Baja_Costero said:As an alternative to peat for various purposes, coir (coconut fiber) is both better ecologically (it's essentially a waste product from coconut production) and less susceptible to the objectionable water repellent behavior of bone dry peat. ... Coir has a much longer lifespan compared to normal compost and can absorb about 5 times its weight in water, which is a useful thing in our dry climate.
Another alternative to peat or sphagnum is shredded bark, especially conifer bark like pine, fir or balsam.
Bark lasts MUCH longer than peat, and longer than sawdust or wood chips the same size as bark. The suberin in conifer bark preserves it longer than wood. bark also has a little N, unlike sawdust or wood chips, so it causes less or no nitrogen deficit when bark fines are tilled into soil.
Bark fines (shredded down to fibers and powder) hold a lot of water, and don't repel water when dry. They break down after a few years (longer for bark chunks) and add their organic matter to the soil.
Bark shreds and chunks larger than 0.1 inch improve drainage and reduce or eliminate perched water in containers by creating air spaces large enough to drain out freely, so that they fill with air, and become "diffusion highways" to allow air to diffuse into soil (and therefor improve aeration).
