An Oklahoma State University food crop expert is studying alternatives to peat moss in commercial and domestic vegetable crop production.
While peat is a common soilless media used for its ability to retain water and nutrients, it is also expensive because of the lengthy and extensive process required to obtain it. Peat is an organic material composed of partially decomposed plant matter that accumulates in wet environments like bogs over thousands of years.
“There has been a huge effort to improve sustainability in the green industry, and one of those efforts is to move away from peat moss, which holds water the best,” said Dr. Tyler Mason, assistant professor and urban horticultural food crop production systems Extension specialist. “But how it is produced and the time it takes to develop raise the question of whether it should be used. The industry uses a backhoe to extract the peat moss from areas that would otherwise remain undisturbed.”
Mason and master’s student Kristal Casey are evaluating ground-up hemp waste as a soilless alternative to peat for growing the edible flower nasturtium.