Peat Humus

[FDR]

I saw a thing labeled peat humus today and I looked it up on the internet to see what it was. I get somewhat conflicting reports as wether it's a good soild amendment. Anyone ever use this stuff?

[TQ]

I/d use it but only if it were free. Peat will improve the soil/s tilth and friability, but won/t add any nutrients.

If you/re going to spend money, buy some dried cow manure.

[George.com]

If you mean peat moss, it is certainly good as a mulch to suppress weed and retain moisture. Not sure whether it is a good soil amendment so to say. Has negligible nutrient value but good for drainage and aeration. It will help build a humus layer in your soil if you have, for instance, a heavy clay or light sandy soil. It can be expensive and may not be environmentally sustainable. Other types of waste organic product are better, animal crap, waste mushroom compost, back yard compost etc is more than likely as good as peat moss.

rob

[Maya]

Here in the UK we are trying to stop using peat-based products altogether due to the accellerating destruction of irreplacable peat bogs. There are many excellent peat replacements; composted coir (coconut waste) is a popular one - though the non-peat products tend to dry out more quickly than actual peat moss.

- didn;t mean to make my first post a rant, but hey... this is important!!!

Maya.