Peat Moss as Soil Amendment?

Peat moss is a family of wild growing mosses. The decomposed fibrous remains of peat moss have been wildly used in gardening as plant food or mulch.

However, peat moss comes from very slow-growing and slow rotting plants. It takes 1000 years for a peat moss bog to add one yard to its depth.

In the British Isles, peat moss acreage has been reduced more than 80% due to heavy harvesting. Although there are still plenty peat lands in the North America, unlimited mining will eventually destroy peat bogs.

In addition, the costs of  fuels used to harvest, process and ship peat moss around the world is high.

So it is not such a green choice to use large amount of peat moss as soil amendment. However, it is a reasonable choice if used as part of seed starting mixtures.

Peat moss can hold lots of water, provide habitats for beneficial bacteria and is a poor medium for various fungi.

Once the seedlings are big enough to transplant into the garden, compost is a wonderful choice to enrich the soil for your plants.