@Redwing I bought some yorganics last year which I think is green waste from York area. It was ok, I used it for filling a new raised bed but there was quite a bit of plastic and large solid lumps to break up. This year I was able to get free soil conditioner from my local tip (Wakefield) and I was pretty impressed with it. Used it in another new raised bed, but texture was good and I could see that it would be fine as a general compost with a bit of sieving. Only found a couple of bits of plastic too so I think they must screen it somehow.
I had used Miraclegro for years until it started to have lumps of wood in it. I'm sure the wood in one bag was a piece of broken trellis. It was certainly the shape of trellis timber. Doesn't say much for the screening process.
I'm trying out the council made from green waste compost this year, labelled as 'soil conditioner'. I know some people on here give it a bad press and it must be variable council to council but the best of them compost the green waste in large volumes at high temperatures so in theory it should be good and weed seed free. I don't mind about the twigs ......but plastics can get in; not so good. So far though, it's been clean.
So far I've used it for general potting and seed sowing....so far so good. And I intend to use some bags as grow bags for my tomatoes this year.
And it's pretty cheap too at five large bags for £10. I'm curious to know how other local council's stuff compares.
I wish I knew where my council takes all our garden waste - I would love to be able to buy back the compost at a good price. I can't track it down, but suspect the LBH send it out to Essex ..
No-one knows if you have done your house-work, but everyone knows is you haven't done your gardening
I've used Levington Peat Free compost with added John Innes for the first time to grow dahlia tubers. It looked quite fibrous on first sight but had a nice dark colour and earthy smell! It flowed freely and kept moisture in once watered, not drying out quickly like others I have used. The dahlias have come on well so I will use this compost generally now in other pots and containers. One of my local garden centres offers a discount for buying two 50 litre bags.
I've used Westland's composts for years and have always had good results from my seedlings, al the way to adult plants, this year I used their peat free products, what a disaster that was. More than half my seeds didn't germinate, what did germinate was weeds, pots and trays full of it, also fungus and toadstools of various varieties. out of four bags of compost I separated one and a half kilos of pebbles, I found bits of plastic pots, strimmer cord, electrical wire, polythene, and twigs that were up to 4 inches long, it also seemed the bags were not fully composted.
I think this, for a top name in compost is not so good and I'm most probably going change to something else. I purchased 10 bags for the mature plants and four bags for seeding, I don't think the mature plants like it that much so I'm feeding them already and the compost for the seedlings seemed to be very muddy when watered also dried out extremely quick so was constantly in the greenhouse watching over everything. All I can say is weeds love the stuff. Sorry for the rant but compost is not cheap and you expect reasonable result, this I didn't get.
@Jimmcc1 I have to agree with you this year on Westlands peat free compost. I've posted here already about the variable quality but this year has really been disastrous. Seeds not germinated, poor growth from those that have and into the bargain the compost holds water better than the bath sponge. Between the compost and seeds wasted I'm down about £100 and now having to go and buy plants. I've just returned from B&Q with 2 100 litre bags of Verve peat free so we'll see what that's like later this afternoon.
I’ve just bought Westland peat free, not by choice, I just grabbed the bags, paid and fled, I don’t do shopping. Just opened it, texture is really nice, all broken down but the smell is like burning tyres.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Picked up a bag of ‘SupaGrow’ organic, peat free as it was the cheapest one in the GC… awful! Like dust! Doesn’t look like much for the roots to dig into and the water doesn’t drain away well. I’ve had to mix it with my own compost for the pots it was for.
Maybe mixing is the way to go as other varieties were very course with bigger bits of bark etc. I noticed the ‘burnt tyre’ smell in my last batch of HoneBase own and the water that comes out was very dark.
Posts
This is a useful thread, giving me some ideas for others to try. I do think, though, the variability between batches makes it hard to choose!
I think this, for a top name in compost is not so good and I'm most probably going change to something else. I purchased 10 bags for the mature plants and four bags for seeding, I don't think the mature plants like it that much so I'm feeding them already and the compost for the seedlings seemed to be very muddy when watered also dried out extremely quick so was constantly in the greenhouse watching over everything. All I can say is weeds love the stuff.
Sorry for the rant but compost is not cheap and you expect reasonable result, this I didn't get.
Just opened it, texture is really nice, all broken down but the smell is like burning tyres.
I noticed the ‘burnt tyre’ smell in my last batch of HoneBase own and the water that comes out was very dark.