduce our carbon footprint

No I dont!

When I started growing, it never entered the equation.
I grow cos
a) I like it
and
b) I like the produce

[Two_Sheds]

a whole area cleared of peat would surely support little or no plant or animal life at all

The Norfolk Broads were created out of peat beds. The peat has never been "renewed" but with careful management the Broads are now teeming with wildlife

If the cost of peat-free was more in line with the cost of peat compost, perhaps more people would make the ethical choice? There is a call for a "peat tax" of £1 to go on each bag of peat compost

[Two_Sheds]

if you want to use peat in your gardening, Canada would be a good place to be

1993-96 - Approximately 95% of domestic [Canadian] peat was sold for horticulture/agriculture usage, including general soil improvement,potting soils, earthworm culture, nursery business, and golf course maintenance and construction, in order of importance.

Peat also was used as an effective sterile absorbent in feminine hygiene products, and, to a lesser extent, as a fuel source.

source: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pu...eat/510398.pdf

[Two_Sheds]

peat free (€7.99) ... it turns out it is around two and a half times the price of the peat based compost (€3.33).

Yes, it's that over here too.
I stocked up on New Horizon in the autumn sales, and this year I'll be mixing mpc with my home-made leafmold (free) for seed sowing

So if we go with the price argument, everyone should be making their own free leafmold
?

[Two_Sheds]

peat free is an absolute disaster. .

I'm trying to grow the best it is possible to grow.

I have tried peat free several times but find it no subsitute for peat based compost.

Have you both actually tried the New Horizon? In the interests of science, would you agree to do a trial this year? One tray of plants in your usual brand, against one tray in NH peat free?

In previous Which? Gardening trials peat-free compost failed to match the quality of traditional peat-based products but peat free now outperforms peat

[radioactive]

Have you both actually tried the New Horizon? In the interests of science, would you agree to do a trial this year? One tray of plants in your usual brand, against one tray in NH peat free?

In previous Which? Gardening trials peat-free compost failed to match the quality of traditional peat-based products but peat free now outperforms peat

I like the idea of a trial and I am sure that the outcome would be that you could cope with the stuff but now my worry is this :-
If we all stop using the peat based products and go in for for the say UK 100 % recycled stuff how long before we run out of this natural recycled material ??? and what happens then ? Answer it brought into the Country from Abroad making this whole Issue an even bigger one, because of the amount of energy that is getting used for this product to be made and then shipped making it even harder for our own Countries Economy and making it better for other Countries Because lets face it our Lords Ladies and all the Policy makers and holders will no doubt make it easy for outside influences to benefit whilst making sure that we folk here on this fair Isle will have to be well British for want of another word, yes its a cynical and witty Retort but it has some pretty sinister messages within it. So I just wanted others to take these points onboard as well

[Aberdeenplotter]

There is a call for a "peat tax" of £1 to go on each bag of peat compost

On top of suppliers tripling the the cost of peat due to shortages arising because of Government imposed targets, that would be a step too far.

Just read that the Beechgrove Garden did a comparison of various composts and the New Horizon one was included. In the triall which involved growing potatoes, B&Q MPC which was used as the control, out-performed New Horizon by about 30%. That is a huge pecentage and speaks for itself.

[Holly]

Hello....
Wow, there are defintely some strong opinions on this thread, which is great to see. It's so important to debate these issues and work out where we stand on it.

However, let's stick to peat and try to keep as calm as possible, please! I know it's a heated area but everyone is entitled to an opinion - it's extremely interesting to see how attitudes divide on this particular issue... so let's stick to it!


Holly

[Aberdeenplotter]

In the light of Holly's comment, I should perhaps clarify that the B&Q MPC used by the Beechgrove in its triall contained 63% peat and the New Horizon is peat free

[Alison]

Do we also think long and hard about jumping at the chance of going abroad on one of the many gas guzzling Airliners I wonder?

Yes actually I do but that's not really the point of this thread

[Alison]

On top of suppliers tripling the the cost of peat due to shortages arising because of Government imposed targets, that would be a step too far.

Just read that the Beechgrove Garden did a comparison of various composts and the New Horizon one was included. In the triall which involved growing potatoes, B&Q MPC which was used as the control, out-performed New Horizon by about 30%. That is a huge pecentage and speaks for itself.

In Feb 2010 Which did a trial on varous types of compost and the following was their findings:

"Which? Gardening has awarded Best Buys for container compost to three peat-free varieties – Vital Earth Tub and Basket Compost, New Horizon Mulit-Purpose Compost, and Vital Earth Multi-Purpose Compost. In previous Which? Gardening trials peat-free failed to match the quality of traditional peat-containing composts.

In contrast, no peat-containing compost met Best Buy standards"

Personally I'd say that that speaks for itself and is in keeping with my personal findings ie that peat free can now be an excellent product.

[radioactive]

I don't understand Why are we to stick exactly to Peat or not Peat Surely the reasoning behind the subject matter holds far more reaching issues other than - is peat better to grow with or not but if that's the way you want it then I shall say that for me personally I will opt for Peat every single time if there is a choice given to me
other that that its also obvious to me that to continue with the arguing the point is pretty futile the Mods have decided that they are correct on this matter , but as said that will not sway me into thinking any different to what I do already I make a lot of of my own compost always have always will and will use no peat based shop bought products as a soil improver only if its given to me as I will not buy it
so no offence taken just want to exercise my personal choice option

[Two_Sheds]

I like the idea of a trial and I am sure that the outcome would be that you could cope with the stuff but now my worry is this :-
If we all stop using the peat based products ...how long before we run out of this natural recycled material ?

How would we run out? At present most households DO NOT compost their kitchen scraps, but if they did ... wow, huge amount of composting material

I will opt for Peat every single time if there is a choice given to me

So you're not interested in which is the best product, you just want to use peat because you want to use peat? (and don't want to be told what to do by a bunch of tree huggers?)