GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO TRY SOME NEW CACTUS, SUCCULENTS AND BEGONIAS!

BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH

Going to be ecumenical today. Great plants for both sun and shade in Houston area gardens.
     * For shade, hard to beat begonias.
     * For our droughts, cactus and succulents can be our best friends.

If you're new to this area, the array of begonias that are perennials here in our gardens will probably come as a surprise. They aren't just little container plantings. They are lovely shrubs that thrive and bloom. The trick with begonias is to buy them from folks who know which varieties do well here and which don't.

Great opportunity coming up this weekend. An American Begonia Society Judged Show and Sale will be held at the Sheraton Brookhollow Hotel, 3000 North Loop West (details: 713-686-8539).

Among the great begonias for sale will be, (above left to right), ''Down Home,' 'Peach Parfait' and 'Lots of Dots.'  And, below, l to r, 'Flo Belle Mosley.' 'Flutterby,' 'Blueberry Sorbet' and 'Black Fancy.'

We have a number of American Begonia Society branches in this area, including:

   * Astro Branch (begoniahouston.org)

   * Houston Satellite Branch (Houstonsatellite@begonias.org)

   * San Jacinto Branch (absastro.tripod.com)

Now that we have shade covered, let's move on to cacti and succulents - ideal plants for our bouts of extreme drought.

Know the difference between cacti and succulents? Almost all cacti are succulents. But not all succulents are cacti.

"Succulents" covers a wide variety of plants almost the world over with the ability to store plants.

Cacti originated in the Americas. Aztec Indians founded the capital of their empire on a spot where they saw an eagle perched on top of a large cactus. That scene is now on the flag of Mexico.

Who else would tell you these things?

Of course, the real attraction of these fabulous plants is their sculptural shapes and incredibly vividly colored flowers. And, more importantly, how do we get our hands on some!

First a caution. These are low-water plants. Low-water is a gift from heaven during our droughts.

But we have had tremendous rainfall lately - not an unusual situation in our subtropical pocket. And, as Dee in the Heights sadly discovered, when our monsoons come, cacti and succulents may need a little extra oversight.

In the case of succulents like the desert rose, above, this may mean lifting up that pot so air can circulate around the pot's bottom drain hole. If water collects in the soil, roots will be damaged resulting in rot.

Dee, a Heights gardener, sent in the picture at center of the rot she found at the base of her prized desert rose, a succulent prized for its swollen branches and stunning flowers. I checked with one of my cacti gurus, Liliana Cracraft of the Houston Cactus & Succulent Society. She guesses probably Dee did not provide enough air circulation and too much moisture collected in the container.

This is going to be a major problem in coming months with inground plants as well. Too much water in soil translates into too little oxygen for plant roots. They become weakened and the first signs will be no or too few flowers or fruit production. Growth looks poopy and pretty soon the plant dies. The solution?

Improve the drainage. Raise the bed. The organic matter you add to raise the bed (compost, humus, enriched soil) will hold water in a form roots can access without reducing the oxygen level.

But, back to Dee's desert rose, she may be in luck. Liliana says they almost always have these gorgeous plants at the Houston Cactus & Succulent Society's Spring Sale, this year on May 30-31, 9am-5pm at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, 4501 Woodway Dr. in Memorial Park. Details on this free event: http://hcsstex.org

Among the great plants available at the big May 30-31 Houston Cactus & Succulent Society Spring Sale will be, L to r above, Cephalophyllum species, Gymnocalycium (chin cactus) and Cylindropuntia species.

And, below, l to r, Epiphyllum guatemalense, Parodia magnifica, Pereskia grandifolia, Rebutia heliosa x albiflora and Rebutia

* MORE NATURE FUN FOR CHILDREN: Add this to the children's programs listed last week :

- Houston Audubon Society's Summer Nature Camps, at Sims Bayou Nature Center, Audubon's educational campus in Southeast Houston. Details: http://www.houstonaudubon.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/1084/MenuGroup/Education.htm

* Brenda's "LAZY GARDENER'S GUIDE" - a when-to-do-what in Greater Houston area gardens - is now available on CD only (pdf file). $20. Checks payable to Brenda B. Smith and mailed to: Lazy Gardener's Guide on CD, 14011 Greenranch Dr., Houston, TX 77039-2103. For a free page of this month's TO-DO list, email Brenda at lazy gardener@sbcglobal.net

Want to invest in companies building a better world? Visit: moneyspentwell.org

 

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology has found that the temperature balances of the Earth are directly tied to the peat moss bog regions of this planet.  Peat stores over one third of all the carbon that is stored on land. They estimated that five hundred and fifty BILLION tons of carbon are sequestered in peat bogs around the world. Since peat moss decomposes anaerobically (without oxygen) it forms large carbon sinks (storage).  When the permafrost melts, carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) is released (a molecule of methane contributes at least 23X more to global warming than a molecule of CO2). It is now well documented that glaciers are melting and the areas of permafrost are retreating and releasing greenhouse gasses.

The destruction of peat bogs (mining of peat) accelerates this process. Companies would not do this environmental destruction IF gardeners and the horticultural industry did not purchase peat moss!

Peat moss grows and spreads by killing off other species of plants with its acidity. Hence when we use it in horticulture we have to neutralize the acidity for many species of plants. A research article in the journal HortScience Vol. 50(4) April 2015 reflects this problem where steel slag was used to neutralize the acidity. The issue occurs is that steel slag, depending on many factors, may release a lot of toxic environmental pollutants.

Note: Using waste products from one industry to solve problems in another can be a very good thing and that is what research is all about.

We now have many natural organic materials made from recycled organic material (horse and cow manure, composted mulches, and best of all fungal based composts). Fungal based composts have very similar physical properties to peat moss, are rich in nutrients (peat is devoid), full of beneficial microbes (peat is almost sterile hence a good media for pathogens to grow) and is sustainable as it is made from recycled tree material.  By using these alternatives, we become part of the solution as these organic wastes are not burned or land filled where they would create greenhouse gasses. 

As a society we are faced with a choice, we can stop using peat moss hence quit destroying these wetlands and use our peat bogs to remove carbon from the air and be part of a solution OR we can keep using peat and contribute to our environmental destruction. In my opinion, using peat moss today is a crime against nature and humanity.

Note: While technically coconut coir works well as a peat moss substitute, it is not sustainable to ship it half way around the world to the USA when locally available substitutes are available.

Below is the original article for your reference.

Soil Amendments - Peat Moss

Peat Moss is widely used in gardening and horticulture.  However have you ever considered the question; is it the best choice and what are the consequences of using it?

Historically, peat has been used as a fuel, insulation, building bricks,  planting medium, and as a top dressing for potted plants in floral arrangements.

Peat moss is from a group of plants called Sphagnum that is a genus of over 350 species of mosses.  These plants grow in wetlands found in cooler climates and are an extremely important part of our ecosystem in cleaning water, removing pollution and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (more than any other ecosystem). These bogs capture 110 tons of carbon every year from the atmosphere and store more than 562 billion tons of carbon even though they compose only 3% of the land and fresh water areas. Mining of peat requires the draining of wetlands, drying, milling, packaging and transport the product many thousands of miles to market all of which require energy which releases tremendous amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere.

Some companies in Canada and in the Northern states have started trying to reestablish bogs after mining which is a step in the right direction. However, scientists say it takes over 90 years to just reestablish the original biodiversity and much longer to become a fully functioning wetland.

Over 10 million cubic yards are harvested each year in Canada and another 1 million cubic yards in the USA. It takes about 1,000 years for a one yard thick layer of peat to accumulate, hence tens of thousands of acres of wetlands are destroyed each year.

Peat forms over many thousands of years in these bogs, swamps and other wetlands. Peat grows on the surface of the bog where there is oxygen. As the plants die they settle to the bottom where there is very little if any oxygen (anaerobic) and slowly decays forming thick mats of partially decomposed plant material.

This decayed and dried sphagnum moss is often called peat or peat moss. More correctly the live moss growing on top of a bog is called Sphagnum moss and the dead decaying matter underneath is called sphagnum peat moss or just peat moss. These plants provide a habitat for other wetland plants like sedges, orchids, carnivorous and many other plant species.

More than 90% of the extremely valuable wetland peat bogs in England and New Zealand have been destroyed by the mining of peat. Many countries now prohibit or have placed severe restrictions on the mining of peat wetlands and the sale of peat moss.

Sphagnum and peat do not decay readily due to phenolic compounds in the plants cells. As the new moss grows it pushes the older moss down into the bog where it slowly decays often reaching many feet in thickness with the older more decomposed peat moss at the bottom.

The most valuable form of peat in horticulture is the layer that forms just under the surface with deeper layers becoming lower and lower in quality and value.  This is why a gardener often sees big price differences for peat moss at the garden centers.  The worthless low quality peat moss is sold at the lower prices because it does not work well.

The reason this low quality peat moss is sold, is for the producers of peat moss to make more money. Once they have spent the money to dig ditches and drain the wetland, construct roads, create drying beds, etc. to mine the good peat moss, it costs very little extra to remove the worthless bottom layers also. They just package it up and sell it to retailers whom do not care about giving their customers a quality product. High quality peat moss is often used for growing orchids. The standard low quality peat moss (and most other products) sold in most chain nurseries and box stores works poorly if at all, making many people think they do not have a "green thumb".

The surface moss and the high quality peat moss layer can hold 16-20 times their dried weight in water in their cells. The low quality peat moss at the bottom does not hold near the same amount of water or have the beneficial properties hence it is sometimes sold under the name of "Peat Humus" to get unsuspecting customer to by it.

Due to its very acidic nature peat moss can absorb cations (plant nutrients) such as calcium and magnesium and release hydrogen ions into the soil (which causes the acidity). It is so acidic it can kill bacteria (good or bad) hence it was used as a bandaging material in treating wounds as recently as WWII.

Several companies selling peat moss recommend using it as a mulch. It makes a terrible mulch for many reasons: it is highly acidic hence very bad for most plants, it forms unsightly surface cracks when it dries out, it is very light thus it blows and washes away in wind and rain events, it is dusty and difficult to apply (especially when it is windy), and it provides very little if any nutrition to the plants.

Horticultural research has shown that we now have many alternatives to peat moss that work better, at lower cost, and do not have the environmental consequences. A few of these are composted bark, compost and mulches, substrates made from cow manure, brewery wastes, coconut coir, olive mill waste, pulp and paper by products, peanut hulls, and of course perlite, vermiculite and pumice. Even PTS (Pine Tree Substrate) has been found to work better on many species of plants. Many of these substrates have repeatedly worked better than peat in terms of plant vigor and quality!

PROS:

- readily available

- light in weight

- good structural stability

- ability to hold water

- good aeration (high porosity) IF sphagnum peat moss

- low in microbes

- good to store bulbs and tubers over the winter as it is anti-microbial (Ancient cultures used peat to store food in)

- virtually devoid of nutrients

- extremely acidic (low pH) and must be neutralized for use with most plants

- very difficult to re-wet once it becomes dry

- repels water when dry

- often not sterilized hence may contain pathogens

- inhibits the growth of microbes initially but quickly becomes conducive for the rapid development of pathogens

- peat moss from lower layers is often very fine in particle size hence does not have good aeration as the better grades do

- low anion capacity hence negatively charged anions like phosphate and nitrate will easily leach from the media

- Some people experience a skin disease causing lesions when exposed to peat moss (rare).  It is from the fungus Cutaneous sporotrichosis and is more common with sphagnum moss.  Several states have laws requiring nursery workers to wear double gloves and micron filtration masks when handling peat moss. Those whom use peat moss regularly are at risk for developing pneumonias and other illnesses.

Conclusion:

Peat moss is environmentally bankrupt in today's gardening environment and one should not purchase and use it.