Sphagnum Peat Moss vs. Coconut Coir for Seeding

[777thSunRay]

Simply, I would like people's perspectives about the advantages of Sphagnum Peat Moss vs. Coconut Coir for germinating seeds. I have read that Coconut Coir is perhaps a less expensive alternative. Though I am able to get enough Moss for my seedlings at a very modest price. Are there any advantages of Coir that might make it as good or better a choice?

 

[19Mateo83]

Simply, I would like people's perspectives about the advantages of Sphagnum Peat Moss vs. Coconut Coir for germinating seeds. I have read that Coconut Coir is perhaps a less expensive alternative. Though I am able to get enough Moss for my seedlings at a very modest price. Are there any advantages of Coir that might make it as good or better a choice?

If peat dries out completely it becomes hydrophobic and repels water until it finally hydrates, which can take some time. Coco coir does not get hydrophobic and it drains freely where peat tends to get soggy and stay soggy. I have used blends and both individually. I use peat 50/50 with pearlite more so because it is readily available at almost any home center. But I prefer a coco/peat/pearlite blend.

 

[Firstflush]

Coco does not break down. Peat does. I don’t know if that matters with seed starting however. Supposedly peat has some plant hormones which is why it is used for layering. Coco usually has salts in it so you should buy pre-rinsed product if you are able.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Sphagnum is the go to for lots of seed starting for plants like azaleas that need consistent moisture levels. It also has antifungul qualities. Sphagnum is not the same as the peat moss that is sold in blocks in the local big box store and will not resist rewetting and doesn’t break down like the latter product. It is also used with Kanuma as part of a media for satsuki’s. I have used it and it works really well.

I haven’t coconut coir much. However it t is widely used by gardeners for general seed starting.

It depends on what you are trying to germinate. For example if you are using general sowing or specific sowing.

btw: In the long run each has environmental disadvantages.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[777thSunRay]

Sphagnum is the go to for lots of seed starting for plants like azaleas that need consistent moisture levels. It also has antifungul qualities. Sphagnum is not the same as the peat moss that is sold in blocks in the local big box store and will not resist rewetting and doesn’t break down like the latter product. It is also used with Kanuma as part of a media for satsuki’s. I have used it and it works really well.

I haven’t coconut coir much. However it t is widely used by gardeners for general seed starting.

It depends on what you are trying to germinate. For example if you are using general sowing or specific sowing.

btw: In the long run each has environmental disadvantages.

cheers
DSD sends

Thanks for this! Valuable… Hmm, what is general vs specific sowing? I couldn’t find the terms online. And what bearing does it have on mix choice? And do you mean environmental disadvantages with respect to nature impact?

 

[777thSunRay]

Coco does not break down. Peat does. I don’t know if that matters with seed starting however. Supposedly peat has some plant hormones which is why it is used for layering. Coco usually has salts in it so you should buy pre-rinsed product if you are able.

I see… good to know are you referring to air layering?

 

[777thSunRay]

If peat dries out completely it becomes hydrophobic and repels water until it finally hydrates, which can take some time. Coco coir does not get hydrophobic and it drains freely where peat tends to get soggy and stay soggy. I have used blends and both individually. I use peat 50/50 with pearlite more so because it is readily available at almost any home center. But I prefer a coco/peat/pearlite blend.

Okay that sounds great! I’ve seen good deals on dried/compressed coir. Is this product okay?
Also, as @Deep Sea Diver stated, do you use Sphagnum specifically, as opposed to another type of peat moss? If so I should check the bag I’m looking at buying. It’s Sunshine brand at Home Depot.

 

[Shibui]

I see… are you referring to air layering?

and I think that usually uses sphagnum moss though some people may also use peat.

Natural peat forms very slowly and over harvesting is destroying large areas of ecosystem.
Coco peat is a by product of coconut so is renewed annually.
For seed raising coco peat is excellent and takes the pressure off peat bogs. Definitely go for coir for seed germinating!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Supposedly peat has some plant hormones which is why it is used for layering.

This is a persistent myth. The low pH and antifungal properties of sphagnum and degraded sphagnum (to some extent) contribute to the positive factors. Hormones are no part of that, because mosses by themselves have very little free roaming hormones.
The low pH however, does contribute to the delay of hormone breakdown.

 

[cmeg1]

Coir ( in a long term vegging production) leaches and eliminates calcium in the media or something.Is a VERY organic approach and really not that great unless growing perrenials or annuals or something.
Horticultural perlite/chunky vermiculite………on this hydro themed approach.
Grade#2 perlite with a 50/50 mix of orchid spahgnum in top inch or two will deter damping off….great for cuttings too……as the vermiculite mix will sometimes damp off a seedling……orchid spahgnum is antibiotic!!!

 

[Bnana]

Sphagnum specifically, as opposed to another type of peat moss

Sphagnum = peat moss.
Is that simple, sphagnum is the scientific name, peat moss the English name.
The problem is that people use the term peat moss when they actually mean peat (partly decomposed organic matter including remnants of peat moss).

Peat is very unsustainable and shouldn't be harvested and used (including in putting soil). Some countries are starting to ban it.

 

[Shibui]

You may know it as 'peat' but down here 'peat moss' is the common term for the partly decayed remains of sphagnum. I guess that differentiates moss peat from other forms of peat which can be formed from a range of different bog plants. The live and undecayed form is known as 'sphagnum moss'
Just another example of how common terms can be unreliable.

Agree that peat should not be harvested commercially or used for plants when there are more sustainable and affordable alternatives.

 

[Bnana]

The term "moss peat" refers to a type of peat that has something to do with moss. The term "peat moss" would logically refer to a moss that has something to do with peat.
I don't know how they messed that up in horticulture.

 

[penumbra]

If you are using peat or sphagnum a simple visual examination will be sufficient to tell you what the product is beyond all the suppositions and half truths.

Peat or peat moss is dark brown, milled very fine and pressed into blocks an as already stated, it is hydrophobic when wet. This is the stuff that is over harvested. It has no antimicrobial benefits. It is acid and an excellent product for amending in ground planting soils for acid loving plants. It is the basis for Pro Mix and most other grower mixes and also most bags of "potting soil". These mixes usually contain a bit of perlite but not really enough to give the aeration and drainage that most seeds / seedlings need. It tends to hold a lot of water and breaks down eventually forming a slimy sloppy mass. I use it for some vigorous seed sprouting mixed with milled pumice or perlite.

Sphagnum moss is a very pale brown, (almost not brown at all,) and stringy moss that is live harvested and dried. (Bury it in a bog for thousands of years and you have peat moss or peat.) It does have antimicrobial benefits, particularly fungicidal and is used for air layer and growing orchids and other plants. It is sometimes milled very finely and used for seed started. It is hydro-static, holds a lot of water and air as well due to the stringy nature.
There is no confusing the two products if you look at them.

Coco Chor or Coir, (and often called coco peat) is from coconut shells that have been milled. It holds water, but also hold a lot more air than peat moss. It has very positive drainage and while it will eventually break down, it takes a number of years. The misinformation about it holding a lot of salt may have been true at some point, but I have used four different brands purchased on Amazon, and I have never seen this problem. It is sold in a pressed brick that expands greatly when water is added. It is not slimy when wet and does not become a sticky mess even after a few years outside in a grow bed.

The terms used to describe peat are not universal.

As to staring seeds, one size does not fit all. There are seeds as fine as dost and seeds as large as coconuts. There are soft seeds, and hard seeds. Seeds that germinate in dark and those that germinate in light................
and so it goes.

I use all three of these products, and would suggest to any neophyte to growing plants, try them all by themselves and in combination with one another and other additives like perlite. In one season the answers to your questions will be resolved. A martial arts teacher from my past taught me that teaching could only take you so far and that doing is paramount.

 

[Glaucus]

I was also always told that in terms of plant species, sphagnum = peat. However, the distinction then is that with 'sphagnum' we refer to intact partially live moss harvested on the surface of a peat bog. Where 'peat' refers to decayed sphagnum from (deep) within a peat bog, usually milled down to dust.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I respectfully put forward using sphagnum moss as the most sustainable option. Particularly NZ sphagnum. Here's my rationale. I've inserted a number of references as teezers.

…. Presently neither of the three products in this discussion are sustainable in the long run... That said, each represents a different challenge to facets of the concept of sustainability. (Note: In this discussion I'm leaving out transportation as an issue as I think it could complicate the discussion and feel it might be a bit of a toss up depending on one's location.)

I discovered there exist many myths out in the ether about each product's properties perpetuated by advertisers and multiple layers of fallacies pushed out by health magazines, the news and even by inaccurate sustainablity calculations using factual data by some scientists. Tracking all of these down and reporting out on each of the mythologies presented is way beyond the scope of this thread.

Factually sphagnum moss and sphagnum peat moss (the decayed products of sphagnum moss found in layers beneath the sphagnum in sphagnum peat bogs) hold more water, about double, then coconut coir and release the moisture slower.

Presently scientists have identified at least 380 plants are included in the term sphagnum moss. Havesting sphagnum moss can be sustainable... one simply picks the growing matter off of a bog and harvests it. yet I don't know if the supply of sustainably harvested sphagnum moss could meet the demand. There is at least one New Zealand company that advertises harvesting sustainably. Yet the harvest isn't always done this way. Sphagnum moss and the sphagnum peat moss can be harvested together. Therein lies the environmental issue.

Harvesting sphagnum peat moss necessitates draining the bog, harvesting the sphagnum moss on top and then stripping out the peat moss below. That's where the major environmental issues arise. There are many areas were this has occurred around the world, even in Los Lagos, Chilean Patagonia. Then there are the issues of peat bogs catching on fire... and so on.

Yet the overall issue of harvesting our peat bogs is doubtful as compared to the environmental damage caused by knocking down naturally forested areas and creating plantations to grown "Sustainable Coir". These methods leave productive land barren without chemical fertilizers, cause respiratory harm, put great demands on water resources and require energy and chemical intensive steps to remove the sodium to make the production saleable. These are real time widespread impactsonly made worse by the popular mass marketing of coco products as sustainable.

....and that's all folks!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Glaucus]

The environmental debate is a bit tricky. It is said that in Canada, more new peat forms at a higher rate than human harvesting.
But in Europe where it is harvested in the Baltic states, this is not the case.
And then coco coir is a waste product, but coconut trees grow far far away. So it has to be shipped halfway across the planet.

Which might mean that for those in NA, sphagnum&peat is most environmentally friendly.
While for Europeans, it may be coco coir.
Now, I don't know if this is actually true.

I am sure someone crunched the numbers on this one.

 

[Rowbow]

One of the problems mentioned is that peat drys out and is a job to wet if you add a few drops of eco washing up liquid it should be easier to get it to go moist

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

That’s great suggestion that if used in moderation might actually help slow down any fungus gnat growth.

cheers
DSD sends