A Peat Moss Alternative with Mont Handley

This Week's Podcast: A Replay: All the News that's Fit to Plant — Mont Handley

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Since you are a listener to this radio show and podcast, you know I often rail against the promotion and use of peat moss in the garden. And you’ll join me if you care about the environment; if you are interested in archeology and anthropology; if you want to grow healthy plants; if you care about saving energy, recycling, and water conservation; if you worry about the release of greenhouse gasses; if you care about habitat loss and the plants and animals that go with that…well, if you are a living, breathing intelligent human, you too will be interested in alternatives to peat moss.
Bedding plants, annuals and vegetables, are usually grown for sale by commercial greenhouses in a “peat-lite” mix (sphagnum peat moss, perlite and/or vermiculite). Mont Handley has introduced “PittMoss” to industry growers in the Pittsburgh area as a way to grow plants for sale and also be environmentally conscientious. He now has twice as many orders than he can fill for his recycled-paper-based medium.
On this week’s show, Mont tells us about his venture and his hopes to replace peat moss in horticulture.
(Photos: top, paper-based PittMoss; right, observing impatiens grown in a medium using PittMoss as an amendment.) Learn more at the PittMoss site.