Coir vs Peat vs Perlite
I learned only recently that the UK government is banning the sale of horticultural peat to amateur gardeners by 2024. This is just over a year away. Very soon. To be honest, I stopped using peat based potting mixes a couple years ago in favour of coconut coir based ones. Coir is marketed as a more sustainable alternative to peat. It is quoted frequently that this is because it is a waste material from the coconut industry. Coir is basically the shredded, rinsed, and dried pith from the husks of coconuts. Light and water retentive, like peat. I've always wondered about the validity of this claim. Does coir genuinely possess a smaller ecological footprint than peat, or have I just been beguiled by the advertising? I dearly hope the claims are true because, if they aren't, banning the sale of peat in the UK will achieve nothing on a global scale. It will merely shift problems from one place to another. Tricky! As I say, let's hope the advertising claims are backed up by the...