3 ms·

If you're growing the herbs in planters, it pays to use a custom potting mix that is 1 part peat moss, 1 part compost, and 1 part vermiculite. It eliminates mos

If you're growing the herbs in planters, it pays to use a custom potting mix that is 1 part peat moss, 1 part compost, and 1 part vermiculite. It eliminates most risk of heavy metals and provides a very light and fluffy medium with lots of aeration and water retention.

pixl97 3y ago
Honestly the water retention alone is more than worth the soil costs with the potting mix. Many herbs can be very sensitive to water/heat and good control here allows the plants to grow much larger and more resilient.
- jamal-kumar 3y ago
  So I haven't been keeping on top of this so please correct me if I'm wrong anywhere, but what I've seen to get around this in some experimental hydroponic designs is using piezoelectric ultrasound emitters to make a fog that plant roots hang into, keeping them at a certain level of humidity. The issue I recall they encountered was that the roots ended up making these dendrites that kind of went nowhere and it inhibited growth. I wonder if they've come up with some kind of hybrid method at this point which solves any of these problems because that sounds like a pretty good use case for that kind of technology if water retention is important. I think I saw something like this at a ritz grocery store in California growing basil somewhere but it didn't really look like it was making the best basil I've ever seen or anything, and I didn't really look that hard to see how it worked but it did look a little foggy in there.
cameronh90 3y ago
As fantastic as peat moss is, I have to recommend considering an alternative. Peat moss isn't sustainable, and at least in Europe, we don't have too many peat bogs left now. Coco coir is my favourite peat moss alternative, but as it's sterile, you do need to use a bit more organic matter or add some leachate/"compost tea".
- jamal-kumar 3y ago
  Thanks for the tip that's something I can get out of my backyard haha

pixl97 3y ago

Honestly the water retention alone is more than worth the soil costs with the potting mix. Many herbs can be very sensitive to water/heat and good control here allows the plants to grow much larger and more resilient.

jamal-kumar 3y ago
So I haven't been keeping on top of this so please correct me if I'm wrong anywhere, but what I've seen to get around this in some experimental hydroponic designs is using piezoelectric ultrasound emitters to make a fog that plant roots hang into, keeping them at a certain level of humidity. The issue I recall they encountered was that the roots ended up making these dendrites that kind of went nowhere and it inhibited growth. I wonder if they've come up with some kind of hybrid method at this point which solves any of these problems because that sounds like a pretty good use case for that kind of technology if water retention is important. I think I saw something like this at a ritz grocery store in California growing basil somewhere but it didn't really look like it was making the best basil I've ever seen or anything, and I didn't really look that hard to see how it worked but it did look a little foggy in there.

cameronh90 3y ago

As fantastic as peat moss is, I have to recommend considering an alternative. Peat moss isn't sustainable, and at least in Europe, we don't have too many peat bogs left now. Coco coir is my favourite peat moss alternative, but as it's sterile, you do need to use a bit more organic matter or add some leachate/"compost tea".

jamal-kumar 3y ago
Thanks for the tip that's something I can get out of my backyard haha