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Message |
    
Fosfool
| | Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 11:08 pm EST : |   
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What is the difference between....
(In what they are and what they provide, please!!)
Compost
Humus
&Peat
***********
Perlite &
Vermiculite
Does vermiculite cause asbestosis/cancer if inhaled?
What is an eco-friendly substitute for peat?
Fosfool WV Zone 6 |
Gardenshowlady
| | Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 02:25 am EST : |
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Peat is an 'inert' form of organic material that doesn't supply much of anything.
I guess I would call it 'fluff'.
Compost is partly decomposed organic matter that supplies a wide range of micro and macro nutrients along w/ the bacteria that can convert the nutrients to a plant-available form and break those organics down to humus, which is what gives your mineral soil the 'tilth', and particularly the water retaining capacity
that allows everything to work best
[humus also = precursor of humic acid and the stuff that makes rich compost black]
Humus is the end product of the compost process - organic material that doesn't 'reduce' much further, and is what makes for healthy loam.
Compost is the substitute for peat and it makes for a healthier soil.
Perlite is rapidly heated volcanic rock & Vermiculite is expanded mica (kinda like popcorn) - both
are mined and processed minerals that don't supply much but texture.
They prolly aren't worth the money for use in the ground, but can be useful in containers [not sure about the inhalation..., but surely not good!]
HTH....
sorry for the delay in a reply.
Do you have compost started?
Gardenshowlady
- Carolina Lowcountry,
Zone "8b"
|
Kniceone
My Garden Journal
My Weather
| | Posted on Thursday, June 24, 2004 - 01:00 am EST : |
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Peat is a water retainer as are perlite and vermiculite. Perlite and vermiculite also take up space and provide oxygen pockets in your soil for healthy roots.
Jodi, ONT, Z4, Great White North
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