What is the difference between peat and spaghnum peat moss?

19 years ago

Now that I have started reading I am in a position to ask what might be not already asked question.

The intention is for this bog to resemble wild Irish bogs, ie peat bogs, so a fair proportion of the fill will be peat. Here I get confused, I have been told NOT to use spaghnum but use proper peat. What I am used to seeing as peat, aside from the peat dug and dried for the fire, is a brown particulate frequently sold in compressed form in plastic bags.

I assume the latter is what I am meant to use.

Question, is this brown stuff primarily the dead remnants of spaghnum?

I have the impression it is, so that a wild peat bog is this stuff covered with a living crust of spaghnum.

Since a wild bog is, I believe, nutrient poor, why do some people add compost and loam to peat when making a bog? My understanding of compost and loam is that compost may be animal muck and or rotting grass/vegetable cuttings etc whlist loam is rotting tree leaves. Both compost and loam being, therefore, be presumably fairly rich in nutrients

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Comments (8)

fredsbog
19 years ago
the peat you've seen for burning and the Bales of peat (or peatmoss) are the same just processed differently.

No, it is not the dead remnants of just Sphagnum but dead remnants of a wide variety of plants that have fallen over into the acid water and not decomposed much. what you are seeing are layer upon layer of not too decomposed plant matter. Not very eloquently put but I hope easily understood.

Those who add compost or loam are using the gardeners vernacular and are actually growing in a wetland garden. Seems to me most who "bog garden" are actually wetland gardeners. I have a "true" bog garden or as I call it an artificial bog garden because it is meant to be nutrient poor and grow those plants that grow in that sort of situation in nature.

I applaud your efforts at true bog gardening!
Sean_McKinney
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks.
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Cool, Thanks, guys! I just thought that somewhere I had read something that said do not use peat MOSS, just use spaghnum peat and then explained the difference between the two. While I was reading labels, both the MG and Premier said "moss" and I couldn't find the info where I thought I had read this to double check. Sounds like I shouldn't wet the peat moss,then until it's mixed in fairly well, since it gets clumpy when wet. (?) OK. Have a great week! (:
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Link is to an excellent article [from Cornell] detailing the differences among peat mosses and WHY they are different. http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/good/growon/media/organic.html username5 Â Please advise me of your source for the statement that Canada is "replacing" the peat moss. All I have been able to find is an assortment of reports from various companies that Canada is using a 10-year plan for a "controlled harvest" of various peat sources. It is apparently true that the potential *production* is being limited due to this plan. The word *production* is used in the sense of producing a salable material, not in the sense of producing the material itself. Please note that there is a considerable difference between ÂharvestingÂ and Âreplacing.Â Since peat apparently grows about a milliliter a year, it would be unlikely that Canada (or anywhere else) would be able to actually "replace" the material harvested. Here is a link that might be useful: definitions of peat moss
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Sphagnum peat, aka peat moss, is a common ingredient in many potting soils. Potting soils are really soil-less mixes of ingredients designed to accomodate the very specific needs of container grown plants. Peat moss tends to be very moisture retentive, generally of a very small particle size and quite acidic. For these reasons, it should be used sparingly in any potting/container mix. The primary concern of any potting mix is fast drainage and good aeration and too much peat in the mix compromises both of these issues. It is definitely NOT an ingredient I would include in a potting medium to be used for cacti or succulents. For the record, peat is the decomposed remains of various plant products - sedges, mosses (like sphagnum), reeds or assorted other bog loving plants. Sphagnum is a moss that is often used as a decorative item to top off planted containers or to line hanging baskets, etc. Sphagnum peat - or peat moss, as it is most commonly referred to - is the decomposed product, found widely in peat bogs in the upper northern hemisphere. Canada has the world's largest supply of sphagnum peat bogs.
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2 things cause the price to go up: 1 - Inflation (how long ago, and were wood products also cheaper back then?) 2 - DEMAND! Like I said, it IS renewable, but it grows very slowly, so only so much can be harvested each year. Therefore, if people buy a whole lot of it the price must necessarily increase until an equilibrium between price and demand is reached (at $5 a bag it will sell out and the harvesters cannot produce anymore, at $50 no one will buy it; at $15 ($10 in NY) the price is right and demand meets the supply). It is a commodity - just like corn or soybeans - the prices rise and fall based on demand and supply (affected by the environment or political actions). The increase in price is good for the environment (my main argument in my first two long posts), because it forces consumers to opt for more RAPIDLY renewable soil amendments. My argument above (and why I support regulated, responsible harvesting of peat moss) is that the "politically correct" "peat moss is non-renewable" argument can have a detrimental effect on the environment because it may cause DEMAND to FALL until the PRICE DROPS to meet lower demand, which in turn actually will INCREASE DEMAND at the lower price (if peat moss becomes substantially cheaper than rapidly renewable sources). It is what I call the Walmart Effect - prices fall so low that consumption increases above necessary levels. For example, if quality nurseries stop carrying peat moss for political reasons, then big box stores will buy it up even cheaper and even more people (the masses who shop at box stores and do not care about renewability) will demand it and even more will be sold overall. Normally, without such unnatural interference in the Free Market, the price will find equilibrium. That is where it is now ($10-$15 a bale). Peat moss harvesters have invested too much capital to just stop harvesting when prices fall, so to make up for any shortfall caused by lower prices they will harvest even more (perhaps illegally) to make up the difference. This is why a lot of crops in the USA are destroyed - to keep prices high (this is the government's fault for paying farmers when they lose money). Right now demand meets (the sustainably harvested) supply, and at that level the cost per bale is $10-$15. It sounds like you were using a ton of the stuff in the past - that is actually very bad for your soil and plants; using wood products and compost is much healthier. Peat moss DOES have a legitimate use, just not as the MAIN ingredient of any soil mix.
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wildlifehelper2000
19 years ago
I learned the peat moss is not worth it if you grow CPs? It drys out too fast,and massy. I just started using long fiber S. moss on my Northern Pitcher Plants,and it does not dry out fast. Not cheap,but warth saving money on water and replacing plants.
clairdo2
19 years ago
Can I collect peat moss from the forest? I'm not sure what it looks like but I collected some rotten wood and thought it looked like it. Would this be good for my garden?
Thank you
Claire
fredsbog
19 years ago
Rotten wood is an excellent substitute for peat when gardening.

And no, you cannot collect peat from the forest. Peat is formed only in bogs and bog like areas. As Sean has said peat is dug and processed either dried in brick form for burning or baled for use in gardening.
clairdo2
19 years ago
I want to switch things around in my rock garden, should i transplant after everything dies off or can I do it now?
clairdo2
19 years ago
I found pink lady slippers in the forest near my cottage. Also saw some yellow ones on the side of the road. I transplanted the pink ones at the cottage and they are doing fine. This is northern ontario.
herb_wi
19 years ago
There are different types of peat depending on whether the peat formed from grasses, mosses, or woody material. The consistency varies a lot too: from a jumble of still recognizable fibers and woody particles to completely decomposed muck.

I live in the midst of forested "bogs" (swamps) in a network of extinct glacial lakebeds and pitted outwash drainage valleys where today there is a creek, a river, seeps, springs, and nice little bakwaawong on my property.

Yesterday I was out digging in the peat making a channel. I'm always hoping to dig up mastadon bones. My peat has a wide range of types and consistencies depending on depth and where I dig. In places there are trees and shrubs growing. In other places my bog has sphagnum moss growing on the surface. I consider sphagnum moss to be that living green layer and the brown moss under it. The peat is deeper and looks more like dirt or mud. The moss you can tear out by hand. The peat usually need to be dug.

What is the difference between peat and spaghnum peat moss?

Comments (8)

fredsbog

Sean_McKinney
Original Author

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What is the difference between peat and spaghnum peat moss?

Comments (8)

fredsbog

Sean_McKinneyOriginal Author

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wildlifehelper2000

clairdo2

fredsbog

clairdo2

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herb_wi

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Sean_McKinney
Original Author