permaculture Eliot Coleman’s seed starting mixture | Permaculture Blog

I've never used peat moss or coir personally, I use straight compost and am experimenting with various things like biochar, which should have some of the same qualities as peat moss. I'd like to hear from people who do aquaponics using soil, and what combinations they use for that. If one did use coir, I would assume one would check sources and get it from the most sustainable source possible. The reasoning behind sustainability of coir is that it is a "waste" product in an already existing industry, unlike peat moss, which is mined from bogs.
Leaves are pretty ubiquitous – does anyone know to what degree they hold moisture and nutrients and how broken down they need to be? What else could be used? I've used Spanish moss as a mulch in our area – it is all over the place, and holds moisture in the soil when used as a top mulch. C

— On Sat, 4/9/11, Norris Thomlinson wrote:

From: Norris Thomlinson
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Eliot Coleman's seed starting mixture To: "permaculture"
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011, 9:51 AM

I've used leaf mold instead of peat moss, and it seemed to work well. My city delivered a *huge* truck load of leaves for free in the autumn. I moved the leaves to a shady unused corner of the back yard and let them sit for 18 months, adding urine occasionally. Requires advance planning due to the long break-down time, but otherwise a good solution, especially if you have free access to other people's "waste" leaves.

Norris
Portland, OR
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