Aerial view of bog landscape with peat extraction.
Exploring Peat Moss Alternatives in the Garden
For years, gardeners have used peat-based soilless mixes to get those seeds off to a good start, but as with many aspects of gardening that are proving to not be sustainable or good for the planet, we need to give peat a second look. Many of us are trying out alternatives with good success. Learn more about peat and peat alternatives.
What Is Peat Moss?
Peat moss or “peat” is made of partially decayed plant material—usually mosses—that have been submerged without oxygen in wet, acidic conditions, like those found in a bog. The decaying process is very slow, taking up to 1,000 years to create a 36-inch layer of it! To harvest or mine it, the bogs are drained, and the peat is scraped off or vacuumed up.
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Peat bogs are some of our largest carbon stores on the planet and store 30% of the world’s soil carbon. Harvesting it releases this CO2 into the atmosphere.
Historically, peat was cut by hand and dried to heat homes. Today, heavy equipment does the job.
Is Peat a Renewable Resource?
That’s a question of semantics. While some companies can technically say it’s renewable, we’d say it’s really not in a practical sense. Peat is the result of thousands of years of very particular natural processes and it’s virtually impossible to regenerate and replicate that sensitive habitat. It’s not unreasonable to ask whether it’s worth the destruction of one habitat (a massive carbon dioxide sink) for another (a few species of backyard plants), especially when there are alternatives today.
Peat Depletion in the U.K.
In the UK, peat was used for centuries as heating fuel and the bogs were drained and harvested mercilessly. Mining it has been incredible destructive. More recently, the bogs have been taken over by commercial interests and the peat is being burned in power plants. These regulated companies are trying to reclaim and replant the bogs, but Ireland has decided to ban the harvesting of peat and other UK countries are planning to follow suit.
U.S. Gets Peat From Canada
In North America we get our peat from Canada. The industry there is much younger and operates under strict governmental controls, which require them to replant and restore the water table in the drained areas. There are 280,000,000 acres of peatlands in Canada and about .03% of it has been harvested. Only about .05% of what is harvested goes to horticultural use.
Recreating a natural ecosystem such as a peatbog that has been destroyed by mining is like trying to restore an old growth forest. There are many factors to consider. Along with the mosses, other plants grow there and the bogs are habitat for many types of birds, amphibians, insects, and mammals. Bogs prevent flooding by soaking up extra water like a sponge, which they then release slowly during times of drought. A drained and dry peat bog can actually catch fire and burn underground for years, emitting even more carbon!
Alternatives to Peat as a Soil Conditioner
It’s hard not to use peat in some gardening projects. However, there are effective alternatives to using peat as a total soil amendment or conditioner. Simply switch to sustainable products such as compost—or, aged manure, leaf mold, biochar, cover crops, or green manure. If you need to loosen up your compost, mix in some wood chips, which will aid water and nutrient absorption. A small amount of gravel also works well. We guarantee that quality compost will achieve better results in terms of vigorous growth and more flowering.
Alternatives to Peat for Potting Soils
In regards to substitutes for peat in potting soil and seed-starting mixtures, a number of different types of fibrous plant materials are being studied for their effectiveness, including rice hulls, bark, wood fiber, grasses, hemp, paper, and coconut coir. A recent research paper ranks pine bark as good as peat moss in seed germination trials!
Coconut Coir as a Peat Substitute
Speaking of coconut coir, a large farm in my area has been using coconut coir as a growing medium for years (Jane Presby of Dimond Hill Farm in Concord, NH). After many years of field growing all her crops, issues with climate change, soil pathogens, sterilizing containers, and weeds made her turn to high tunnels for a more environmentally-friendly way to grow things like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and basil.
She found peat to be too inconsistent, sometimes being too heavy and wet, and other times being too light and dry. Now, she uses grow bags filled with fiber dust (which is very finely ground-up coconut coir pith) in the tunnels and runs driplines into each bag. Since she can plant them closely and train the plants to grow vertically, she reports getting ten times the yield that she got when growing in the field.
She loves the coir. “The roots grow great,” she says. “There are no road blocks for them.” Coir is a by-product of the coconut industry. Unlike acidic peat, it has a near neutral pH and is easy to moisten from a dehydrated state. It soaks up seven times its dry weight in water and is very slow to decompose. Hydroponic growers have been using it for years. The downside is that because coconuts are tropical, they are grown mostly in India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, so they have a long boat ride to get to North America.
Coir is made from the outer husk of the coconut, which is typically considered a waste product.
Make Your Own Peat-Free Mix
If you would like to try making your own coconut coir-based seed starting mix, here’s an easy recipe:
- 2 parts coconut coir (Use finely ground fiber dust if starting small seeds.)
- 1 part perlite to improve drainage and aid aeration
- 1 part vermiculite to lighten the mix and hold water
- 1 part compost if you wish. It is not necessary, especially if you want the mix to be totally soil-less. (We grow our healthiest plants in a compost-based seed starting mix. I think it is the magic ingredient for a happy transplant!)
Whether you choose to phase out peat from your garden or not is up to you, but it is good to know that there are alternatives out there that do the job more sustainably!
Robin Sweetser
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Would appreciate some factual data / sourcing for your claims against the Peat process. Thank you...
Like everyone else on this thread, I am trying to eliminate peat from my gardening practices because of its environmental impact. I'm also finding coconut coir to be the preferred alternative according to a lot of experts. While one of the contributors to this thread has mentioned unethical production practices in poor countries, I also want to underscore the author's point about the "long boat ride" coir has to make to be usable to us in the north. I live in Nova Scotia, about 2 hours away from the nearest peat producer. The nearest coconut tree is thousands of kilometres to the south, and its coir is only going to reach me by that "long boat ride" that is doubtless using fossil fuels to propel the boat. I will use distant coir rather than local peat in the interests of phasing out peat use globally, but I do hope for an alternative to coir that doesn't put us in the fire as we step out of the frying pan.
Hi, I have always used peat as a way to acidify soil and condition soil. I use it around my blueberry bushes and rose bushes. Can you suggest a natural alternative? I never liked hauling those big bales of peat anyhow. So if there is a good alternative that conditions the soil and makes it more acidic, please advise.
We fertilize with Holly-tone, which is an organic fertilizer made specifically for acid-loving plants such as rhodies, azaleas, and blueberries. We mulch the bushes with sawdust which is also acidic but you can use shredded oak leaves or pine needles too. Be sure to test your soil to make sure you really need to lower the pH before you add any amendments such as sulfur or cottonseed meal.
I have never done this and it seems extreme, but you can also try watering with diluted vinegar - 2 Tablespoons per gallon of water. Here in the Northeast we struggle to raise the pH rather than lower it.
Thank you for informing readers that sphagnum peat should be avoided for gardening/potting purposes. I am an environmental educator at Volo Bog State Natural Area in Illinois, and I give tours of our fascinating bog. Many people are surprised at how destructive peat mining is.
This is a good article, but you need to do more research on the coconut husk processing. Coconut husk by nature is very tough and does not break down into a usable product without heavy chemical treatment. These chemicals are then dumped into the nearest rivers and streams poisoning the water supply. So, OK, you saved the world's peat bogs, but now the disadvantaged peoples who make the coir, and their environment are compromised. All this so we can have a nice garden. Think about it.
You touched on the topic of the many other ways to improve our soil which also provides a good growing medium for seed starting. It may take a bit of planning and more work on our part, but the results will be amazing in our gardens. The use of mulching, composting, cover crops, vermicomposting, (any or all) are environmentally better. Know that eventually your soil, no matter the type, will be a very wonderful growing environment. We turned our red clay brick like soil into a deep layer of dark, healthy earth that will grow anything we need. And the very compost we make, with a bit of fine grit, will start any seedling we want. Hard work? Yes and no. It just depends on the size of your garden!
Since these products are made in 3rd world countries, I’m sure there are unethical coir producers out there. That is why as consumers we need to do our own research. There are different ways of processing the fiber and some do use harmful chemicals but for agricultural purposes you should look for a company that does not use saltwater, chemicals, or steam to prepare the fibers.
I've never been able to find Vermiculite, Coconut Coir, or Perlite.
& no I don't shop online
Your local garden center should be able to order these items for you.
I watched a documentary about how detrimental using Peat Moss Bogs is to the environment; because the Peat Moss takes so long to form; I am happy to read: Ireland has decided to ban the harvesting of peat and other UK countries are planning to follow suit. I hope so; esp. since Coconut Coir is available.
