Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 18:32:56 +0200 (METDST) From: Eric Schlosser <Eric.Schlosser@urz.uni-heidelberg.de> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1737$foo@default> Subject: Re: NZ Sphagnum, Thanks
Hi everyone,
since the sphagnum topic is flowerishing and no one pointed it out yet
here a little reminder:
All right, sphagnum is a great stuff for growing CP's: It keeps the
potting mixtures aerated, living sphagnum actively regulates the pH of the
water, it suppresses growth of fungi of algae, it indicates the moisture
level by its colour and last not least it is very pretty (especially the
red kind, that commonly looses the colour in cultivation).
Of course sphagnum can yield also some problems: Dried sphagnum can
host fungi (e.g. Sporothrix schenckii) that can make you very sick if you
handle it and have an open wound (Sporotrichosis). Like growing many
other plants it can get sick itself and turn into an unhealthy slimy muck.
It needs the right conditions (light, water..) to be kept alive and when
it grows well, it will easily outgrow and kill many smaller plants -that's
how it competes in nature.
Few species can compete with thriving sphagnum. Drosera rotundifolia can
keep up with the growing pace but will grow much nicer on bare
peat. Pinguicula villosa is one of the few species that grows kind of
epiphytically on sphagnum. But seriously, who grows P.villosa?
You don't need sphagnum to grow CP's successfully!
While Nepenthes and Sarracenia will grow in areas where you will also find
sphagnum they usually don't grow in Sphagnum. Check out the latest article
on Laterite as a growing media in the latest ICPN edition. There are lots
of other growing media well described and tested in many books dealing
with growing CPs that can be used to grow CP's successfully. And they are
produced with less destruction of the natural habitat of many rare plants:
Sand, pine bark, pine needles, Perlite, clay pebbles, seed shells,
etc. and well ok peat.
Again for CPs the best peat is old (but not too old) dead sphagnum. The
production of peat for horticulture and fuel is the main reason for the
destruction of what is left of nature in Scandinavia, Germany, New
Zealand, Canada, the US and lately the baltic states, Poland, Russia and
Chile (etc.).
If you care about conservation try to minimize the use of peat too.
There is one noticable difference between the production of sphagnum and
peat : To harvest sphagnum actively, healthily growing bogs are needed and
only the uppermost 1 inch is stripped off. To get your bale of sphagnum
huge areas are destroyed. Even if the wetlands get the chance to recover
the more evolved plants and animals won't be coming back too soon. It is
likely that the harvest doesn't stop at the depth of 1 inch.
For the production of peat the deeper layers of the bog are removed. To
do that the wetland needs to be drained. The accumulation of the peat can
be immense. The deeper you dig the older the material (up to 10000 years)
and the more advanced the decomposition. Of course if the drainage
ditches are closed again, the bog can regrow with rejuvenated
activity. This is however not common and often there are no bogs
left around to repopulate the site.
The difference is the amount of destruction and that already dead bogs can
be used to produce peat without adding to the destruction of living bogs.
Sure, I use sphagnum too to grow CP's. However I haven't bought any for
many many years. I reduced the use to what I feel is beneficial and to how
much I have spare. Not because I need it. Surplus is trimmed from pots in
which sphagnum thrives along with some CP's.
Just give it a thought.
Eric
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