‘i keep an eye put for peat-free compost but it’s an unheard of concept here’ would be my answer.
Peat is available in a huge dried brick form from a German DIY store here, no idea of its source...
I tend to buy locally-made ericaceous compost made from composted pine bark on the basis it might balance out my very alkaline soil, but have no choice but to buy MPC when I need something more neutral as a growing medium.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
For me it's a bit like electric cars. A great theory but a long way from being a truly practical alternative. I did get a bag of peat free from our local nursery because it had a notice on it saying it's what they use. To be perfectly honest it's absolute rubbish and nothing like the compost in anything I have purchased from them. It felt as if it had a high wool content and dried out ridiculously quickly.
I've been almost peat free for the last couple of years and had great results. Melcourt Sylvagrow is excellent. The only downside is it is far from universally available. My nearest supplier is half an hour away but it is Cramden Nursery so is worth the trip at the start of the year to also stock up on pelargoniums.
The other I've had good success with is home mixed. I use a green waste from a local nursery (£10 for 200L), coir (cheapest I can find on ebay) and soil mixed together. I also add a dose of controlled release fertiliser and make the coir up with a seaweed solution rather than straight water.
I personally believe it is important for gardeners to at least try to be peat free. I find it weird that we try to encourage nature in our own gardens but contribute to damage elsewhere by our use of peat.
Having said that I drive a petrol car, will be flying on holiday and occasionally use products containing palm oil. Ho hum!
I HAVE tried to be peat free, but it's not as good so I'm not wasting my money. What about the environmental impact of the extra fertislisers and water needed for plants growing in peat free compost? Swings and roundabouts.
I was under the impression mpc containing peat ran out of nutrients after about 6 weeks. That’s the same as peat free. Both need more fertiliser, either as a regular liquid feed or something more long term.
Last summer I grew pots side by side with some containing peat and some not. No difference in how they grew.
I use Miracle-Gro peat free mpc and have no complaints whatsoever. I use it for pots, baskets, seed sowing, sieved in lawn dressing, all sorts. I feed only with seaweed so no extra fertiliser required anyway. No difference between my plants and my in-laws, who stubbornly refuse to change in any way and still use peat and chemicals by the truckload.
However some other peat free mpc i've tried have been awful. B&Q's for one, New Horizon was another.
Gardening. The cause of, and solution to, all of my problems.
I realise it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, but if compost with a peat content has already been produced, and is on sale, what is being achieved by not using it. What would happen to that compost if everybody did refuse to buy it? It would end up as landfill.
It can be argued that if nobody bought it, there would be no incentive to produce it, but that still wouldn't get round the problem of what to do with what does exist.
Not available here either, large bags of spagnum are which is probably pure "young" peat. I personally only buy seed compost in huge 100l bags all the rest of my compost needs are met by green waste compost, at the equivalent of £6 per trailer.
I realise it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, but if compost with a peat content has already been produced, and is on sale, what is being achieved by not using it. What would happen to that compost if everybody did refuse to buy it? It would end up as landfill.
It can be argued that if nobody bought it, there would be no incentive to produce it, but that still wouldn't get round the problem of what to do with what does exist.
I don’t understand your logic. How likely is demand going to fall to zero overnight? As is more likely we’ll get there over time and demand and supply will gradually fall. Regulation by government will speed up the process. As would an Attenborough TV series 😉
I imagine any unsold compost gets used by the garden centre in some way. Companies like Bord Na Mona aren't going to give up their multi-million quid business without a fight though so even if gardeners stop using peat they'll find some way to use the stuff like burning it for 'green' energy.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Posts
Peat is available in a huge dried brick form from a German DIY store here, no idea of its source...
I tend to buy locally-made ericaceous compost made from composted pine bark on the basis it might balance out my very alkaline soil, but have no choice but to buy MPC when I need something more neutral as a growing medium.
The other I've had good success with is home mixed. I use a green waste from a local nursery (£10 for 200L), coir (cheapest I can find on ebay) and soil mixed together. I also add a dose of controlled release fertiliser and make the coir up with a seaweed solution rather than straight water.
I personally believe it is important for gardeners to at least try to be peat free. I find it weird that we try to encourage nature in our own gardens but contribute to damage elsewhere by our use of peat.
Having said that I drive a petrol car, will be flying on holiday and occasionally use products containing palm oil. Ho hum!
What about the environmental impact of the extra fertislisers and water needed for plants growing in peat free compost?
Swings and roundabouts.
Last summer I grew pots side by side with some containing peat and some not. No difference in how they grew.
However some other peat free mpc i've tried have been awful. B&Q's for one, New Horizon was another.