Seaweed is perfect peat replacement

THE use of peat in home gardens is to be discontinued in two years.

This means that there will be no peat allowed in any compost used by the home gardener.

While such a move has been muted in the past, it has been rescinded a couple of times.

At a recent seminar by the members of Gourock Horticultural Society members discussed the options of various composts and growing mediums and those attending acknowledged that peat-free composts were not generally good for germination.

They took the problems on board and some very good options were offered by them. One was to use seaweed and mix it with other ingredients of peat-free products.

Sounds like a great idea but if opting to use seaweed it is vital to wash it well to remove salt and make sure there is no oil in the seaweed.

Seaweed contains lots of beneficial trace elements.