SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM ܂ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018 ܂ 3B
‘Peat-free’ potting soil aids environment
Gardening
Carol Savonen
Guest columnist
Question: Dear Carol, I often trans
plant my houseplants into new soil and
pots in the winter. And each year, I buy
indoor potting soil, I go through the ago
ny of indecision. Peat moss is often an
ingredient in the bagged potting mix
tures. But these days, I’m seeing coir, or
coconut husk material advertised as a
more environmentally friendly soil
amendment in potting mixes. Could you
shed some light on this?
Answer: Both these fibers, peat moss
and coir, are used as ingredients in pot
ting soils for their water holding capac
ity. They also add bulk to the soil, which
promotes good air circulation in the soil.
Peat moss has been mined for centu
ries from wetlands known as peatlands
or bogs. Chunks of peat have been cut
out, dried and used for cooking and
heating by people in northern latitudes
that live where trees or other fuels are
scarce. Ireland, Scotland, northern Can
ada and other northern cultures have
typically used these fuels.
More recently, horticulturists have
used peat moss in gardens and contain
er plants. Sphagnum is the genus that
has many species of these acidproduc
ing mosses. The acidity they secrete in
hibits bacterial growth and decomposi
tion, so the moss layers build up over
time.
Thick layers of peat mosses, some
times dozens of feet deep, have such
tremendous water holding capacity.
Layer upon layer builds up, eventually
forming vast acidic wetlands.
These peat wetlands are the single
largest terrestrial store of carbon on
earth, say, scientists. When humans
mine peat, carbon gets released to the
atmosphere, thereby contributing to at
mospheric carbon dioxide (greenhouse
gas) increases. Peat builds up only
about a quarter inch per year. Harvest
ing removes deep layers of peat that are
thousands of years old. Classified as
wetlands, peat bogs help purify and
store water.
Over the last 40 years, professionals
have identified more environmentally
friendly soil amendments, including co
conut coir, paper waste, and mixtures of
other agricultural and industrial by
products. In the UK, they have vastly
curtailed the horticultural use of peat
and are using alternatives. Kew Gardens
has been peatfree since 1992.
It takes some sleuthing, but it is pos
sible to find alternatives to peat moss in
seedling, potting and fertile mixes. Here
are some things to pay attention to while
shopping for potting mixes and amend
ments.
Read the labels on sacks of soil
amendments, such as potting soil and
planting mix. Ask for ingredient lists at
landscape supply houses. Then request
“peatfree” mixtures. Just because it is
labeled “organic” or “green” doesn’t
mean it’s peatfree. In fact, it could well
contain 70 to 100 percent peat. Read the
fine print. A peatfree mix will often
highlight that fact in large print on the
label.
Peat is high in fiber, which maintains
good porespace. It retains water and is
low in nutrients. Peat is acidic. Func
tional substitutes for peat include:
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While influenza season has al
ready arrived in Oregon, officials
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October 2018. Officials say it's
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Silverton Appeal December 12 , 2018
Last flu season was severe
While early influenza numbers
are tracking close to last year, it’s
still too early to tell if this flu sea
son will be as severe as last, which
was the deadliest in four decades
according to estimates from the
CDC.
“We lost 80,000 people last
year to the flu,” CDC director Dr.
Robert Redfieldtold the Associat
ed Press earlier this year.
The number is a jump from
CDC estimates of flu deaths in re
cent years which have ranged
from 12,000 to 56,000.
The number of adults who got a
flu shot also declined from the
previous season. An estimated
37.1 percent of Americans aged 18
and older got a flu shot, a drop of
6.2 percent from the 201617 sea
son.
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Composted bark, made from by
products of the forest industry. On its
own, composted bark it makes a great
soil improver for poor or heavy soil.
Largergrade chipped bark is often used
as weedsuppressing mulch. An added
plus is that composted bark has been
shown to suppress root diseases.
The downside to bark is that if it is
incompletely composted, it has a very
high in carbon to nitrogen ratio; bacteria
breaking it down in the soil can “rob” ni
trogen from the soil and your plants. But
if it is well composted and is only one
ingredient in a wellbalanced multipur
pose compost mix, it has shown to be a
good substitute for peat.
Next week, I’ll talk about coir, or “co
co peat,” another peat substitute and
some other amendments that can sub
stitute for peat.
Carol Savonen is a naturalist and
writer. She is an associate professor
emeritus at OSU and tends a large gar-
den in the Coast Range Hills west of Phi-
lomath with her husband and dogs. She
can be reached at Carol.Savonen@ore-
gonstate.edu or c/o: EESC, 422 Kerr Ad-
min. Bldg., OSU, Corvallis, OR 97331.
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