Authors:
Gerald Schmilewski and Jan Felix Köbbing
Book:
Proceedings of the 15th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Kuching
Keywords:
growing-media, paludiculture, peat-replacement, sphagnum
Documentfile:
ipc16p654-657a242schmilewski.koebbing.pdf
Summary:
SUMMARY
Its outstanding physical, chemical and biological properties make peat the most important growing-media constituent for commercial growers and amateur gardeners alike. At the same time, pressure is mounting on the peat and growing-media industry not to carry out peat extraction and thus to reduce emissions of harmful greenhouse gases from production sites. Alternative materials such as green compost, wood fibre, composted bark and coco pith are not sufficiently available; additionally, they also have less beneficial characteristics. One potential alternative to peat is peat moss (Sphagnum spp.), the main peat-forming plant in ombrotrophic peatlands. A project launched in 2015 with 10 ha of trials is being funded chiefly by Klasmann-Deilmann GmbH itself and by the federal state…