So I got my hands on a bag of lignapeat from Lyngso Garden Materials in the Bay Area and it has been working really well so far! I have a plant growing tons of roots in pure lignapeat, I have some plants propagating well in it, and it has been performing well as the “potting soil” portion of some of my mixes. There are a few drawbacks to it but it does seem like something I will continue to use for a good long while. Read on to learn more!

What is Lignapeat?

Lignapeat is actually a byproduct of the redwood industry. According to all the info online, this is created solely from responsibly grown and sustainably sourced redwood trees. Redwood is commonly ground and sold as “gorilla hair” - this is not the same as lignapeat. Lignapeat is actually “triple-grind redwood”. It’s much finer and thus, more suitable as a soil component than gorilla hair.

The peat moss industry has been taking a lot of heat in recent years due to increased concerns about sustainability. Lignapeat sources claim to be fully sustainable and responsible. Since they are relatively unknown at this point, we have to take their word for it. Time will tell whether this is true or not. Personally, I imagine that it IS true, but since redwoods only grow in a relatively small part of the world, I doubt that lignapeat will ever become widely available. If you live in California however, this could be a great option for you.

Click here to see what Lignapeat.com has to say about this product.

Attributes as a Soil Component: Wet and Airy

Lignapeat holds a TON of water! The batch I tested held +385% of its weight in water, as compared to +148% for coco coir, and +288% for Miracle Gro Potting Mix. At the same time, lignapeat stays very well aerated, thanks to its naturally chunky and hairy texture. *Note: I do not have any peat moss to test, but lignapeat is reported to be very similar to peat moss in terms of water holding capacity.

The downsides are that it has a VERY low pH of ~3.5 and can be highly hydrophobic when fully dry. Since it is a wood product, I would expect the hydrophobia to abate somewhat over time as the particles begin to break down, but when I tried to mix this in equal parts with bark/lignapeat/pumice - I got a mixture that is very difficult to wet. It is a MAJOR pain to get dry lignapeat and bark to absorb moisture. But I do have a solution for that!

Dealing with that low pH:

Most people will need to add dolomitic limestone to the mix when using lignapeat in order to raise the pH. You can find this easily at most garden centers or by following this link. If your water has high pH and alkalinity, you might be able to skip this but I have a lot more to learn about water quality and rising pH levels so that’s all I can really say for now. Read this article to learn more.

One bag of limestone usually lasts me about 2 years and I make a TON of different mixes every year! The standard application rate I use for bark-based mixes is 1 tbsp per gallon of soil. This works well for fir bark or pine bark. It might be a good idea to increase that amount when using lignapeat but I can’t say for sure.

Redwood breaks down slowly although I can’t say how decomposition rates compare to pine or fir bark, but if it is similar, we can hypothesize that soil compaction will not be an issue when using lignapeat for at least 2-3 years. That is very good news! If it maintains the airy soil structure for several growing seasons it will prove to be a fantastic addition indeed.

My Preferred Usage of Lignapeat

After my difficulties with using this in my trusted 1:1:1 mix (hydrophobia), I figured out that blending it with equal parts of coco coir really creates a magical blend.

Coir is very easy to wet and by mixing the two together, you get a very light, fluffy, airy mix that can be watered without difficulty. So I am currently using the two following mixes and they have been performing very well so far. A note of caution here however: I have only been using these mixes for less than 2 months. I have tried and tested lots of things over the years so I have a good sense that this is a quality mix, but I cannot recommend it without a slight warning for now. This is very much still an experiment! I will update you all later on once I’ve had a full growing season with this stuff. I have been recently repotting ~3 dozen plants into this and I hope you all take that as an encouraging sign! Just mix it 50/50 with coco coir and you’re good to go.

Mixture #1: Equal parts: Coco coir, Lignapeat, Bark chunks, Pumice

This is my lower-maintenance mixture of choice at the moment. It holds a good amount of moisture while staying light and airy. It is very easy to water and does not require constant attention as some of my chunkier mixes do. I have repotted a dozen or so aroids into this mixture and they all seem very happy so far. I used to use lots of perlite in my mixes but I am switching to pumice because it doesn’t all float to the top. You can also substitute lava, turface, diatomite, etc; any type of grit will do just fine. Perlite is still the master of propagation though :)

Plants in this mix currently: philodendron, syngonium, anthurium, aglaonema, schefflera, ctenanthe.

If your plants are not getting enough light, skip this mix and move on to the next recipe.
Not recommended for cacti or succulents.

Mixture #2: 1:1:1 with Lignapeat and Coco coir Blend

This is a new take on the 1:1:1 I have used for everything in the past. The classic recipe is equal parts of bark, potting soil, and perlite. In this recipe, I start by blending together equal parts of lignapeat and coco coir - this is now the “potting soil” portion of the mix. So I end up with equal parts of bark, ligna/coir blend, and pumice.

Perhaps an easier way to think of this is: 2 parts bark, 1 part coco coir, 1 part lignapeat, 2 parts pumice.
Either way it’s the same recipe!!

I am using this for plants that I want to grow slightly faster and also for plants in larger pots. Anything 2 gallons or larger is going into this mixture. I would not use the wetter mix for a plant that is going to sit in a large pot for 1-3 years without a repot.

Plants in this mix currently: ficus, philodendron

*Note: I have been moving most of my plants to lower-maintenance mixtures to ease some of my watering duties every week. The fact that the list is shorter for this recipe simply means that I am more selective of which plants get moved into a higher-performance mix. This is the mix I am beginning to use for all of my favorite plants which are not in gritty mixes :)

Growing in 100% Lignapeat

I have a sacrificial coffee plant that I always seem to throw into mixes I would never dare use on any other plants and, well…it’s currently in 100% lignapeat and the root growth has been insane! It’s possible that it really could be as easy as using this stuff alone, but that makes me very nervous. I am simply far too accustomed to mixing all sorts of chunky ingredients together. But that clear pot cannot lie!

One thing I have noticed here is that it takes a long time to dry out and although it stays nice and airy during that time, the bottom layers can still be sopping wet even when the top 1/2” or so is fully dry and hydrophobic. This leads me to believe that using pure lignapeat in anything larger than a 4” pot would be problematic. It has been working well in this clear 4” container but I can easily see how wet all the layers are before watering again.

Lignapeat as a Propagation Medium

I’ve only tested this once so far but I just got proof of roots and the aglaonema cuttings are starting to push out their first set of leaves already. I chose to mimic a propagation method I saw a friend doing with sphagnum moss and I subbed in lignapeat for this test instead.

Method tested:

I added a 1” layer of leca to a jar and then added enough water to just barely cover the leca. Then I filled the jar with lignapeat and added the cuttings. The idea here is that the leca will wick up only enough moisture to keep the lignapeat moist. If the jar was just 100% lignapeat, I think it would wick up too much moisture and just stay soaking wet. Perhaps I could have used pure lignapeat and just planted the cuttings higher up in the jar but I don’t know. This is all theoretical and I can’t tell you if any of this is true or not. All I can say is that it makes sense to me and so far, the cuttings are showing signs of growth and the lignapeat is staying decently moist, although the top layer keeps fully drying out and the bottom layers are holding some perched water.

But the cuttings are growing and I can see a root so - it is definitely a valid method. I will probably try this method again just for curiosity’s sake but still nothing, absolutely nothing, beats the perlite in a jar method for propagation :)

Final Thoughts

If you live in the Bay Area, go to Lyngso and get a bag of this to play with. Mix it 50/50 with coco coir and try it out; so far it’s been really great! If you are outside of California, I don’t know when/if this will become available to you but please check with your local landscape supply companies to see if they carry it or would be willing to order some for you.

I have no idea what kind of ingredients or mixes I will be using in the coming years but currently I am planning to add the coir/lignapeat blend to all of my plants whenever they need repotting next. It holds lots of moisture, stays well aerated, and is easy to water - this is good stuff! The coco coir/ligna blend is my favorite “potting soil” substitute I have tested in 3+ years of constant experimentation. I hope some of you will get excited to try this out on your plants.

Wishing you all the best with your plants, and with your life,
John

Lignapeat: A Sustainable Peat Moss Replacement