MiracleGro Sphagnum Peat?

[Kraine]

So I just bought vermiculite and some peat moss (to do a 50/50 substrate mix), but I just saw on the bag that the MiracleGro peat has the brand's fertilizer in it. I went to a few different places looking for peat moss and couldn't find anything but that. I'm hesitant about this peat.. should I keep checking other places for plain peat moss substrate?

Edit: Nevermind, I'm not putting my T in fertilizer. I found a place with peat blocks for sale.

 

[GOMER113]

Although you're not going to use it, here's a link for reference for anyone else wondering the same:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?p=1357051

I also have personal experience using this and I have not had any issues at all.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

This is the only substrate that I use. I've not had any problems.

 

[Tarac]

Glad to hear others are using it without issue. I have the same problem- I cannot find any non-fertilized peat in my area, even at Walmart and all the recommended national vendors.

In my mind it seemed perfectly acceptable. If you look at the ingredients they amount to a bunch of phosphates and physiologic salts (I'm a molecular biologist, to give you an idea of my frame of reference- not an entomologist for sure, though I love most things spineless). The idea of using something "natural/organic" vs. something that has the required nutrients added artificially is asking for a dozen of one thing and twelve of the other. Ultimately "organic" (which doesn't mean much in this country anyway) breaks down into those components anyway. For me, I worry that the immediately available salts might somehow adversely affect my Tarantulas- dehydration, etc.- because their initial concentration is much higher than one where the "organic" content provides the same nutrients over time through gradual decay. I think it will not be a problem and it seems other members have used it without any adverse effects. I actually would like to use it because it provides some nutrition for plants which would otherwise have to be supplemented anyway in such a pH depressed environment like the one a moist, peat-based mixture would provide. Even there, the nutrients would be stripped relatively quickly and become inaccessible to any plants you were trying to grow save those adapted specifically for very low pH environments, i.e. bog plants that typically require very intense lighting to grow, if they grow at all for any length of time, and are therefor not practical for the planted terrarium.

I wonder why there is so much concern over fertilizer- is it just because many people have an "anti-chemical" disposition? Certainly Manduca sp. thrive on well fertilized tomatoes and tobacco, etc. and they would be bio-accumulating this stuff much faster than a tarantula ever could. I think the organic decay vs. direct addition is simply from not understanding what the difference really is between those two categories of floral nutritional supplement. Pesticides are one thing for obvious reasons, but potassium chloride toxic to a tarantula? I bet they die without it, just like people and most other organisms- essential for Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, etc. as examples of invertebrates which require most of the salts on the fertilizer list for their own health- makes perfect sense if you stop to think. These are the nutrient components required for healthy, vital plants and therefor all things downstream that have the plant as food somewhere in their food web (eats the plant, eats something that eats the plant, and so on).

I have searched this site over and over and can't find any qualified explanation of why these added chemical fertilizer components are getting such a bad rep in the arachno-culture world which leads me to believe that it falls into the category of a feeling/rumor, of simply dis-liking the idea of non-organic rather than actually having an understanding of what it is that those chemicals are/do. If anyone can, that is what I am searching for and I would really appreciate benefiting from your knowledge about tarantula physiology. Thanks very much for your assistance in advance!