Compost establishes growing media pH similar to limestone
Monday, November 28, 2016 - 16:01
in Physics & Chemistry
As concerns increase about the environmental impacts of harvesting peat and the rising costs of peatmoss used as a growing substrate, researchers are seeking feasible alternatives. Compost can be used as a replacement for peatmoss, but issues such as phytotoxicity, high concentration of heavy metals, chemical carry over, high salts, and high pH have limited its use in the industry. The authors of a study in the September 2016 issue of HortScience studied the pH buffering capacity of substrates produced with compost and found that compost can be used to establish growing substrate pH similar to limestone, with "little to no effect on pH buffering capacity."