Is pittmoss a replacement for peatmoss?

Hi All,
There have been concerns about using peatmoss, so people started switched to coco coir. There have been concerns about coco coir, and now I hear of people switching to pittmoss. I just finished listening to a Joe Gardener podcast on Pittmoss, and it sounds promising, though I have not dug into it yet. This is a manufactured product using organic paper sources to create a peat free growing medium.

Is anyone familiar with this product? Could this be an alternative to peatmoss and coco coir? I'm wondering how it would do with soil blocks. I recall a couple people here on Permies were looking for ways to make soil blocks without peatmoss. Maybe this is it?

Podcast - https://joegardener.com/podcast/pittmoss-charles-bethke/
Wesbite - https://pittmoss.com/

How exciting!

I was unaware of this product, but I would be curious to see what/how they start the process into making Pitmoss. I browsed their website and their use of the term 'organic' seems to be a little free and loose. I'll hold my judgement for now but if anybody finds information on their production process I might be able to chime in with some papermaking knowledge.

I've seen promotion of wool pellets (and also mats of felted wool, and fleece in general) for gardening use in part as a peat moss alternative. There's lots of wool that goes to waste from sheep bred more for meat and dairy purposes, and the dirtiest parts of any sheep. The wool pellets are a particularly good use of the dirty bits (extra nutrients from plant matter and sheep poop) and get heat treated as part of the process to kill any weed seeds and pathogens.

Some Canadian producers are linked here: https://www.canadianwool.org/general-6-1

You can get low grade sheep fleeces for free or cheap if you can pick it up from a sheep farmer - sometimes they resort to burning them. Or if you know someone who spins (or felts) and starts with raw fleeces you could ask them to save the bits that they "skirt" out.

Hi, I'm the manager of research and development at PittMoss, Maggie Cullinan. I wanted to respond to Timothy about our production process, specifically.

Our process begins with strict feedstock QC procedures to make sure that all the materials coming into the factory are uncontaminated and suitable for our production process in terms of their chemical and physical properties. We pay special attention to any glues, coatings, and inks that may be present. Many of these things are starch-, clay-, or plant-based, but we are careful all the same. I'm actually working on some new feedstock QA paperwork right now. It is important to note that we do use recycled materials and are a small business manufacturing everything by hand, so sometimes tiny bits of tape make their way into our final product if they are embedded in otherwise clean feedstock bales. We do everything we can to avoid this, but until we can afford equipment upgrades, we are stuck removing any stuck-on tape by hand. Like I said, plastic contamination is rare, but it can happen, so I don't want anyone to think that a small amount of plastic in one bag is reflective of our whole production.

The feedstock then undergoes our patented process, which involves fiberization and mixing. For our certified organic products, only OMRI-certified additives are used. ORMI is a very strict process requiring months of review and certification. Additionally, our OMRI-certified organic products are composted in accordance with (actually exceeding) OMRI standards, as uncomposted paper is not OMRI-certified for use in potting soils. Given the number of headaches that have resulted from the certification of two of our products as organic, I would argue that our use of the word is not loose, rather it's well-earned

Personally, I work for PittMoss because I believe in the importance of growing peat-free. I don't think that there is "one product to rule them all," so to speak, but I think PittMoss is a great (and slightly more affordable) option for people looking to experiment with peat-free options. We have many native and woody plant growers using our products, and I, personally, use them for all of my seed starting and winter sowing for both my vegetables and natives. I don't soil block, but others have done soil blocking with our products with success. I would love to hear about any new soil blocking attempts with our products.

I am a scientist before anything, so I want to hear about all experiences with our products, negative and positive. Our products work with most, but not all, growing systems, techniques, and styles, but we are constantly working to make them better. Our mission--reducing reliance on peat moss--really is greater than our company, so anything that gets us closer to the that goal (including mixing our products with peat-based products to reduce the peat percentage) is great.

Seriously, if you have any questions, concerns, or other thoughts to share, please get in touch. You can reach me at maggie.pittmoss@gmail.com. Timothy, if you're so willing, I would love to pick your brain about papermaking processes. Like I said, we take QA very seriously, and I am trying to learn as much as I can about various papermaking processes to further expand our knowledge about the feedstock materials we may encounter to make our products better and cleaner.

Margaret Cullinan wrote:Hi, I'm the manager of research and development at PittMoss, Maggie Cullinan.

Welcome to Permies, Maggie!  Thanks for the detailed explanation of your process, and for your willingness to engage on this subject.

You'll find that "better than organic" is a theme and goal here, though I can't claim to have yet attained that, myself. "But, I press on toward the mark of the high calling...", as St. Paul expressed it - I'm a a work in progress!

Again, welcome, and thanks for a great first post here on Permies.

Kevin

Kevin Olson wrote:

You'll find that "better than organic" is a theme and goal here, though I can't claim to have yet attained that, myself. "But, I press on toward the mark of the high calling...", as St. Paul expressed it - I'm a a work in progress!

Hey Kevin,

Of course! I'm happy to engage, and I'm happy that "better than organic" is a unifying principle here. As a soil scientist, I'm familiar with dubious claims about things being "organic" and how the word "organic" does not always connotate "safe," "beneficial," or "natural," which is often what it's used to imply.

We, too, strive to be "better than organic," and we care a lot about ensuring that what we produce is not just safe and good, but directly contributes to the betterment of our shared planet. We're also a work in progress, but we believe in not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Rather, we do things as perfectly as we can until we can do them as perfectly as they can be done.

I also believe that "every man is my superior in that I may learn from him," so I'm always happy to learn from the experiences from others! Hopefully, the people on this forum will take that seriously and share their experiences with me.

Thanks for letting me contribute here!

L Gaudette wrote:
You can get low grade sheep fleeces for free or cheap if you can pick it up from a sheep farmer - sometimes they resort to burning them. Or if you know someone who spins (or felts) and starts with raw fleeces you could ask them to save the bits that they "skirt" out.

Unless we are already using them in our garden... not just the wool as mulch but soaking water also goes into the garden since there is no soap in it.   Wry grin living in Wyoming all local fleeces get soaked in cold water for 12 to 24 hours just to let the dirt settle out.  Some are so bad that I have repeated the soaking process up to 3 times before actually washing them.

@Margaret
It is great to hear from someone at the company. I especially like to hear about the passion to provide a great product. And I also like that you are going forward with what you can, even if it is not perfect, because it is still better than before.

Margaret Cullinan wrote: so I want to hear about all experiences with our products, negative and positive. Our products work with most, but not all, growing systems, techniques, and styles, but we are constantly working to make them better.

I'm about done for seed starting this year, but I will be trying some in soil blocks next year, thanks to your response here.