GRADES of Peat!?!?!?

[Jefforever]

Ok, so last year I sowed my precious NT utric seeds in 1:1 peat/sand. I soon found my pots covered in the standard slime mold that always takes over my soils!

The problem is obviously substrate purity. :-(

A German grower who was coaching me along mentioned that European growers use certain GRADES of peat and sand that is "totally limefree, sharp and open, and of a constant grain (I use 1mm sand), not a mix of too many different grain sizes."

He suggested that it wold be a good idea to use "H1 grade peat, and not more decomposed than H5 grade".

I'm really clueless about where I might find some H1 grade peat as he suggested.

It would be useful to know where to find these substrates because the "substrate stays clean for months (or even years) if you flush it with pure (distilled) water about weekly".

Any suggestions and comments appreciated!

 

[cp-connection]

I use sunshine brand. They name their grades by color. I use "orange". The most expensive stuff is fluffy and holds lots of water. The stuff in the "retail bag" is the worst. It is packaged by a third party. It is just dust and sticks and holds very little water. It will make your boogers black...

http://www.sungro.com/products_displayProBrand.php?brand_id=4

 

[Jefforever]

It will make your boogers black...

holy cow

Crazy! I'd never heard of grades of peat before, but it seems weird to use colors. I wonder if other brands do that.
At least it's good to know that U.S. brands sell and lable different grades.

Thanks for your comment.

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

Go figure. I never knew about different grades.

I have never had a problem with my peat, though I do get black boogers when mixing up large batches.

I need to go outside and look at the bag for brand, so all I can say now is that it's the huge bale from OSH.



This is certainly worth looking into.