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Problems with commercial peat-free compost

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  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Except seeds found in ancient Egyptian pyramids have been successfully germinated.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    Redwing said:
    Make your own, but make it better. Try to avoid putting weeds/seeds in there in the first place and getting it hot so it kills any.

    That's what is really hard @MikeOxgreen.....the getting it hot part.  Unless you have acres of garden you don't have enough compost material, also machinery to keep turning it, it won't get hot enough to kill the weed seeds....so easier said than done. Volume is important and most of us don't have that.

    Also the comment about avoiding putting weed/seeds in, I feel that shows a lack of practical experience.  You're gonna get seeds in your composting material, however hard you try not to.
    You just aren't trying hard enough, read here for a start: https://www.hotbincomposting.com/
    At £200 - £680 plus extras that's beyond the reach of most gardeners.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    Redwing said:
    Redwing said:
    Make your own, but make it better. Try to avoid putting weeds/seeds in there in the first place and getting it hot so it kills any.

    That's what is really hard @MikeOxgreen.....the getting it hot part.  Unless you have acres of garden you don't have enough compost material, also machinery to keep turning it, it won't get hot enough to kill the weed seeds....so easier said than done. Volume is important and most of us don't have that.

    Also the comment about avoiding putting weed/seeds in, I feel that shows a lack of practical experience.  You're gonna get seeds in your composting material, however hard you try not to.
    You just aren't trying hard enough, read here for a start: https://www.hotbincomposting.com/
    At £200 - £680 plus extras that's beyond the reach of most gardeners.
    £100 here: 
    https://www.deubaxxl.co.uk/hotbin-composter-black-1600l-261x72x83cm-3576/?number=106394&gclid=CjwKCAjwy_aUBhACEiwA2IHHQAdCQfT-BNxuY4wOktrOyBkRJvkGlZMuEZjl6GPQE9COTrrCc3CC3RoCsrkQAvD_BwE

    That is going to make a lot of decent environmentally friendly compost forever more though, so deduct that from the price and add a few points to your morals. Or as the lady pointed out earlier, wrap some insulation round a cheap bin.
    If you want to you can do it, you just have to want it.
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    @Fairygirl I am not worried about that silly man’s comments. I used to be a barmaid and am aware of the phenomenon of the “pub bore” 
    I have managed to find some compost thats an old mixture and contains peat and have bought some for my seeds next year. 
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    debs64 said:
    @Fairygirl I am not worried about that silly man’s comments. I used to be a barmaid and am aware of the phenomenon of the “pub bore” 
     
    @debs64 I rather like your "pub bore" description,  Thanks for that  :D
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    debs64 said:
    @Fairygirl I am not worried about that silly man’s comments. I used to be a barmaid and am aware of the phenomenon of the “pub bore” 

    Nice one  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I used to work in a greasy spoon transport cafe, on the main A30,   if you can take the stick from that lot you can take it from anybody,   Like you @debs64,   Well battle hardened. I never fancied bar work,  I don’t think I could be that polite to pub bores. 😀these days they’d be crying ‘abuse’. Then you learnt to give back as good as you got.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • MrMowMrMow Posts: 160
    After a long haul of trying to achieve plants from seed in what I call pure garbage compost, and we have finally put all the plants in the garden.

    Then to find out that some of the plants look like nothing on the packets, blue Salvias are RED. And my pom pom mixed Dahlias are 99% yellow and are hardly pom pom, the candy tuff is just ground cover. At least my lupins are starting to flower.

    Is it really worth all the hassle to grow from seed?

    So poor compost and poor seed quality why do we bother?


    I never knew retirement would be so busy. :smile:




  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @MrMow.  Just the thrill of getting a plant from a tiny seed.
    but you’re right,  they’re heading for the garden anyway that’s why I’m sowing mine in garden soil with added perlite. 
    Its no different than direct sowing. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    punkdoc said:
    I speak as a still peat user, but trying slowly not to be.

    I think it is totally wrong that we should be allowed to destroy vital habitats, that have a major impact on preventing climate change.

    Many successful commercial plant nurseries are peat free, so we should all be striving to do the same.
    But what you are forgetting is that our right to grow plants as a hobby is far more important than global climate change and biodiversity loss.
    That's a joke, I presume.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
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