What Not to Use as a Substitute Scientists consider peat bogs to be as fragile and important as the rainforests. Thus, exploiting this valuable flora possesses a valid concern.

Coir is the outer fibrous husk of the coconut, which is often used to make mats and ropes. During this process, these fibers are stripped out of their pulp. This waste matter can then be used as a replacement for peat moss. You will find coir compressed in small bricks and blocks; these are generally compressed and will expand once moistened. They are ideal for almost any type of plants including heavy feeders such as tomatoes and roses. Compost is also called black gold as it boosts the tilth of the soil. It supplies the soil with most of the nutrients it needs, while attracting earthworms and other microorganisms that are beneficial to the soil, enriching it along the way. You can easily find packaged bags of compost at any nursery. Food by-products are the leftover materials from different ingredients. They come from different ingredients, viz., coco peat, cottonseed, rice, peanut, or corn. They make ideal cottonseed meal, rice hulls, peanut, or ground corn cobs, which can be used as alternatives to peat moss. Rice hulls, for example, are the thin skin off the rice grain, which is extracted during the hull process. They are used on their own or added to potting mixes to lighten the soil. They aid to drain away excess water, while allowing adequate water retention. These too can be found at your local nursery. Mix the rice husks along with compressed coir to get good results. Why let garden waste such as leaves of pine needles, barks of old trees, branches, etc. go to waste when you can make a very good peat moss replacement out of them? The best part about this substitute is that you can make it at home. All you've got to do is shred the leaves by running a lawnmower over them. Tearing the leaves into bits helps them breakdown into humus faster. Pine needles mulch too helps in amending the soil, while feeding it with beneficial acids that flowering plants such as lilies, marigolds, and rhododendrons thrive on. Horse and dairy manure work miracles on plants when mixed with the bedding. Manure is rich in nitrogen and infused with the fodder, such as alfalfa and salts, that is fed to the animals, further enriching and amending the soil.