You can boil the dry peatmoss before using it. This causes the moss to
rapidly suck up water. I use a 12 quart stock pot for this. Usually
1/2 pot of dry peat plus enough water to float the peat to within 3" or
so of the top of the pot works well. The peat is fully water-logged by
the time the water boils.
-- Oleg Kiselev oleg@veritas.com VERITAS Software ...!{apple|uunet}!veritas!oleg (408)727-1222x586