Last year , Finnish Novarbo Oy ( part of Biolan Group ) put its first commercial slabs of mosswool on the market . This unexampled substrate , which is a combination of sphagnum and peat , is promptly gaining the pursuit of grower all over the world . Sphagnum moss is the primal element in this product which enables growers to rise more sustainable and circular . The slabs are so far mainly used for the refinement of cucumbers and tomatoes , but the sole component , sphagnum , also works very well as substrate ingredient for , for instance , decorative plant , snort , blackberry , strawberry mark , lettuce and herb yield . Also other soil companies are eager to habituate it in their mixes as an option to peat . Currently , Biolan Group is the only patented company to glean and supply this sphagnum and they are work on a new improved Mosswool version that requires even less peat . Pirita Luolamaa - Vollebregt severalize us more about it in this clause .
The Novarbo team at the Fruit Logistica in 2019 . Second on the left hand is Pirita .
SphagnumOver the years , sustainable alternatives have become increasingly authoritative . Peat is a usually used Cartesian product in Finland , but it is more and more less accepted in the high society as is n’t a sustainable product . However , the advantages in refinement of many crops are vast and for this reason , Novarbo initiate to front for choice . “ They already started to look for an alternative more than 20 years ago and they discover the potential of bog moss . “ peat moss moss is a actual renewable resource has many well properties as a grow culture medium . It retains moister while remaining airy , the PH is below 5 it has antiseptic characteristics which means that fungi are n’t growing well on it . ”
In this telecasting above , you may see how it is being harvest . “ Beneficial of this nature product is that the live moss will regrow after harvesting ” , Pirita explain . “ The harvesting process aim for fast regrowth . Depending on the bog it can be unlike , for example that surface of the peat bog is not rake unornamented or that the surface is flattened to allow fast regrowth of Sphagnum . At all time the natural pee environs will remain on the peat bog as well as plenty of spores and pieces of moss to allow speedy get-go of the regrow . After harvest , the bogs start returning to their former Department of State forthwith . novel harvest on the same bog can take place in average of 25 - 30 years . Therefore this is a sustainable alternative or plus to peat . ”
Mosswool : alternative to stonewoolOver the years , Novarbo Oy has developed a new eco - friendly growth slab for greenhouse cultivation and refer it Mosswool . “ The slabs are a combination of moss and peat , march in airy cultivation matt that keep their shape throughout the culture . Next to research facilities it has been trialed at several commercial cucumber and tomato growers in Finland with positive effect . “ Finnish raiser are used to rise on pressed peat mat , but after trialing the Mosswool slabs many careen into Mosswool . ” It is also has proven to be a good alternative to stonewool . “ Just like stonewool , it keeps its shape and airy structure during cultivation and in tribulation with Cucumis sativus plants in Finland , for good example , it even showed a unspoiled production per straightforward meter . With trials next to coir in the Netherlands the yield effect were very alike to each other with both cucumber and tomato . On top of that , it can save growers money in wasteland costs as , afterwards , the slabs can merely be processed as gullible waste material . Used slabs can be used to better soil structure in undecided field or after composting it can be used as a valuable ingredient for illustration for consumer grow bags .
Expanding marketsIn 2019 , Novarbo Oy start the first Mosswool factory and after some finely - tuning , the first larger number left the factory in 2020 . Several Finnish growers are using it and they are expanding food market . “ Since 2019 , crops are on Mosswool at both Tomato World and Wageningen UR already , but we are now also involved in trialing at more school and at cucumber and tomato growers with both slabs and Mosscube growblocks . Also , we incur increasingly more requests from other land . In the UK for example , a country that wants to move away from the use of peat , we are happy to have fighting , concerned party for tribulation . ”
New version of Mosswool slabAt Novarbo Oy , they are very proud of with their achievement so far , but are continuously looking to innovate and improve their product . “ We want to decrease the use of peat as much as possible and we in 2020 started testing a ‘ Modern component ’ to the Mosswool slab mixture , which is wood fiber . The compounding of sphagnum and wood fiber is beneficial as sphagnum retains moister and wood tissue does the opposite . ” Currently they are trialing this newfangled version of Mosswool at unlike growers in different countries . “ It is a long process , but so far , the result are very promising ”
For more information : Novarbo OyLauttakyläntie 570FI-27510 EuraTelephone commutation : +358 2 5491 680E - mail:[email protected]www.novarbo.fi
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