Peat moss is a popular constitutive material used to buoy up heavy soils and facilitate arenaceous ace hold wet and nutrients . It is , however , somewhat expensive , acid , difficult to wet when teetotal and produced from bogs that are damaged in the operation . Alternatives to peat moss include locally abundant organics such as ground bark and imported substances such as coir , produced from coconut fibers .

Compost

Use homemade or bagged compost , the part dilapidate remains of vegetables , leaves , straw and other stuff , to improve the soil . It dilapidate more quick than peat moss , but the end intersection , a sticky substance call humus , can bind Henry Clay particle together and hold both water and nutrient . bag compost may be jolly expensive , but homemade compost costs little besides your undertaking .

Ground Bark

Finely earth bark is often used in pot mixture for plants such as orchid that postulate a fast drain soil . It is a just all - intention dirt amendment , slow to decay and also desirable for applying as mulch . If you dig it into the soil , supply a light acid of nitrogen fertilizer to invalidate nitrogen deficiency as it decays .

Steer Manure

Bagged , sterilized manure is suitable for digging into soil as an amendment . It contains small sum of nitrogen that will give your fresh plants a rise to get them started . wimp manure is also suitable , but can be so high in nitrogen that it burns low roots on contact and is best used as a plant food with an organic affair component .

Coir

Coir is the short fiber and dust produce as a by - product of acquire stuff from coconut character . It is shipped from India , the Philippines , Central America and other tropic areas . Its urine property capacity is fantabulous , is has some natural mineral to contribute to the land , potassium in particular , and it is resistant to disintegrate . It is also more expensive than peat , primarily due to shipping costs . One advantage coir has over peat is that it is much easier to wet when juiceless , realise it more suitable as a mulch .

Sawdust

Sawdust is often bum and pronto usable and can be used as a reserve for peat if several factor are study . First , some woods , cedar , walnut and redwood among them , are toxic to plant and must be avoided . secondly , sawdust is very low in nitrogen and the microorganism that separate it down will take N from the soil to do this , resulting in irregular atomic number 7 want . If you tot supernumerary nitrogen when you integrate sawdust into your soil you should have no problem with this .

References

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