Exploring new sustainable growing media for ornamental crop production

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Currently, in Canada, greenhouse growing of potted ornamental plants is carried out using peat, a soilless media, that is extracted from peatlands, sensitive ecosystems with unique ability to sequester considerable amounts of carbon, and store excess precipitation. Peat extraction results in the release of high carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, thus contributing to the greenhouse gas effect and resulting in climate change. Therefore, for environmental conservation, peat-based growing media should be phased out, and peat-free alternatives should be developed, preferably from local biomass ingredients. Assiniboine Community College will work with Vanderveen's Greenhouse Ltd. to explore new soilless growing media blends to partially or completely replace peat for improving the production of ornamental crops in nurseries/greenhouses. Options include wood fibers and hemp fibers (by-products of timber and agriculture industry, respectively), and flax ash (by-product of burning flax shives). The proposed project will investigate different properties of these new upcycled and locally available soilless media, explore the ability to replace typical peat-based media, and determine suitability for the crop cultivation in greenhouses/nurseries. If successful, Vanderveen's will be the first greenhouse in Western Canada to use these new growing media blends for commercial greenhouse crop production. The results will encourage other nurseries/greenhouses in Canada and elsewhere to grow crops using these sustainable and eco-friendly practices.