Take care of the soil and the plants take care of themselves….

The importance of soil and non-soil growing media to horticulturists can not be stressed enough – a good substrate will ensure a healthy plant and help prevent a large number of plant health problems later on. Sustainability is also a key component of modern substrates: healthy plants and good growing conditions should not result in habitat loss elsewhere. In this session, we hear about three substrates that have good sustainability credentials and offer horticulturists excellent alternatives to non-sustainable media.

Andy Spetch, National TOPSOIL Manager with British Sugar TOPSOIL, introduces a number of topsoil and soil improver products that are a by-product of the sugar industry and were previously considered a waste stream. This is an excellent example of putting the circular economy into practice!

Catherine Dawson, Technical Director at Melcourt Industries, describes the journey taken to develop peat-free Sylvamix and the retail equivalent, SylvaGrow. Melcourt are looking at the whole production process from a sustainable development persepective, ensuring sustainability remains at the core of its products.

Pauline Lewington, Sales Manager at Dalefoot Composts, introduces a range of growing media that first developed as a farm diversification programme: using wool and bracken to generate a sustainable growing media. Dalefoot Composts also carry out peat restoration projects, further increasing the environmental performance of the substrates they offer.

The recording of the webinar presentations is available below to PlantNetwork members (password protected).

Slides from Andy Spetch’s presentation are available to all.

Andy Spetch, British Sugar TOPSOIL

Webinar recording