Yesterday, March 8, in a webinar organized by Chartered Institute of Horticulture (CIH), Catherine Dawnson of Melcourt gave her perspective, as a manufacturer, on peat-free growing media in the UK. In the webinar, she presented alternatives to peat, if there is enough to go around and if it is too expensive. On top of that, she also shines light on the Responsible Sourcing scheme that makes the impact of these products more transparent view and how the future will look like for peat as well as the alternatives.
The webinar has been recorded. Below a summary of what has been discussed.
Phasing out peat in the UK
Peat is a superb product for growing media, however it is an unsustainable product. Therefore, in many industries as well as in the horticulture industry, companies try to minimize their use of it. In the UK, for about two decades now, the government is pressing on the reduction in quantity of peat used in many areas as well as for commercial and domestic horticultural purposes.
Non-peat ingredients
So what to use instead of peat? Dawson explains that tot non peat ingredients require the following properties: it needs to be renewable, consistent, available, UK sourced (preferably), low in PH and low in nutrients. "At the moment, we have only four materials as alternatives, namely bark, wood fibre (extruded and composted), coir, and green compost. This latter one is used very little for the professional horticulture industry."
And of each alternative, has it's pros and cons. Bark, for example does not slumps like peat, but as it is not compressible, it is more expensive to transport. Coir is renewable, very available and holds moister well, but needs to come from far.
Responsible Sourcing scheme
So, each raw material has its pros and cons. In order to get an insight in their social and environmental impact, a scheme has been created that makes the sourcing process and the impact more transparent. This industry-led scheme is an example of how UK horticulture actively seeks to improve its sustainability and the aim is formulated as follows: " To ensure growing media is made from materials that are sourced and manufactured in a way that is both socially and environmentally responsible", as stated on the web page of Growing Media Association. The scheme will enable users of the scheme to source materials more responsibly, which we hope will help to improve the sustainability of this part of their businesses, they say.
Increasing demand for alternatives
For several years, the demand for alternative is increasing, however, since Bord na Mona decided to end all peat extraction on its own land, it made people realize that the end of peat is really real now. The industry is working hard on finding, trialing and introducing new materials. Will there be enough and will they be ready on time? Yes, there will be enough material, but the timescale to fill the gap that is left by peat might be a challenge, she explains. For this reason, the industry is working hard to trial new materials.
For more information:
Chartered Institute of Horticulture
www.horticulture.org.uk