Rethinking growing media for a more sustainable horticulture
Why World Environment Day is a good moment to look beneath the surface
Every year, World Environment Day invites us to reflect on the relationship between human activities and the ecosystems that sustain life on our planet.
In horticulture, one of these often-overlooked connections lies beneath our crops, plants, and growing systems: the growing media used to support production.
For decades, peat has played a central role in horticulture due to its exceptional physical and chemical properties. Its ability to retain water and nutrients, provide aeration, and remain largely pathogen-free has made it a reliable growing medium for a wide range of applications, from seedlings and ornamental plants to mushroom cultivation.
However, peat extraction also raises important environmental concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and pressures on peatland ecosystems.
Reducing peat use is not as simple as replacing one material with another
As Europe advances towards more sustainable and climate-resilient systems, reducing dependence on peat while maintaining crop performance has become an increasingly important challenge for the horticultural sector.
The transition towards alternative growing media involves much more than identifying a substitute material. For growers and substrate producers, several factors must be considered at the same time:
- Technical performance
- Substrate consistency
- Water retention and irrigation management
- Crop quality
- Growers’ confidence
- Economic feasibility
- Availability of locally sourced raw materials
This is precisely the context in which the PEATLESS project is working.
Bringing together 12 European partners from Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland, PEATLESS aims to support the reduction of peat use in horticulture through the development and validation of sustainable and locally available alternative substrates across three horticultural systems: mushrooms, seedlings, and ornamental plants.
Importantly, PEATLESS does not approach this challenge from a single perspective. Instead, the project recognises that the transition towards more sustainable horticultural systems requires collaboration between researchers, growers, technical experts, industry representatives, regional authorities, and local communities.
From trials to practical knowledge
Across Europe, different PEATLESS partners are already exploring practical approaches to help overcome some of the barriers that currently limit the adoption of alternative growing media.
In Spain, the Centro Tecnológico de Investigación del Champiñón de La Rioja (CTICH) is working closely with mushroom growers and substrate producers to identify and evaluate alternative casing soil mixtures capable of reducing peat dependency in mushroom cultivation. This is particularly relevant in a sector where peat has traditionally been considered essential for fructification and crop performance. Through laboratory and semi-commercial trials, different locally sourced materials and formulations are being assessed to better understand how they behave under real cultivation conditions, especially regarding water retention, irrigation management, mycelium development, and crop performance.
At the same time, technological innovation is helping to support this transition. CESENS is contributing to the development of monitoring systems designed to improve the understanding of how alternative substrates perform in practice. Since peat-free or reduced-peat blends often behave differently from conventional substrates, accurate monitoring becomes increasingly important for growers. Current work focuses on calibrating sensors for new substrate materials, improving monitoring accuracy, adapting systems to different crops and growing conditions, and transforming substrate data into practical information for cultivation management.
Awareness and education are also part of the transition
Beyond technical validation, PEATLESS also highlights the importance of awareness, education, and social engagement.
Recently, the Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA) presented the project during the international Fascination of Plants Day initiative. During the activity, students explored alternative substrate materials through a hands-on experience. By observing, touching, and comparing different raw materials, participants were encouraged to reflect on the environmental implications of horticultural production and the importance of developing sustainable growing systems for the future.
For those interested in following more stories like this and future project updates, the PEATLESS newsletter offers a way to stay connected with ongoing activities across the consortium.
This kind of activity shows that sustainability transitions are not only technical processes. They are also cultural, educational, and social processes.
Local alternatives for ornamental horticulture
In Italy, the ornamental horticulture sector is also facing increasing pressure to identify sustainable alternatives to peat-based growing media.
In the Pistoia district, one of Europe’s most important ornamental plant production areas, AVI and CIC are collaborating with local growers to test locally sourced alternative materials adapted to ornamental plant cultivation.
This work reflects a broader challenge currently affecting professional horticulture: how to maintain the high technical standards required by growers while responding to environmental concerns, market pressures, and the need for more sustainable production models.
For ornamental plants, growing media must support healthy root development, nutrient retention, drainage, water availability, and crop quality. This means that alternative materials must be evaluated carefully before they can be widely adopted.
Looking ahead
As World Environment Day reminds us, sustainability is often built through gradual but meaningful transformations. Sometimes, these transformations begin by rethinking the materials and systems that have long been taken for granted. In horticulture, growing media may remain largely invisible to consumers, but they are fundamental to the future resilience of food production, ornamental cultivation, and sustainable agriculture across Europe.
Over the coming months, PEATLESS partners will continue sharing insights, experiences, and results from ongoing activities across the different demonstration sites and horticultural systems involved in the project. These updates will also be shared through the project’s LinkedIn and YouTube channels, where the consortium will continue highlighting the people, trials, and knowledge behind this transition.
Together, these efforts contribute to a broader European conversation about how innovation, collaboration, and locally adapted solutions can help shape a more sustainable future for horticulture.
