PEAT AS A SOIL MIXTURE
PEAT AS A SOIL MIXTURE FOR MESCALINE CACTI
PROPERTIES OF PEAT
Peat has many properties that allow Mescaline Cacti and other plants to grow and flower well.
1. Peat holds water and nutrients well
The roots of Mescaline Cacti can absorb water and nutrients for a longer period of time.
The higher temperatures when cultivating Mescaline Cacti ensure that excess water evaporates in time.
2. Peat contains a lot of air
Even water-saturated peat still contains a lot of air containing Oxygen.
The roots of Cacti absorb the element Oxygen from the surrounding air in the soil (oxygenation).
3. Peat reacts acidically (pH = 3)
The acidity of pure natural unprocessed peat is about pH=3.
Peat with pH=3 is not suitable as seed soil or cultivation soil for Cacti and other plants.
Pure peat can be made less acidic to the desired acidity with a little lime.
Most plants prefer slightly acidic soil (acidity of pH = 5 - 7).
In soil with pH = 5 - 7, the positive ions of the nutrients are more easily released from the peat.
4. Peat buffers excess nutrients.
Peat and peat fibres retain certain positive ions so that they are not released directly into the water.
When there is a fertiliser surplus, peat absorbs a large part of the fertiliser.
The roots of Cacti then come into contact with a lower concentration of fertiliser,
thus reducing the risk of damage.
The peat fibres thus buffer excess nutrients and acid, reducing damage to the roots.
Other substrates such as rocks have little or no such buffering effect.
Fertiliser dosing must therefore be done very accurately with rock as a substrate.
Acidity should also be measured regularly.
5. Peat hardly contains any nutrients
Useful because you know exactly how many nutrients peat contains - none.
So you know exactly which fertilisers and how much you need to fertilise, namely everything!
6. Peat is practically sterile
Peat does not contain living plant and animal micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and moulds.
The risk of infection by these organisms in peat is therefore minimal.
Coco soil, potting soil, compost and forest soil contain many more micro-organisms that can cause infections.
Find more information on soil mixtures here.
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NATURAL PEAT
Natural Peat intro
Peat consists of decayed sterile plant remains and is extracted from peat bogs in nature.
Peat comes from Scandinavia (Sweden, Finland), the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia), and Ireland.
Peat is widely used as a base or additive for soil mixtures for growing plants.
Peat can be bought in many types: fine, normal, coarse, sifted without lumps, peat dust, garden peat, fertilised peat for horticulture.
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POSSIBILITIES OF USING PEAT
1. Types of possibilities of using peat
1. Sifting out peat in different lengths of peat fibres.
A homogeneous mixture without lumps, lumps, twigs arises.
Each size of peat fibre has certain properties that are useful in certain conditions.
1.1 Fine screened out peat provides fine peat fibres and is used as sowing soil for all plants.
Find more info on sowing soil here .
1.2 Normally sieved peat gives medium length peat fibres and can be used as potting soil for Cacti and Houseplants.
1.3 Coarsely sieved peat contains large peat particles and chunks.
These chunks are applied to loosen and aerate the compact structure of garden soil.
2. Additives to peat
2. Addition of Lime for proper acidity (pH).
Peat is originally too acidic for Cacti, Succulents and Houseplants (pH=3).
By adding a little lime, the peat becomes less acidic (pH value of 5 to 7).
It is precisely with this level of acidity that Cacti and other plants grow well.
Find more information on cactus soil here.
3. Adding a basic fertiliser to get the right amount of nutrients.
By adding a basic fertiliser to the peat, the peat soil contains sufficient nutrients.
So after repotting, your Mescaline Cacti can immediately absorb nutrients and continue to grow.
Find more info on Cactus fertiliser here.
4. Supplement with lava meal (lava powder) for extra minerals.
Lava meal contains many natural minerals.
Minerals have a strengthening effect on Mescaline Cacti, Cacti and other plants.
Lava meal is much finer, easier to process and more absorbable than e.g. lumps of clay.
Peat naturally contains almost no minerals, so supplementing with lava meal or clay is important.
Find out more about lava meal here.
5. Supplementing with Perlite
Perlite makes any potting soil lighter and its structure looser.
The soil contains more air and the roots grow more easily through the loose soil.
Here you can find more information on Perlite.
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