PEATBALLS

[Eugene]

So I saw a youtube  video on peat balls from England   Tyne Aquatics  looks reallly good  cause balls  last alooooong time.There is a major peat bog west of Edmonton that is sourced by a distibuter  but wondering has anyone ever tried theses or tried  getting the real black mucky peat anywhere which is full of tannins  and lowers ph?

[biodives]

There are bogs fed by groundwater and bogs fed by rainwater. The former are not low pH and are what you find in most of Alberta. The latter are acidic and I believe are found in the North East of the province only. I get pure organic peat from a local garden store (All Seasons Gardens on 81Ave and about 100-101St). That bring RO water pH down to 4.5 when the peat is fresh. I just dump some in a garbage bin and stir occasional. In weekends I siphon it off for water changes. I can re-use the peat several times unit the pH won't go below 5.5 and then I replace with fresh peat. One bag of peat will last me probably half a year or so. The old peat you can use in your garden if you want to grow blueberries or other plants that like some acidity, or you can add lime to neutralize before use in your garden.

PS: if you try to do anything while using tap water I think your bound for frustration

[Eugene]

The peat balls I'm talkin about are still good after 6months

[biodives]

What does it mean that they are still good? They will still be there and release some tannins and acid but if you want to go to very low pH then the peach loses it's punch over time even when using RO water. In the Netherlands they used to harvest lots of "peat bricks" to heat homes in centuries past. I had some in the 70's for use in tanks but haven't seen any in ages.