Re: N. rajah soil

From: Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)
Date: Sat May 31 1997 - 10:47:36 PDT


Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 18:47:36 +0100
From: Clarke Brunt <clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2144$foo@default>
Subject: Re: N. rajah soil

On 28 May 97 at 14:51, Mellard, David wrote:

> Peat is such a dangerous word in American English because it occurs on a
> variety of horticultural products. By peat, do you milled sphagnum moss? I
> hope I'm not opening pandora's box.

It is indeed annoying that we can't use the word 'peat' without
confusion, as there is little or no doubt what the word means here in
the UK. We mean brown crumbly stuff, often sold in a compressed dried
block, which has been dug from a peat bog. It is probably the
hundreds (thousands?) of years old remains of sphagnum moss, but
certain hasn't been living recently. Sometimes the bag might say,
'sphagnum peat', or 'sphagnum moss peat', but it's still the same
stuff. As opposed to 'sedge peat' which is the decayed remains of
sedges (grass like things) and isn't usually recommended for CP.

If there is any confusion (I'm not sure what the word 'peat' really
means in the US), then it seems to arise from using the phrase
'peat moss' to mean living, or recently living, sphagnum moss.
That is to say the moss which might well become peat if it was
left in a bog for a long time. I've no idea what sphagnum moss
is like when it has been 'milled', as some people mention. Sphagnum
moss is recommended for CP culture by some people, but it certainly
isn't compulsory - I've never used it.

-- 
Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk) http://www.brunt.demon.co.uk/
Cacti in Mexico, Cacti in flower, Frogspawn, etc.



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