It’s Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air

Sun Gro adds biocharBiochar is a carbon-rich material created from biomass decomposition in low-oxygen conditions. It has important applications in environmental remediation, soil improvement, agriculture, carbon sequestration, energy storage, and sustainable materials, promoting efficiency and reducing waste in various contexts while addressing climate change challenges. More to their horticultural media line-up with a Made-in-Canada Marriage

I’ve noticed Sun Gro’s full page ads in trade magazines, so I decided it was time to try the Black Bear potting mix for myself. I compared the new biochar-based blend against my favorite potting mix. Three hundred tomato plants were started side-by-side, half in Black Bear and half in the control. The industry calls this a bench trial. I am a small producer by industry standards, so my bench trials are evaluated only by one perspective – “with my naked eye can I see that this treatment looks better than that one”. There is no time for complicated dry weight measurements, brix readings or leaf surface area scans that were commonplace when I worked at a research center.

Even a hobby gardener can do a simple test like this one.
Do some plants appear sturdier, greener, taller, or fluffier than others? Can I deliver the plant out into the real-world swiftly and successfully? A bench trial needs a key question, so here’s mine “Is this celebrity romance just gossip, or does it benefit gardening fans?”
When I studied a recent e-magazine article, I could see that the team at Sun Gro recognises that shorter production time and healthier plants are valuable to everyone – growers and hobbyists alike.

The FloraDaily article¹ published on Feb 6 2026, Tinneke Hattingh quoted Kay Jeong, PhD, Corporate R&D Manager for @sungrohort “One grower (who participated in a trial) gave feedback that our product helped the plants be ready earlier. That means early harvest and more return per cycle. So, this is a major win and is becoming a key area of focus for us.”
There we have it, Sun Gro is speaking my language. Time is money. My goal was to see if I could reproduce the superior pace of growth that the Sun Gro Horticulture team alluded to during their recent visit to the Canadian Greenhouse Conference in November 2025.

My trial results are in – the LOVE STORY is not merely GOSSIP.
A dwarf tomato named “Audrey’s Love” gave witness to the magical relationship between Mr Peat and Ms Char
The stand-out performer in my little trial was a dwarf tomato variety named “Audrey’s Love.” Merely 5 weeks after sowing, it was easy to see that the plants in the Black Bear were 50% larger than the tried-and-true grower mix that I have used for my entire career as a grower. In Audrey’s section the Black Bear plants averaged 10 cm tall; the control plants averaged 7 cm tall. The Black Bear plants had thicker stems and big, firm leaves. The tomato varieties in my trial are from the Dwarf Tomato Project, which are genetically compact plants. This made the visual assessment easier, as the plants were not stretched from the fast-paced growth caused by the worm castings I added prior to sowing the seed.

What did I do next? I ordered more Sun Gro Black Bear. Then I told two friends, who will tell two friends.

It’s not gossip; it’s news. Mr Peat loves Ms Char and together they are growing beautiful plants.

Here is my simple trial:
Crop – Tomato transplants to be donated to a not-for-profit urban farm
Size – 1020 deep plug tray with 72 cells lined with Growcoons
Quantity – 300 seedlings, a dozen varieties, open-source seed by Dwarf Tomato Project
Layout – trays sectioned, 3 rows of 12 in control, 3 rows of 12 in Black Bear
Feed Program – media blended with 1 part vermicast to 4 parts potting mix prior to sowing
Seeding – saturate cell with plain water, add pregerminated tomato seed
Source of Black Bear – consumer 42 litre bags from Home Depot

Unboxing Report:
• The packaging of the Black Bear is classy and speaks to the luxurious mix within
• Perforated plastic kept the media inside lightly damp which felt luxurious
• sharp white printing and colorful graphics on the glossy jet-black plastic are easy to read
• consumer tips are brief; biochar is a sustainable replacement for perlite
• Black Bear blend contains 18% biochar, control no biochar
• further info about the magical growth promoting aspects of biochar is conspicuous by its’ absence

¹ (Tinneke Hattingh, 2026)