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Peat Free Compost

northshields1947northshields1947 Posts: 23
in Problem solving
I am trying very hard to go peat free, but have always found the results in peat free compost to be rather obviously inferior to the results in peat based compost. Has anybody found a compost which is both widely available and produces results comparable to peat based compost?
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Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Lots of help here for you on this link:

    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1062800/peat-free-compost-disappointment#latest
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • zugeniezugenie Posts: 831
    I will sing the praises all day long of dalefoot wool compost, by far the best peat free compost I’ve used. They have a stockist list on their website. I’ve heard good things about sylvagrow but I’ve only used their ericaceous which I was very pleased with
  • northshields1947northshields1947 Posts: 23
    Plantminded
    Thank you very much for that link. It certainly contains some very interesting comments. It does seem, though, that no one has yet found a product which is both widely available and recommended.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It generally comes down to what's available in your area, and then experimenting. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Chris-P-BaconChris-P-Bacon Posts: 943
    northshields1947 said:
    I am trying very hard to go peat free, but have always found the results in peat free compost to be rather obviously inferior to the results in peat based compost. Has anybody found a compost which is both widely available and produces results comparable to peat based compost?
    Peat based is going to on sale until 2024. Personally I'll keep buying it. If I don't somebody else almost certainly will...it's already been harvested in any case - you can't put it back. I don't feel guilty or under pressure from the media (or gardening forums) to buy peat free. Having said that if I find a consistently good peat free at a reasonable price I'll buy it. Come 2024 I'll buy peat free..simples. (if I was a pro I'd be able to buy peat until 2028!) 
  • Poly-anthusPoly-anthus Posts: 155
    I've tried several different brands of peat free, and I don't like any of them!


  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    I am relatively happy with Miracle-Gro Peat Free Premium. It's fibrous but I don't think that's a problem and water retention properties are different than peat-based compost but annuals and vegetables grow ok in it. Looks good, smells good, no problematic bits in it.
  • *Astrantia**Astrantia* Posts: 307
    I bought some “new and improved” Jacks Magic last week I opened it today and it’s awful, it’s like a bag of recycled rubbish from the council, it’s full of sticks, lumps of bark, hard lumps of I don’t know what something like stones and bits of white shredded plastic. If this is what going peat free is then I’m not impressed!
  • Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
    @*Astrantia* Jacks Magic used to have 90% peat. They probably changed it due to law changes, and try to be peat free. I could imagine that they have to start from scratch. Others started years ago, and their results were not good either, but improved over the years.

    I ♥ my garden.

  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,394
    I just got the cheapest peat free I could find (Aldi) last year, and while it’s rubbish (literally) and I had to pick a lot of plastic pieces out, once I’d mixed it with grit sand or soil for different potting tasks, it was fine. Plants seemed very happy growing in it.
    East Yorkshire
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