DUETS from a campaign like " Got Milk " and " The Incredible, Edible Egg " to get its message out. A separate challenge with peat is its annual harvest yield. Whenever a wet summer results in a short peat harvest, it feels like the sky is falling. I believe this part of peat is being conveniently but unfairly lumped into the global sustainability issue to make the argument against it more compelling. This confuses growers and consumers creating more negativity. James: These are two very different issues. There are currently no regulations in North America that are limiting peat harvest or its availability in the U.S. like we see in Europe. The limited availability of peat over the past few years is due to wet summers limiting the amount of peat that can be harvested. I'm not sure if the sky is falling. I've read articles in professional magazines suggesting that seven out of the past 10 years have had below average peat harvests due to weather. Is this a fluke or a new and persistent weather pattern? We don't know yet. Staving off environmental misinformation is one challenge facing the peat industry. Figuring out how to harvest peat with increasingly wet summers is another challenge. To be clear, these are two different issues stemming from two different causes. Peter: Tell us about your research on improving the design and physics of the root zone profile. James: I'm working with a team of scientists throughout the U.S. on a concept called substrate stratification. Instead of filling a container with the same substrate, we fill it with layers (or strata) of different substrates that each serve a function. One successful strategy involves placing a coarse substrate (such as pine bark) in the lower 50% of the container with a finer premium substrate in the top 50%. This strategy redistributes water so that it's more available to the recently potted liner at the top of the container and reduces oversaturation of the substrate at the bottom of the container. Jeb Fields at Louisiana State University showed that young liners establish more quickly and experience less water stress with this form of stratification. This also dramatically reduces cost 12 MARCH 2024 GPNMAG.COMhttp://gpnmag.com/cannabis-guide http://www.GPNMAG.COM