Why is peat used in horticulture?

Peat started to become popular with the rise of the garden centre.  Whereas people used to buy bare root plants from nurseries (often wrapped in newspaper) at certain times of year, garden centres found that if they put a plant in a container, they could sell it at any time of year. This greatly increased their sales potential and peat turned out to be the ideal medium for container growing.

Plant nursery

Peat has the following properties that make it so attractive for container growing:

  • It is a 'blank canvas' which manufacturers like as it gives them precise control when creating products.
  • Low in nutrients – this makes it easy to control the nutrient content by adding controlled release fertilisers
  • Low in pH (around 4.5) – this makes it easy to control the pH by adding lime
  • Cheap and readily available
  • Inert - it doesn't break down so can be stored without degrading before it is sold
  • Consistent - it doesn't vary between batches, so gardeners and growers know what to expect
  • Free of pests and diseases
  • Low weight – this makes it easy to transport and carry