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Peat alternatives for specialist plants

donfitzgdonfitzg Posts: 4
in Problem solving
So, we're told that peat is bad, damages the environment and releases stored co2. Ok, so, for general gardening, we create our own compost, use coir where possible and buy peat-free alternatives...... However, I also grow carnivores which I give talks on. Tropical carnivores (mostly nepenthes) will survive happily in a coir mix, but others (sarracenias, drosera, pinguicula, Venus fly traps and genlisea) naturally grow in peat bogs. I have experimented over the past three years with alternatives, but these struggle to thrive in anything but peat, their natural habitat. My collection of heliamphores died slowly over a three month period in a mix of coir, grit and vermiculite. I am not inexperienced, having been a grower of these plants for about 30 years, but can see an end in sight when peat is banned.

Posts

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Tricky isn't it. A lot of cactus and succulent growers are struggling to find good quality John Innes at the moment apparently but at least those plants don't naturally grow in peat so alternatives are easier to work with. Have a look at this thread https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1052361/so-what-is-the-alternative-to-peat/p1
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    Have you contacted specialist carnivorous growers?
    We have 3 not too far from us and they are always ready to offer advice.
    Hewitt-Cooper, Wivey Carnivorous and the Little shop of horrors.
    Not saying that their composts don't use peat but still worth checking with them.
    Our plants aren't grown in pure peat and we have Darlingtonia in an outside bog garden that has ordinary compost (no peat) that it is growing in. It has continued over the last 10 years to multiple and produce very sound trumpets. It has survived the frosts without any protection.
  • donfitzgdonfitzg Posts: 4
    Little shop of horrors are normally my go-to supplier (I used to live not too far from them, and am always impressed by the quality and variety of their plants). I contacted them a short while back, having bought a drosera to fill a gap in my collection, and asked them what they were using. "Peat".....
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    All the publicity I've seen so far seems to be focused on moss peat. Parts of my fields and large areas of nearby moorland are over -run by rushes, far less precious, as they reduce natural diversity, but when they rot down they do produce a peaty sort of soil, acidic and low in nutrients, which might have potential to solve your problem.
  • donfitzgdonfitzg Posts: 4
    Rushes may be a possibility, but where to get a compost made of them ? I can't just pillage my local river bank. In addition, I have c.5-600 plants in total, and typically will pot on about 50 in any season, plus filling seed trays for sowing, so I can comfortably go through a 100 litre bag. These plants have helped us to go chemical-free, as they decimate blackfly, greenfly, fungus gnats and other naughties, whilst leaving alone "good" pollinators and predators.
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    Could you use sphagnum moss? Dried and mixed with other media or composted?
    My grandfather grows orchids and I remember him using it a lot.
    Can it be grown commercially in a sustainable way?
  • donfitzgdonfitzg Posts: 4
    Yes, sphagnum moss is fine for seedlings, but my tallest sarracenias are in excess of 2 feet tall, and require something more substantial for the root structure to grip onto, or the slightest breeze will cause them to loosen.
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