With which peat substitutes is successful peat reduction currently possible?
According to the motto “peat substitutes perfectly combined”, it is currently the RAL quality assured peat substitutes wood fibre, coconut and substrate compost that we are using to achieve effective and successful peat reduction in professional substrates as well as in hobby soils. At Gramoflor, these peat substitutes currently form the three pillars of peat reduction and high quality requirements are placed on them.
Even though peat, a tried and tested raw material for decades, is becoming less and less available to horticulture, crop safety naturally continues to be the gardener’s top priority. Our aim is to continue to develop sustainable product solutions that work in practice for our customers, who are mainly active in professional horticulture.
Very pleasing is the already achieved milestone of a peat replacement quota, which is already at a total of 37 % by volume for professional and hobby substrates. This was achieved through appropriate and early investments in research and development, personnel and technology, as well as through proximity to our customers.
As things stand today, it is our own wood fibre LIGNOFIBRE®, which is mainly used as a so-called “leading peat substitute”, cocopeat and coconut fibres, some of which we process ourselves, and exclusively quality-assured substrate compost that enable us to successfully reduce peat.
Mind you, peat reduction, because peat as a raw material will continue to play an important role in commercial horticulture in the years to come. But here, too, we have done our homework and favour our own North German peat. In this way, we are also setting an example for the protection of peatlands on our doorstep.