Just stumbled on something weird with sphagnum peat moss and I can’t find much about it anywhere. I think I accidentally “seasoned” peat so it rewets instantly after drying, and now I’m wondering if this is a thing people do on purpose. I ran a tiny kitchen experiment with milled peat: Batch A: dry out of the bale, no treatment Batch B: soaked in RO water with a tiny bit of yucca extract (wetting agent), then dried Batch C: soaked in hard tap water with a pinch of dolomitic lime, then dried Batch D: soaked in a weak gypsum + a little Epsom salt solution (CaSO4 + MgSO4), then dried After drying completely, I tried bottom-watering each in identical cups. A floated and beaded like usual, took ages to take on water. B rewetted well the first time but seemed less impressive on the second dry/rewet cycle. C and D both rewet fast on every cycle, even after I baked them low-and-slow to make sure they were really dry. C also seemed to hold a more stable moisture gradient (wicked higher) in a little DIY wick test. Questions I’m hoping the peat pros can help with: Is pre-charging peat with Ca/Mg actually reducing hydrophobicity long-term, or am I just leaving behind salts that act like a wetting agent? If it is a mineral effect, is Ca doing something to the peat’s humic surfaces that changes contact angle or CEC behavior? Why would gypsum outperform plain RO + surfactant after multiple cycles? Any downsides in real mixes? Salt accumulation? pH drift if using dolomitic vs gypsum? Impacts on ericaceous plants that like it acidic? Would this help in sub-irrigated planters to prevent dry pockets and improve wicking longevity? Does “seasoning” peat like this mess with the natural antimicrobial vibe peat seems to have? I’ve read about sphagnum compounds that inhibit microbes-does mineral soaking strip or neutralize that? If this is viable, what’s a practical pre-soak recipe and duration for a big bale before mixing soil? Or would hard tap water alone do it? Bonus: anyone tried living Sphagnum as a thin topdress on peat-based mixes to keep the surface from going hydrophobic? If this is a known trick, I’m late to the party-but if not, I think there’s something here. Would love to hear experiments, mechanisms, or reasons I shouldn’t do this!

Sphagnum Peat Moss

LeafLoverLady

Just stumbled on something weird with sphagnum peat moss and I can’t find much about it anywhere. I think I accidentally “seasoned” peat so it rewets instantly after drying, and now I’m wondering if this is a thing people do on purpose.

I ran a tiny kitchen experiment with milled peat:

Batch A: dry out of the bale, no treatment
Batch B: soaked in RO water with a tiny bit of yucca extract (wetting agent), then dried
Batch C: soaked in hard tap water with a pinch of dolomitic lime, then dried
Batch D: soaked in a weak gypsum + a little Epsom salt solution (CaSO4 + MgSO4), then dried

After drying completely, I tried bottom-watering each in identical cups. A floated and beaded like usual, took ages to take on water. B rewetted well the first time but seemed less impressive on the second dry/rewet cycle. C and D both rewet fast on every cycle, even after I baked them low-and-slow to make sure they were really dry. C also seemed to hold a more stable moisture gradient (wicked higher) in a little DIY wick test.

Questions I’m hoping the peat pros can help with:

Is pre-charging peat with Ca/Mg actually reducing hydrophobicity long-term, or am I just leaving behind salts that act like a wetting agent?
If it is a mineral effect, is Ca doing something to the peat’s humic surfaces that changes contact angle or CEC behavior? Why would gypsum outperform plain RO + surfactant after multiple cycles?
Any downsides in real mixes? Salt accumulation? pH drift if using dolomitic vs gypsum? Impacts on ericaceous plants that like it acidic?
Would this help in sub-irrigated planters to prevent dry pockets and improve wicking longevity?
Does “seasoning” peat like this mess with the natural antimicrobial vibe peat seems to have? I’ve read about sphagnum compounds that inhibit microbes-does mineral soaking strip or neutralize that?
If this is viable, what’s a practical pre-soak recipe and duration for a big bale before mixing soil? Or would hard tap water alone do it?

Bonus: anyone tried living Sphagnum as a thin topdress on peat-based mixes to keep the surface from going hydrophobic?

If this is a known trick, I’m late to the party-but if not, I think there’s something here. Would love to hear experiments, mechanisms, or reasons I shouldn’t do this!