Viking Nursery peat-free trial

Nursery background

Viking Nurseries is a garden centre supplier that delivers high quality plants to independent businesses and large garden centre groups. Established in 1998, the company is forward-thinking and innovative and likes to stay at the forefront of industry standards.

Nursery infrastructure

The nursery production is split into two growing areas, indoor greenhouse and outdoor field grown stock, this consists of a 30-acre site of largely outdoor beds as well as 1.8 hectares under glass. The plant range consists of conifers, deciduous shrubs, ornamental plants, and roses with pot sizes ranging from 1.4 litres to 10 litres.

Trial Criteria

The same watering and feeding was applied to the peat and peat-free samples throughout the trial. One application of fertiliser in Week 24 at EC 1.8 with a pH of 5.8.

Timeline: Week 21 to 29

Peat-free mix used: Jiffy Peat-Free Pot Mix 2021

Crop focus: Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ 2L pot

Findings: The plants grown in the peat free mix are roughly two weeks ahead in rooting compared to the nursery's usual growing media mix.

Image shows the peat free trail after 4 weeks compared to the traditional peat based growing medium, the results show the root development side by side with both mixes.

Week 29

The plants growing in the peat free mix are being fertilised with each watering at an EC of 1.8ms. Even during hot weather, both soil types were watered at the same time, so as to not create problems with the soil drying out too much. When required, the peat free mix was rewetted the same as the main crops.

“The plants are responding well to the feeding programme” says Nursery Manager, Rob. “We are on track to meet the spec for autumn sales.”

Observations

The plants in the peat free mix are roughly two weeks ahead in rooting compared to the current mix. The foliage growth is greater and is even across all plants. The mix is free draining and suits the choisya perfectly.

Next steps

Viking Nursery will continue to work closely with our Growing Media and Fertiliser Specialist, Sean Whitworth to further expand the trials across all of their hardy nursery stock. Upon inspection, the early results have proved promising!