Milled sphagnum?

[SarraceniaScott]

How is milled sphagnum as a growing medium?

I ran some LFS through a food processor yesterday, and found the resulting mix much spongier and less prone to compaction than peat as i flushed it through with water.

I mixed up about a gallon of medium that is 2:1:1 milled spagnum/peat/coarse quartz sand.

I have discovered, since I got a TDS meter, that the peat bale i was using was incredibly high in mineral content. After rehydrating, inital runoff water measured typically several hundred PPM.

 

[The Griffin]

It's fantabulous, IMHO, especially for germinating Drosera seed(and other CP).
Tamlin made the same discovery you did about peat(Where can you get a TDS meter that is not a POS like mine?) and soaks/rinses his peat very well before use.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[SarraceniaScott]

Quote[/b] (The Griffin @ Oct. 26 2005,12:32)](Where can you get a TDS meter that is not a POS like mine?)

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Hanna-TDS-METER-PPM-Water-TESTER-On-SALE-NOW_W0QQitemZ6008557858QQcategoryZ116400QQssPageN

ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">eBay</a>.

 

[SarraceniaScott]

I'm thinking of making a mix of milled sphagnum, and mulched (i.e. - also run through food processor) pine needles.  Coursely chopped, the needles should improve aeration, and provide acidity.  Plus, it'll be a mix very similar to the pine/sphagnum fields where these plants often grow.

Perhaps a mix of 9:1 milled sphagnum/mulched pine needles.

 

[CP30]

I use milled sphag to root all of my neps. I use it almost exclusively in my nep mixes (instead of LFS) and I have also used it in other cp (and orchid) mixes in place of some of the peat - mine is very high in TDS also (thank god for the cheap TDS meters now available!). The pine straw mix is an interesting idea.