Peat Humus

What Does Peat Humus Mean?

Peat humus is highly decomposed organic material that builds up in the lower levels of peat bogs. Peat humus is often confused with organic matter, compost, and peat. However, peat humus is not a fertilizer. Instead, it is often used in gardening as a soil amendment to add structure to a soil.

Maximum Yield Explains Peat Humus

Although peat humus is often confused by gardeners as being a fertilizer, it has no nutritional value to plants. With compost, plants feed off the decaying matter, but peat humus is fully decomposed before it is found and used, so there are no beneficial microbes present in peat humus. Incorporating peat humus into soil contributes to soil density, absorbing heat from sunlight, retaining nutrients, and retaining moisture.

Effectively, peat humus provides plant roots easy-to-reach access to essential nutrients. As true peat humus can only be found in the lowest levels of peat bogs, it is an expensive soil amendment and isn’t easily replicated. However, it can be created through the continual addition of organic matter and finished compost to garden soil. Additionally, it should be noted that no soil can be made entirely of peat humus, yet it is a staple of creating healthy viable gardening soil.