Researched, developed and commercialized: GreenFiber

Wood is fundamentally suitable as a source material for horticultural growing media because it has a fibrous structure, is hydrophilic, is slowly biodegradable and it contains relatively small quantities of nutrients or growth-inhibiting substances compared to similar constituents such as bark. It is also virtually free of contaminants. The first industrially made wood fiber product was launched in 1983. A host of other such products followed, but their market acceptance was low to moderate and some are no longer available. With regard to enhancement of growing media, our company's rigorous sustainable-development policy is bound to result in measures that reduce the product carbon footprint. Here, wood fiber is playing an increasingly important role at Klasmann-Deilmann. Our wood fiber product GreenFiber^® is currently being manufactured at three sites using the Retruder^® (i.e., reverse extruder) system. In practice, fine, medium or coarse grades of this product are used in combination with peat, the main growing media constituent, for a wide range of applications. Utilization of PEFC-(Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) certified wood chips as the raw material ensures that the wood is from sustainable sources and is untreated. GreenFiber is also PEFC-certified. Of low bulk density, this wood fiber product has both a very high air capacity and consistently high water capacity, as well as a low shrinkage value and acceptable rates of N fixation. It meets all RHP (the Dutch quality assurance system) and RAL (the German quality assurance system) quality criteria for wood fiber, and is used in media for potted and container-grown crops and for cultivating young plants.