Gardeners have increasingly heard the call to reduce or eliminate their use of peat moss, the most familiar ingredient in seed-starting mixes and potting soils—one that a lot of us have long relied on. But peat is not sustainable, and its harvest releases substantial CO2, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. So what to use instead? 

That’s our topic today with North Carolina State University Professor Brian Jackson, an expert in soilless growing media or soilless substrates, as they are also called.  

Brian Jackson is a professor in the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State, and director of the university’s Horticultural Substrate Laboratory. He’s one of perhaps five U.S. scientists at public universities studying these materials and their role in horticulture and agriculture.

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