FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I keep hearing people say "use a high quality peat moss" and don't really know what that means.

I think it means that the peat moss is low in total dissolved solids but nobody seems to be reporting on that.

Maybe I should start:

Lambert Canadian Peat Moss - ~80 ppm

I arrived at this measurement by ...

1. Taking a cup of dry peat moss straight from the bale
2. Adding enough distilled water (~2 ppm) until the peat moss cannot hold any more water and there's visible pooling on the surface.
3. Letting it sit for ~5 minutes.
4. Draining off the water using my fingers (after washing my hands) and measuring the tds.
5. Subtract the tds of the distilled water (~2 ppm) from the peat measurement and I got ~80 ppm.

Btw, I also measured the pH of the peat and found it to be ~4.5.

What do you folks think? Is this a good metric to judge peat? It might be a better way to determine the quality of growing media.

I wonder what Miracle Grow peat would clock in at?

I have used the bales from lowes and ace hardware with pretty good results. I do pick out a few sticks and twigs. The stuff from Ace is called black gold its a larger bale and cheaper price, it seems to be the same quality so far.

Sarracenia2004 wrote:Caution: Miracle grow peat moss is often fertilized. It will most likely kill your CPs

Exactly! I figure Miracle Grow would rank up some absurdly high tds number and serve as a reference point for what not to use.

Then I just need a reference point for a well know high quality peat ... I hear any Canadian peat is considered high quality. Is that right? Anyone know of any standout brands?

optique wrote:I have used the bales from lowes and ace hardware with pretty good results. I do pick out a few sticks and twigs. The stuff from Ace is called black gold its a larger bale and cheaper price, it seems to be the same quality so far.

Thanks! I'll see if my local Ace Hardware has some next time I'm in the area. Would be interesting to compare results against Lambert peat from Lowes.

I find low PH is usually the best measure of a 'good' peat. Often twigs and other solid lumps can be an indication that the PH is low as they cannot decompose, the opposite could also be true, no waste bits = higher PH as it has decomposed and added minerals to the peat.
I have absolutely no way of proving this as I've never tested in any scientific manner, however, my usual brand of peat is PH 4.5 or less and has 'bits' in.
Low PH means that the peat will be relatively long-lived and provides a good base for most Sarracenia and VFTs.
In my large outside bogs I can't afford to replace the medium, so I revitalise the peat with sulphur and pine bark or old Xmas trees. The plants really dont mind bits.
Cheers
Steve

Higher quality peat is harvested from a shallower depth in the peat pogs. It will be less decomposed and often a lighter color, hence why it's sometimes called "blonde peat." It may also be marketed as "professional" or "nursery-grade" peat. With those higher quality products you will typically find lower overall TDS, more consistent quality between individual bales, and a more coarse, spongy texture vs the typical powdery texture of consumer-grade peat. The higher grade peat should last longer too.

davinstewart wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:14 pm I'll see if my local Ace Hardware has some next time I'm in the area. Would be interesting to compare results against Lambert peat from Lowes.

The stuff that I got was SunGro Black Gold Canadian sphagnum peat moss. I bought a 3.8 cubic foot (107 liter) bag online with free shipping to my local store. That lasted me all year, with two big totes of carnivorous plant soil left to use this winter for repotting. Compared to the Lambert peat moss, the SunGro product has fewer sticks/twigs/bark in it. I plan to get another bag this spring.

nimbulan wrote:Higher quality peat is harvested from a shallower depth in the peat pogs. It will be less decomposed and often a lighter color, hence why it's sometimes called "blonde peat." It may also be marketed as "professional" or "nursery-grade" peat. With those higher quality products you will typically find lower overall TDS, more consistent quality between individual bales, and a more coarse, spongy texture vs the typical powdery texture of consumer-grade peat. The higher grade peat should last longer too.

Now if we only had a source to buy it from!

Now THIS is what I'm talking about!

Lambert White Premium High Yield Professional Peat Moss

davinstewart wrote:Now if we only had a source to buy it from!

Look around your area for nursery supply companies. They'll have what you need.

Distilled water 2 ppm 7.4 pH
Tap Water 140 ppm ??? pH
Sungro Black Gold Canadian Peat Moss 33 ppm 4.35 pH $18.99/2.2 cubic foot => $8.63/cubic foot
Quikrete Play Sand 81 ppm 8.7 pH

After washing 3 times with plain tap water and refilling with distilled water once again ...

Sungro Black Gold Canadian Peat Moss 17 ppm 4.87 pH
Quikrete Play Sand 33 ppm 8.01 pH

Based on this, it seems like regardless of what ingredients you start with there is some benefit to rinsing even with tap water.

Tap Water 140 ppm 9.02 pH

Those are interesting results. I wouldn't expect rinsing with tap water to actually help at all if the TDS is higher than the media. Also that is some amazingly clean peat. I haven't found a bale yet that reads less than 150 ppm out of the bag, even high grade professional peat.

Well, here's something else to throw into the mix ... I just found out that my TDS meter is affected significantly by the water temperature.

I took a clean glass of tap water at 20C and measured 135ppm then heated it to 50C where it measure 250ppm.

I think I need to redo the experiment (ugh) and take the water temperature into account.

sigh.

TDS meter results!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks like TDS meters are really only designed to be used at 25C.

Guess I'll have to work on that then.

davinstewart wrote:TDS meter results!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks like TDS meters are really only designed to be used at 25C.

Guess I'll have to work on that then.

Yes this is true. Temperature affects the electrical conductivity of the water, which is what TDS meters are actually measuring and they estimate the TDS from that. You can buy TDS meters that also measure and automatically compensate for temperature as well, but I've never found it necessary since you'll mostly be using the meters at room temp (or close enough to not really matter) anyway.