Re: Peat

[Doug Brown <debrown@kodak.com>]

Sorry for one more post, but this is by request. This is by no means an
attack on daktari who posted these widely held misconceptions.

>The  amount of Nitrogen present in peat is  normally very small, too
>small to be of value  as a fertilizer.

First of all, some types of peat are nitrogen-rich and used to improve
soils. Moss peat (i.e. sphagnum) is usually low in nitrogen, but some is
better than none. It's not a fertilizer to a horticulturist, but, for
example, I just read a recent report where a Scandanavian country (sorry
can't remember which one) is trying to decide if they should make use of
their moss peat deposits to make mineral poor areas more fertile. A major
function of peat in this application is certainly to prevent minerals from
being leached out, as well as retaining moisture and oxygen in the soil.
However, the report specifically mentioned moss peat as a "fertilizer" in
this case and I agree with the usage.

>>The peat is formed as the
>>result of anaerobic conditions, not the other way around.

This is backwards. Oxygen is required for initial plant decomposition. The
top layers of peat deposits (the most active area and lowest in pH) are
rich in aerobic bacteria. The bottom layers of peat deposits become
anaerobic as oxygen is consumed and not replaced. Anaerobic bacteria
continues decomposition in these layers.

- -Doug Brown
debrown@kodak.com