Hope you enjoyed this 'Digging Deeper' breakdown of peat vs. coir - going to release a video on a DIY peat-free soil mix soon!

Chris is a great addition to the channel. She's intelligent and does a great job explaining her subject. 👏

This video falls right into my overall gardening plan. Last year I was disgusted over the prices of soil mixes, peat and coco coir. Already with a garden planned, I had to bite the bullet and purchase most everything. I made up my mind last spring that I would attempt to be a self sustainable gardener. One of the processes I put into motion 2 years ago was a good sized pile of leaves to create leaf mold. Well it paid off. Last fall I harvested over 40 gallons of the most beautiful leaf mold. Stored in my basement over the winter and kept moist, I have been using it over peat and coco coir to start my plants and producing my own potting mixes. Last year I tried to accelerate the leaf mold process by double shredding the leaves. The first and second year I just piled them up and turned and kept moist, a lot of work and 2 years. I will have another two year pile this fall to harvest plus hopefully last years as well. At this point I have over 20 varieties of herbs, vegetables and flowers growing. I started some tomatoes in Jan (in zone 5, a huge mistake) to see if the tomatoes would do well or not. I did not want to wait until my regular starting time at the end of March and have a bust for tomatoes. Well I just potted up my 7 week old tomatoes for the second time and they are just wonderful. Nice full 8" plants with great root systems, unfortunately I already have to pick flowers off of them. Everything else is doing fine as well, onions, leaks, peppers, greens, thyme, oregano, rosemary, borage, marigold, petunias, and sweet potato. Along with the leaf mold I am trying to perfect my composting (it's been good, but can be a lot better), and 3 bins of worms. In addition I invested in a microscope to see exactly what I am putting in my gardens, along with the current status of my beds. This my 3rd year of actively gardening. The first year was based on mostly commercial applications and organic principles. Last year was eye opening to the proper way to garden. This third year will be mostly experimenting with perennial cover crops, interplanting and working on my composting skills. I am hoping that the above practices will free me from big box stores and garden centers. This was a terrific video to inform concerned gardeners on the actual realities of peat and coco coir. As it happens, I have found something that so far is working for me.

Here in the UK they have been battling this for years and have decided to remove all peat from composts by 2024 but the peat-free versions leave a lot to be desired. Coir is ok as a replacement but it's not as good and I think it will take time for the companies to figure out good recipes. most use huge amounts of wood and green waste which give poor results but balance it with coir. That being said we need to stop using peat so finding alternatives is a must

I really enjoyed this. I'm a Canadian gardener and I've seen a lot of American You Tubers say I g Canada has an endless supply of pear moss. Glad to see that debunked.

The hydrophobic nature of peat is exactly why I use coir in my semi-arid climate. I have to water containers every day in summer, and if my soil is peat based, I really can't water them ENOUGH. Gallons upon gallons of water runs right through and out the pot without moistening the soil! With coir based soils, I can sometimes go a few days between watering, and it only takes a reasonable amount of water to re-wet.

I have to say that I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I used peat moss for YEARS without giving it any thought as to how it impacted the environment. Just recently, as in today, I thought it best to research it and coconut coir. Chris did an excellent job explaining/educating us on the two. Thank you very much!

Loved seeing Chris take us to Burns Bog and discussing the topic in great detail! Always learning so much from everyone at Epic Gardening. Thank you!

I’ve tested growing lettuce in 100% well aged homemade compost before, but It is just hard to produce enough fast enough. Having enough readily available biomass is the biggest hurdle for almost 100% self sufficiency in a home garden, including sourcing enough mulch material from the property itself with having to use fossil fuels to chip it or mow it. Yes, scythes are an alternative, but ain’t nobody got time for that. Also drier climates like yours produce even less biomass naturally. Great video, Kevin.

Chris is really adding a valuable perspective to your channel. She is also a wonderful teacher--clear, thorough and easy to understand when explaining complex botanical/horticultural concepts. Thanks for providing this great new source of information.

I actually live in a former dutch peatlands The bogs are protected these days since over 90% was destroyed, dug up and dried to use the peat as fuel between 150-100 years ago or so. The areas hold unique animal and plant species which almost went to extinct. The area cant be restored anymore. The original bog used to be as large as all of the north of the Netherlands and a huge part of northern Germany, a place where now hundreds of thousands of people live, built their houses where once meters high peat land used to be. Some farms here started to turn their acres into birch forests around 40-30 years ago, now they are partially broken up to be used as peatland spots to help nature recover in a bit larger area. Hope other bogs wont be as destroyed as the European ones for our gardening needs

It's a little crazy if you think about it. Here in Australia, coco coir makes better sense both financially and for the fact that it's available closer to home. The coir is still a by-product and using it is surely a less impactful way to get a good garden input. If/once (?) people start actually creating coco coir as the prime product, then things kind of turn on their head. I'd be interested to find out more about the conifer bark option though. Fantastic informative video - big thumbs up!

This was one of the most thorough videos I've seen on this particular subject and I love that she went out to a bog! Can't wait to see you guys cover soil recipes. I'm looking forward to whatever you guys put out next.

I liked this detailed breakdown. Another alternative to peat is shredded leaves (or leaf mould) which is what I've started using. However it breaks down fairly quickly so downside.

This video is so great, chris is a wonderful and engaging teacher. I appreciate that you point the pros and cons of both substrates. It also is very wise to show that there is no substrate, no product that we can use and consume as gardeners that does not have an environmental impact. Whether it's sand, perlite, leca, and on, there was water, probably oil (fuel), electricity, mining, and more impacts required to harvest and produce everything we use. The best thing we can do is arm ourselves with education, and use that to inform ourselves and each other, and even make local and global changes around us. Thank you both!!!

I live in south LA...... no recovery from our disappearing marshland; we are losing our wetlands at rapid rates. Canadians, take care of your land :) ..... I'm changing my herb and veggie gardening to grow pots, which are easier for me to handle, given my aging challenges now. As I'm currently preparing my altered home gardening methods and seed planting this is an awesome video. Tks Kevin and Chris. I look forward to more like this.

This is the most complete, condensed, and comprehensible messaging I've heard regarding the importance of the lack of sustainability of Peat Moss. Thanks so much, Chirs, et.al. You guys ROCK!!

I love that you guys added Chris to the Epic Gardening family! She is so well spoken. The presentational style is awesome, it gives a real reporter on the ground vibe!

Composted Pine bark in differing sizes makes up majority of potting mixes sold here in Australia. Great medium to use, and is a by product of our large timber industry.

This sent me down a rabbit hole about whether there had been peat mining in Western Washington. Answer: I found a document from 50s going into deep detail about all of Washington's resources and how they could be mined. And then I learned there is a 5,000 year old bog not all that far from me. This video got me inspired to learn more about my place!

Chris is awesome...gotta have her on the channel more often. Super informative and well spoken with a soothing tone. : )

I really enjoyed the "deep dive" into this topic. SO much info to think about presented in a wonderful way. Looking forward to more videos like this.

I'm glad you did a video on this. I use mixes that include coir as a partial replacement for peat. Another option is a product called pit moss. It is made from recycled paper. It's problem is that it costs more than either peat or coir, even though it is derived from a waste product. Recycled paper is easily sourced, less processing is needed, and shorter distribution paths. It sounds really great, and I would try it, if not for the cost issue. As far as the sterility of coir, adding some compost when starting seeds is a great way to counteract this. Some seeds are sensitive to the salts in synthetics, and the soil life isn't there to break down natural fertilizers.

This was really informative and the addition to having someone in a northern climate is very much appreciated! She’s very thorough! I guess this is another reason why we should really focus on composting. Maybe I’ll up my leaf collecting this year. Thank you for sharing this! PS. Is that a moringa tree in her greenhouse?!

I'm so disillusioned about soils and mixes at this point. I started a container garden a few summers ago, making my own containers using instructions I found on KZfaq. They worked great as far as the self-wicking function - just as well as the ready-made ones I purchased. Soil, though, was a much different story. I found a mix that several different YT gardeners swore by. Peat or coir, compost, worm castings, blood and bone meal, organic fertilizer. Made up the mix using coir, put it in my containers, planted seeds and starts, and nothing. My seeds grew, got two sets of real leaves and then stopped all progress. My tomato starts grew about six inches more and then just stopped. I checked ph levels, added fertilizers, spent a LOT of money amending the soil, and nothing changed. I've never had green beans not grow before. I didn't even try to grow anything last summer, and as much as I want to this year, I'm still debating. Soil is the most expensive part of the gardening equation for me, and I'm so hesitant to buy or make anything again for fear of wasting another huge batch of money.

Thank you so much for this elightning and educational video. Never imagined we were talking about a non renewable product. Chris is so clear and fun to listen to. Thanks again!

She is such a natural. Eloquent and knowledgeable. I enjoyed her presentation very much.

Especially appreciate the new addition representing Vancouver and the helpful info relating to the colder wetter climate.

Love the detailed information, Chris! Thanks for breaking down the environmental and other considerations for us.

Chris is always so great at explaining the detailed parts of these things! Love to listen to her.

This was so excellent. Thank you Chris for how clear and articulate you were in explaining everything in brilliant detail. I'm in the UK and stopped buying peat compost a long while ago now with a focus on making my own or buying peat free, and nothing in my garden has suffered. I had started to use coir a few years ago but have also stepped away from that too, and your excellent video has helped solidify that decision for me. Any small steps anyone can take to reduce their impact is a good thing. Thank you again, this was fantastic 💚🌿

Thank you for explaining all of this. You've opened this Canadian's eyes. Another reason why Epic Gardening is my go-to channel!

Informative video, thank you. I would hope that Canada can get ahead of the bog loss. Here in south Louisiana, the swamps and pine forest have taken a hit over the years, but it’s the marshland that is disappearing at a rate that I do not think will ever recover.

This is great, and I think I have coconut coir currently (I am new to gardening on my own), but I think it would have been nice to hear about other potential options. I see in the comments that compost and leaf mold are what some are switching to, so I think I'll look to see if I can figure out a way to get that in my arsenal before seed planting time comes. I'm not saying "alright, now here's another 10 minutes about other alternatives and their impacts, pros, and cons", just a mention at the end like, "and if you're not confident in these, here's some other options you can look into". As it stands, this video seems rather black and white, when usually Epic Gardening videos are good at chill "here's what I use and here's some alternatives" suggestions

I grew up on our small family farm and learned to garden from my mother in the ‘60-‘70s. She never bought soil of any type. Instead, we started all seeds in our native Oregon soil or just by direct sowing into the garden. The garden was amended with our own compost, ash, sometimes fertilizer and livestock manure. I still garden this way. Maybe I am okay with less than perfection in my seed starts and I do have to pluck a few weeds but this simple approach seems to work, doesn’t cost any extra money and doesn’t have any environmental issues to worry about. I would love to see you do a deep dive on minimal, native soil and compost gardening. Keep up the great content. We always learn from you!

so important to share this as a gardener, we should leave everything better than we found it, know when to stop, and consciously consume

This was awesome. Maintaining local ecosystems has always been very interesting to me and I love the idea of trying to work with the earth instead of at the earth’s expense. Glad I caught this ep before going to the gardening center

I have a research paper I needed a topic for in my global issues class and this video came out at the right time for me. I will look more into this topic for the essay and for personal use for my own plants at home

Hello from Vancouver. So wonderful to see Chris here!

I'm so grateful for this video--I hope you'll continue to make videos on other options, as you use them successfully or as they come available. Thanks for all your hard work--and a big thanks and welcome to Chris!

This video was awesome, and I'm looking forward to more highly educational deep-dives into gardening topics.

wow this is really amazing content... i love the addition of chris and cant wait to learn more!

Great information, thanks Chris! I'm an ex-Vancouverite ... nice to see a Canadian onboard this channel.

Thank you all for this video. I had no idea that peat took so long to renew, or that it was being taken from wild sources like this. I was under the impression that it was farmed because its just broken down plant matter. I figured it was a process like composting wherein they'd grow the moss, harvest it and then stick it in pile to break down. I'll definitely be using other materials in the future. Thanks again for helping to get this info out. I know there are probably still SO MANY people just like me that didnt realize they were helping to do this kind of damage to fragile ecosystems.

Love the addition of Chris! Fantastic information. Thank you.

Thank you, this is perfect timing. Like today perfect timing! I’m knee deep in buying one of these run bulk today! I was stuck between figuring out which works best for my situation

I love when people take the time and energy to really break down things for those of us who don't understand as easily I start seeds in coir, but my germination starts in a plastic bag. All the seeds get water daily, sometimes multiple times a day, but that works for me and i think ive noticed less molding

I use a mixture of coir and potting mix/garden soil for propagation tree cuttings. Most of my cuttings are sprouting and will see in a few more weeks if there is enough root to transplant. I also mix coir with store bought garden soil to provide more drainage and my new bare root trees growing in containers are all doing well. Coir is a cheap sustainable alternative to peat moss and is working for me. This year I was able to get a very big pile of maple leaves from my local park and use some to mix in to my garden. I added fertilizer to compensate for the leaves using up the nitrogen. The rest of my shredded leaves hopefully turn into leaf mold before next winter when I will gather more leaves.

Last season peat became unavailable in my area and when you found it, the price was just too high. I turned to coir and had no issues. It was easily available online and affordable. I should say that I'm using Mel's Mix in my SFG raised beds. Excellent information provided by Chris!

Love the new addition to the epic garden roster! Would love to see someone from Canada who is from outside Vancouver as that isn't really representative of the majority of Canadian climate

The cheapest bulk coco coir available in North America is way more expensive than peat moss, and add to that the perlite, calmag and whatever fertilizer required to get it to the point where it will grow plants as well as peat moss does. I've had poor results using coco coir, now I'm stockpiling peat moss while it's still available *AND* affordable.

I could listen to Chris talk for hours. She’s fantastic! Great information. :-)

she is amazing at explaining, i’d love to hear more content from her in the houseplant realm!

I use coconut core in my containers. I didn't see an adverse impacts to my garden containers last year and plan to use this year again😊. This was a very good presentation of peat and core! Hey, BTW, I should have ordered my birdies in December when they were on sale. They have really gone up in price. So, let us know if you have another sale, please 🌻🌻🌻❤️

I wasn't even looking for this, but I just learned like 100 new things and a new word 'sequestering' lol. Chris is highly intelligent and elaborate and thorough. I would say keep more videos like this coming but I think she covered it all lol. Great job thanks.

I am glad to see Chris back. I was so pleased to find small island seed company that specialized in rare seeds and perennials . And they are local . And don’t have a seed named after our provincial health officer . I use coir a lot but didn’t realize the chemicals being used to help separate fibers. Go team! Great video .

coco coir is a godsend for growing cannabis

This could be the most information laden video I have ever watched. Thank you. Both positive and negative for each option. I don’t see that very often.

*Thank you so much KEVIN & CHRIS for the information you give us are very important, I like this course, happy gardeniiiiiiing*

I like the break down but I wish there was more of a conclusion of what would be the best practice for different applications

I switched to fine pine bark early last year and I haven't had any problems. If anything I've noticed my plants being generally happier. I imagine the only plants that would struggle are ones that don't like acidic soil.

Great find in Chris! She is very easy to listen to and very knowledgeable too!

Chris is fantastic, so excited to see more of her on your channel. It's nice to include a very different climate from San Diego (mostly because I'm in Vancouver too)!

I'm experimenting with homemade leaf mold this year. Currently mixing it about 50-50 with coir, but hoping to experiment with higher LM percentages in the future.

Tuli, This is an excellent and interesting video. Thank you for sharing. Now l know! Who would have known.

I'm so excited to see more videos from our lovely new hostess

I use coconut coir. It may not be perfect, but it is better than peat moss in my opinion. I mix it with my homemade compost and shredded dead leaves to extend my seed starting mix and for bulking up my raised bed levels.

Thank you for making this video! Good to hear the conversation about the impacts of peat mining happening in US/Canada, too. I've been seeking out peat-free potting soil for the last few years, and it turns out you can find the good stuff even at Walmart, it offers such products as BeyondPeat Professional Organics potting mix. Works great.

Living in coastal California, my whole gardening experience is basically just trying to keep my plants from staying TOO wet due to the humidity in the air, so coco coir is definitely the option I prefer. I've got everything in grow bags, just like, please, PLEASE dry out, I'm begging you. Plus, growing a lot of desert plants, I water so infrequently, that the top of my soil can easily form a thin hydrophobic crust well before the inside of the pot dries out. So that's another reason I try to stay away from peat. The environmental stuff is a major concern, and I hope I can find a truly unproblematic peat alternative one day, but for now, coco coir seems to be... less bad, at least.

For about 30 years I used to only in ground garden...then the hype of raised beds sucked me into that... after 4 years of large raised beds and still growing in ground, it is a no contest for me to realize that in ground gardening is the overall best way for me to garden! I live in zone 3, a short growing season, but plenty long enough to grow more than enough food for fresh and storing! Basically mother nature does it all for me! SO MUCH EASIER AND CHEAPER!! I do all I can to compost and getting as many chip drops as I can to cover the soil for free. So if u can, save yourself all the headache of researching which is best and drastically limit it! Then just know if u do ur part to help mother nature, it takes care of all the science and expense for u 🤗👍👍💪💪

Gosh beginner gardener here and I do want to be more conscientious of what I’ll be using. This is going to be quite the learning process. Thank you!

Interesting. As a gardener that lives in the philippines and started gardening during the pandemic i was introduced to coco peat and coir before even knowing what peat moss is lmao. I really thought coco peat and peat moss is the same. Coco peats are so readily available here and cheap that if i have extras when planting i add them to my compost bin haha. My mom also breeds aquarium fishes so i get my water from her aquariums hahaha

yes! Thank you Kevin and Chris for bringing this environmental issue to light. In the UK peat moss is a HUGE no no and it seems like everyone here in the US relies on it so heavily it so upsetting. We need to make people more aware of the environmental impact of intensely harvesting these precious bogs.

It’s always good practice to be more mindful of what we used and how much we use. Don’t over purchase, if possible, and utilize what you already have.

Another thing to consider is where you live relative to where the materials come from. If you have to ship coco coir from SE Asia to Canada, that is going to take much more fuel than getting peat made closer to home.

This was really interesting! Here in the uk peat based mixes are still by far the cheapest and easiest to find but I’ve got some interesting alternatives - last year I used a wool based one which worked ok, and this year I’ve got a mix made from the by products of bio-gas production. Hopefully these sorts of things will become cheaper and more widely available in the future.

I hope that increased interest in peat alternatives and coir makes the alternatives more sustainable. Processing and shipping coir can for sure be majorly improved. Once that happens coir and other alternatives will be much more viable options to replace peat which i feel really does need to be replaced. Bogs are hugely important eco systems and we cannot sacrifice them

Wow, way to drop some awesome knowledge Chris. Didn't know my country sources that much peat for the whole world! I thought I was watching a documentary, so informative.

For anyone living near lots of leafy trees, I suggest gathering the autumn leaf litter and making leaf mold. Other than gathering, it's an entirely passive manufacturing process, though it does take some water, time and space. It might not be the following spring after you gather your first leaves that you'll be using them, but as long as you're not taking all or the majority of the leaves from under any one tree, it's pretty sustainable (gutters, anyone?). I don't suggest taking the leaf mold that has formed under any trees, because they need it, and it can be full of weed seeds and bugs that you may not want (but mostly because the tree needs it). It doesn't drain well, so mix it with a little sand

when it comes to some companies, they will use peatmoss in any compost mixes solf outside of california. It is very hard to find a mix without it included that doesnt also indluce fineprint saying "does not include peat moss/will include compost if sold in california"

thank you for the great educational video!

I'll say that I've been able to start seeds in coir with those new self watering trays because of the large water reservoir. That worked really well :)

I LOVE CHRIS!!!! Such a great addition!!!

Great video. Very detailed and easily to listen to. Love the addition of Chris! Especially since she is up North, as I am in a colder zone as well. Any plans on expanding to the East coast ;)

Could we reuse old soil and add compost, tree bark from local areas, worm castings, perlite and some other nutrients to revive the used soil ? If so is there a video so I could learn

I’m SO GLAD y’all actually made this video, bc I’ve been using both and I much prefer coco coir

I live in Texas and I use a potting soil brand that's made in Texas. The brand is called Landscaper's Pride and instead of peat or coir, the mix has composted pine bark. I really like this mix because it uses local materials meaning not a lot of fossil fuels are used and the company plants trees after cutting the ones used for the soil.

I appreciate the solutions offered here but coir is still flown in on planes burning fuel, packaged in plastic bags, producing huge mono culture coconut farms. Seems to truly have a sustainable medium we have to learn the importance of soil and what it houses, mainly the beneficial microorganisms making the nutrients available to your plants. Peat and coir are organic substrates but not very biologically active without inputs. Bummer about Canadian bogs but even bigger bummer on the less developed third world countries we are getting coir from. Peat is also very accessible to lower income people despite its destructive harvesting practices, I’ve yet to find well priced coir bricks or bags, heck i even shell for the premium Down To Earth stuff but its pricey and scarce. The pitfalls of trying to be a conscious gardener / grower.

It’s also crazy to me that peat moss is the cheapest soil product. At least here in Toronto

Thank you so much both of you! And a big warm welcome to Chris! Looking forward to more videos!

Chris! What a garden correspondent!!!!

We as humans sure can damage and destroy our planet. What Mother Earth has taken thousands of years to do takes man practically overnight to undo. Makes me think of the rainforests. 😢. This young woman really knows her stuff and she made it very interesting. Thank you for another great video. Ps. Follow up please if you find a substitute. TY.

First to comment. Watching you from Ghana 🇬🇭. Helloooooo

The last two years I've tried starting my superhot peppers indoors in a mix of coir, compost, and perlite. They grew fairly well but all displayed signs of severe calcium deficiency. This wasn't something I experienced in years past when I was starting plants in peat-based media. I came to find out that coir should be buffered before use, as the excess sodium and potassium in the coir can cause calcium lockout. It's a pretty straightforward process but it's something to be aware of if your plants are performing as you would usually expect. I'd suggest either buffering or regular application of cal/mag if growing in coir.

I've got educated. Thank you. I'm going to continue using peat moss for gardening, and coir for bonsai. The amount I use is very little compared to others.

I decided to use peat for my seed starts this year, bc I already had a massive block of it ($6) from last year. Last year I used Coco coir for the starts. I'm having much better germination this year in the peat. 🙃 For me the factor is price. Getting as much coir is more expensive. The bag of peat says "from sustainable bog" or something like that - what does that mean? Is it a lie?

Is there an alternative to both products? What happens to the salinated water from the coir harvesting. Do they just dump it down a drain or is it boiled away and the salts put back in the sea?

I was already aware of the issues with peat, as I work at FAO where it's widely discussed, but I wrote a paper about it for my masters degree last year. In my opinion governments need to make a blanket ban on peat extraction. In the UK they tried to do a kind of 'honour system' where retailers were supposed to voluntarily phase out peat... and it totally and utterly failed. In the UK there are now some interesting options made with sheep wool and bracken. I live in Italy, where it's really hard to find peat free compost...I'm trying to increase the amount of compost we can make, but this year I used coconut coir and mixed it with worm castings and perlite. I think despite the environmental issues of coir, it's definitely better than peat. Peat ecosystems are just too valuable.

Fantastic and thanks for sharing! I gave up on peat moss for my bonsai mixes years ago after some soil tests. I decided to only use sifted pine bark as my organic media, and it works great for my needs. However, there several people beginning to use coir for the sole reason that bonsai generally don't like wet feet. Anecdotally, it sounds promising. And on the subject of bonsai & wet feet, it's yet another reason I don't use peat, just as you mentioned. Because we let our bonsai soils dry out some to avoid overwatering, the hydrophobic properties of dry peat become more apparent, and this becomes a huge problem when a dead zone is created below the trunk. If you're curious on that soil test, I did a video in 2017 about it. There are 14 different media tested (4 organic, 10 inorganic) - all commonly used in bonsai, but several that you find in hydroponics or gardening. I'm a hobbyist, but I tried to be as thorough as I could. Thanks for being EPIC, you all!!

I'll stick to peat. I've heard/read that it is sustainable and there is enough of it. It's inexpensive, which is great on my budget, and it really lightens the soil.