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Isn't any peat in compost an environmental no-no?

Discussion in 'Compost, Fertilisers & Recycling' started by Lone Northern Lass, May 22, 2020.

  1. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    Well yeah I get all that but after doing all that work most councils/recycling places seem to sell it off as soil improver ,or if you live where I do it just seems to disappear somewhere, who has it, I don't know.

    But I'm not sure that stuff is suitable as a base for potting compost it's too variable, you need some thing that is basically inert so you know how much fertiliser etc. to add to any mix.

    Must be lots of organic mass waste that goes unused and would be suitable if composted on its own.
    Until peat becomes too expensive no one is going do enough research.

    Necessity is the mother of invention. :smile:
     
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    • strongylodon

      strongylodon Old Member

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      I see B&Q now stock and in huge numbers, bags of Bord Mona peat comost, the blurb on the bags say it will regenerate wetland and such which will in time produce peat again, yeah in about a thousand years!
      The store here in Poole had more of these than their own verve compost (not much better than a mulch) so B&Q have turned their backs on peat free!
       
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      • CarolineL

        CarolineL Total Gardener

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        I had about 9 tons of that council compost delivered last year. It's the one that doesn't contain food waste, as they warned me the food waste based compost pongs (I tried a small bag - it's BAD). As a result it also had low nutrients, but it did help the soil structure. It was difficult to use as potting compost - I added tons of grit (and Vitax Q8 for nutrients) but it was still claggy. I know that the botanic garden use peat free, but they have to work hard to modify it with propagating bark, grid/sand etc.
         
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        • Shuyel Bari

          Shuyel Bari Apprentice Gardener

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          Shine - what is the answer for those gardeners that prefer peat and do not get the same results using compost?
          Any solutions alternatives?
           
        • cinnamon:g

          cinnamon:g Apprentice Gardener

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          Thank you everybody for the responses. This is evidently a more important issue for us to have to consider that I could ever have originally anticapted.

          My personal instincts on this this are telling me to remain 100% peat free and even aim for full self sustainability though that's easily said as I only have a very small outdoor space but I can understand why at larger scales it may be considered either way.
           
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          • shiney

            shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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            None that I've tried yet. :dunno: I keep trying. :sad:

            Just to clear up a point:- no peat is put on our garden. We don't need it as we have improved the soil over the years.

            The compost we use is for potting only and is the only way we have been able to get good enough results for selling for the charity. :blue thumb:

            People will always have different views on many things and I respect their views but don't always agree with them.
             
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            • Redwing

              Redwing Wild Gardener

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              It seems to me if people are buying for charitable reasons they will buy whether or not you use peat based composts. I get that you want the plants to be at peak perfection and to look their best. I get great results when potting on my plants in my own garden compost.....just have to do more weeding. It is a downside but one that is perfectly acceptable to me and worth the effort.

              Think of the impact on the planet. Blanket bog has been thousands of years in the making and can and is destroyed in an instant with commercial peat extraction. Please don’t say again that I have “insufficient understanding” of what I am talking about.
               
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              • shiney

                shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                I have never said you have insufficient understanding of what you are talking about. I quite simply stated that I was clearing up a point about myself. If you wish to misinterpret what I say then you are most welcome. I'm obviously wasting my time on this thread. Goodbye.
                 
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                • ARMANDII

                  ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                  Well, I think nobody is "admitting" to anything as though it was a crime or act of environment vandalism:dunno::wallbanging:. Peat has been used domestically for centuries for fuel and as a filter without recognition of the possible environmental damage.
                  I certainly am cognisant of the effects of Peat extraction and although I buy over 2500 litres of Peat added compost, (but that does not mean I am buying 2500 litres of Peat,)and do so using it carefully and with respect and without sticking two fingers up to Mother Nature
                  . I don't use compost as a "straight" growing medium but as a mixture of Compost, potting grit, and sand so probably end up using more than twice the amount of the original quantity of 2500 litres. I also make around 2000 litres of garden compost a year and that goes into the border along with any used commercial compost. I think that in the first 10 years there wasn't a worm in the garden due the lack of natural detritus in my completely sand composed "soil". It's only been that over the years as I added compost, both used commercial and garden compost, that the worms appeared and my soil became dark, full of "body" but still free draining. I could not have gardened in any form without the use of Peat added compost because then, and now, there is still not any equivalent Peat Free growing medium.
                  I don't think expressing opinions that gardeners who use Peat Added Compost, in whatever quantities, are some sort of environmental Villains as it does not help the validity of the argument particularly, as pointed out, that there is no satisfactory Peat Free growing medium on the Market.
                  So both sides of this discussion are in agreement about Peat extraction but without an effective, affordable, comparable peat free growing medium it does not help with expressions of "shock" .

                  But that is like a person who says they hate Bull Fighting and yet goes to watch it:wallbanging: You can't condemn gardeners who use Peat added Compost while you are doing the same, for what ever justifiable reasons you have, just because they are using a larger quantity than you do
                  Using a larger quantity of Peat added Compost does not mean that the user is not treating "it like the precious commodity, like water, that it is.", nor that they are less conservation minded.:dunno::cat-kittyandsmiley::coffee:
                   
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                  • pete

                    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                    The term "peat added compost"?
                    I assume that is the same as "peat based compost" but sounds a bit more environmentally friendly.:biggrin:

                    Peat added suggests its mostly something else, anyone know what?

                    Anyway, I'm going to search out a bag of "Peat Free compost", and try it, might have to wait till next year now.
                     
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                    • ARMANDII

                      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                      If I had known you wanted to trial Peat Free Compost, Pete, I would have gladly given you several brands of it after I trialed them, but they're all now in the Compost Bins to see if that will improve them.:dunno::cat-kittyandsmiley::coffee:
                       
                    • pete

                      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                      Well, must admit I've never tried it, so I'm going to give it a go.
                       
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                      • Redwing

                        Redwing Wild Gardener

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                        In a previous thread, the one about hedge cutting you said I had “insufficient understanding “. This was an objectionable, disrespectful and insulting comment. I didn’t want it repeated. Goodbye.
                         
                      • ARMANDII

                        ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                        There appears to be a lot of "goodbyes" at the end of this thread which I think basically that perhaps are misunderstanding each while also running out of validity in their discussion.:doh:
                         
                      • ARMANDII

                        ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                        If you don't give it a go, pete, you'll never know:dunno::thumbsup::cat-kittyandsmiley::coffee:
                         
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