Growing Media Companies on Factors to Consider When Reviewing Peat Alternatives

By Brian D. Sparks|November 10, 2025

The right growing media can make or break your greenhouse crop. Beyond achieving reliable performance, growers today must also navigate sourcing challenges, material availability, and shifting expectations around sustainability.

We reached out to growing media suppliers to get their perspective on many of these concerns. In this Part 3 of a series of articles, we look at how both growers and suppliers must consider several factors when weighing a shift to a peat alternative. You can find Part 1 of the series (an overview of the current peat status) here and Part 2 (potential tariff implications) here.

Vijay Rapaka, Ph.D., Director of Global Grower Operations and Research, Smithers-Oasis/Oasis Grower Solutions: “When sustainability is a concern, it’s very important to get the bigger picture, because what appears to be a more sustainable choice or a less sustainable choice on the surface may not be true. We found this out in a positive way when we had an independent cradle-to-grave carbon footprint assessment done on one of our engineered substrate products. We were very surprised by how low the carbon footprint was compared to competing media and our own peat product. Of course, availability and costs are always going to be considerations for growers looking for peat alternatives. The most important thing is that it fits into the grower’s operation, growing schedule, and growing practices. And, of course, the product performance has to be there. It’s also important to remember that customer success is critical. You might have a perfect crop, but that has to carry through retail sales and performance at the consumer level. When you’re propagating and growing, you’re babysitting. Once it’s out of your hands, it’s out of your hands. Customers do whatever they want, but at the same time it should be —at a minimum — a carefree, guaranteed product. You need to strongly take into consideration how that alternative media helps support that.”

Jennifer Neujahr, Senior Director, Global Business Development Horticulture, Profile Products LLC: “Decision frameworks should balance crop-specific performance (root development, pH stability, water-holding); supply reliability (year-round vs. seasonal harvest risk); container efficiency (HydraFiber delivers two to three times more substrate per container than coir and five to six times more than peat); and ease of transition (can it blend into existing mixes or require new equipment?). No single material fully replaces peat. The future will be about blends and flexibility, and about how growers adapt their systems to materials that are not yet widely used today. Continuing to innovate will be key.”

Søren Møller Nielsen, Sales Director Americas, Pindstrup: “I think anytime you make any changes to an existing substrate composition utilizing other alternatives, it’s important to understand exactly how those materials work in production. As suppliers, we need to pinpoint the obvious changes that are needed and work actively with the grower to minimize any potential issues in production. I think going to market with an alternative without really understanding it is highly risky, and I think all suppliers are doing the best that they can to understand and work with those alternatives long before they’re actually introduced. Looking at alternatives, in a perfect world, you will find something that is 100% similar to peat. That is just not possible, so then you try to come up with combinations of alternatives that, together, are similar to a peat-based substrate.”