I am fortunate to have met an enormous group of plant science geeks from all around the world by means of platforms equivalent to Instagram. So, lately, after I was supplied the chance of a botanical highway journey with my mate Rogier van Vugt, head of horticulture at Leiden Botanic Backyard, about 25 miles south of Amsterdam, to go to tiny, area of interest growers and uncommon plant collectors throughout Europe, I jumped on the likelihood. But, to my shock, essentially the most wonderful truth I realized from the specialists we met was not about some top-secret plant cultivar or a intently guarded rising method, however in all probability the only of all concepts: a brand new tackle an outdated rising media.
Moving into the non-public glasshouse of Xavier Garreau de Loubresse from the nursery Choose Orchids, I used to be confronted with species I had solely ever seen in textbooks: bench after bench of uncommon orchids nestled in amongst unique aroids. Systematically set out in neat rows of clear pots, all these vegetation had been set off by an ideal emerald carpet of velvety moss that completely lined the rising media. It was solely after I picked them as much as examine a few of the most delicate flowers did I see what was beneath the floor.
Filling every pot was what seemed like a unfastened sprinkling of packing peanuts. As I seemed round, it grew to become clear that the whole lot within the room was grown in the identical combine, from big jungle specimens to tiny Med-climate-loving pelargoniums, all wanting very glad. Lastly, Xavier, often called a singular thinker, put me out of my distress with a cheeky smile, and revealed that this media was one thing that’s been fairly normal in horticulture for many years: rock wool.
This materials is made by melting down basalt rock and spinning the molten mass right into a tender, spongy “wool”. Its use is normal apply in hydroponics, the place it is available in large bricks as a type of inert sponge that water and vitamins could be dripped by means of. It’s used for rising industrial crops equivalent to tomatoes. What's totally different right here, nevertheless, is Xavier’s use of tiny 1cm cubes of the identical materials, tumbled into pots rather than compost to create a mixture of water-retaining sponges with giant air gaps that make as much as a 3rd of the pot’s quantity.
This mixture of air and water creates the paradoxical situations many tricky-to-grow species want with a view to thrive – constant entry to a fair degree of moisture, but concurrently excellent drainage and continuous air movement. Being inert, rock wool additionally doesn’t harbour most of the soil-dwelling pathogens that may rot vegetation. It even appears to naturally encourage an unimaginable residing prime dressing of moss, which Xavier claims helps inhibit mould and micro organism progress.
What about its environmental impression? Nicely, the impetus to experiment with it was as a extra ecological various to peat or coir as a result of, regardless of the carbon value of making the fabric, rock wool doesn’t break down over time like many different natural substances. This implies giant or long-lived specimens can keep in the identical pot for many years with out the necessity to purchase in new materials, or the trouble of transplanting. All of this from a cloth fabricated from pure minerals.
The very first thing I did this morning after I arrived again dwelling was to purchase bag to experiment for myself. I’ll replace you on how I get on with it in a few months’ time.
Comply with James on Twitter @Botanygeek
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