# where to buy peat



## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

where do you buy your peat to soften water and lower pH? What brand do you buy and where who do you buy it from?


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## Budica (Jul 18, 2010)

I get mine from PJ's i Square one. It's with their Fluval filter media. I had been asking for months and nothing then I talked to Brent there and he had it in two days later. It's a 500g bag that can be poared out into mesh bags for any size filter. Works great!!! Got my GH from 140 down to 60 in two days.


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

I use this one
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/StoreCat...ery=Peat+granuals&queryType=0&hits=12&offset=
I special ordered it at BA's Scarb.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

What is wrong with going to the garden centre and buying a bale for less than $10? Lots of people have used it sucessfully for years.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

BillD said:


> What is wrong with going to the garden centre and buying a bale for less than $10? Lots of people have used it sucessfully for years.


+1 it is alot cheaper


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

BillD said:


> What is wrong with going to the garden centre and buying a bale for less than $10? Lots of people have used it sucessfully for years.


I've tried the Canadian Tire and Home Depot brands, both of which I found have minimal (if any) effect on my pH in RO water. I've heard that peat sourced from Nova Scotia (or was it PEI?) is more effective for these purposes. I have yet to find a source in Toronto though!


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

so i should just get peat with no ferts


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Chris S said:


> I've tried the Canadian Tire and Home Depot brands, both of which I found have minimal (if any) effect on my pH in RO water. I've heard that peat sourced from Nova Scotia (or was it PEI?) is more effective for these purposes. I have yet to find a source in Toronto though!


You have to get the coarser stuff. The fine textured moist black peat is too far broken down to be effective (although it's better for garden plants). You want something labelled 'sphagnum peat moss', not just peat. It comes in 4 cubic foot bales, usually, but you can get smaller bales too. I've seen 1 cubic foot bales at Home Hardware. The bales are hard, dry and compressed, and the peat moss inside is light brown and fibrous. IIRC, the most common brands are Lambert and Fafard.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

If anyone uses or wants to try the Laguna peat pellets (like in the link above) and is near Burlington, I have darn close to a full bag (size of a basketball or so) that I got for a long-forgotten project and has been sitting untouched ever since. Free to the first taker, can be a porch pickup...


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

bae said:


> You have to get the coarser stuff. The fine textured moist black peat is too far broken down to be effective (although it's better for garden plants). You want something labelled 'sphagnum peat moss', not just peat. It comes in 4 cubic foot bales, usually, but you can get smaller bales too. I've seen 1 cubic foot bales at Home Hardware. The bales are hard, dry and compressed, and the peat moss inside is light brown and fibrous. IIRC, the most common brands are Lambert and Fafard.


That is the kind I was using - very fibrous and light, light brown. The 4 cu/ft bags are labeled as sphagnum peat moss. I think it might have something to do with the area they are taken from... These both were from Quebec, or so says the packaging.

The peat was added to a small bag and aerated in a 32g holding bin of pure RO of 4-7 ms, pH 7.6/7.7. After five days, the conductivity rose slightly and the pH dropped to around 7.2-7.4, but wouldn't budge after that.

No biggie for me though, I can use them in the garden!


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I am curious as to why the pH of your RO water is so high. That is as high or higher than my tap water.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I am curious as to why the pH of your RO water is so high. It is as high or higher than my tap water. 
As far as the peat goes you obviously should have used more peat for such a large amount of water.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Reverse Osmosis itself should have very little effect on pH. My tapwater is approx. the same as my RO water (usually drops by .6-.8).

I figured pure RO should be like putty in my hands. With a kH of effectively zero, adding anything acidic should swing the pH pretty fast. 

While only based on my experience, I would say that peat I used was only mildly acidic, at best.


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## ar1_pyroboy (Jun 20, 2009)

Chris S said:


> That is the kind I was using - very fibrous and light, light brown. The 4 cu/ft bags are labeled as sphagnum peat moss. I think it might have something to do with the area they are taken from... These both were from Quebec, or so says the packaging.
> 
> The peat was added to a small bag and aerated in a 32g holding bin of pure RO of 4-7 ms, pH 7.6/7.7. After five days, the conductivity rose slightly and the pH dropped to around 7.2-7.4, but wouldn't budge after that.
> 
> No biggie for me though, I can use them in the garden!


I was just reading this site http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html and they say to boil the peat first (to make it sink) but maybe it makes it more effective too? I'm new to this, so i'm just speculating here, I think I'm going to try it though.


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## dp12345 (Sep 12, 2010)

i bought sphagnum peat moss at walmart.
boil it first then filter it with fiber filter then use every wc instead of tap.
u could google it to get more info.

dp


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