Growing strawberries on innovative substrates with climate-friendly alternatives to peat

Strawberries grown on innovative substrates - with compost, biochar, chitin and wood fibers - grow just as well as they do on traditional substrates, which contain a lot of peat. This means that in the relatively short term, the sector can become even more climate-friendly and even more circular than it already is. In the European Horti-BlueC project, research centers ILVO, Hoogstraten and other partners have done extensive trials to make potting soil with a number of local alternatives. At least 40% of the peat could be replaced with no effect on yield.