This year I decided to try the local council compost made from garden waste, after an expensive and very poor encounter with Miraclegrow growbags last year (£5 per growbag!). The council bags were five large bags for £10. I'm growing my tomatoes in them, using them as growbags, three per bag, and so far so good. They are lush growing and healthy looking, flowering well with little tomatoes now. So far no supplementary feeding. I've also used it as seed compost and that's worked well too, (for tomatoes, sunflowers, courgettes and a few other things).
I know this product is bound to vary council to council, how hot it gets and the making process; some councils will do much better than others. My point is don't write off the council stuff, try it and see.
Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
In the June issue of the RHS journal, they are noting gardening events during the Queens reign. One thing that caught my eye, they said except for a few very special plants Kew garden went peat free in 1992. Given that it's 30 years ago you would have thought the generally available commercial compost would be better than it is by now.
Our council doesn't sell its compost directly to the public . It's "used for land remediation, landscaping and sold in garden centres" i.e. they sell it commercially.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I asked our council if they sell it, they said no because people were complaining there were weeds in it, they use it on their municipal gardens. I’ve had the best success with our own compost, Just germinated some veg seeds in 3 days. For finer seeds I mixed garden soil, compost and perlite.
I haven’t found our homemade compost gets anymore weeds germinating than bought compost, seeds float about in the air or perhaps birds drop them but you soon get used to what’s a weed and if you sow your seeds in rows you can easily see what’s what.
When you think about, what exactly is bought compost, just been sterilised and some sort of feed added, the basic ingredients are the same, you can add your own feed to your own compost.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
This year I decided to try the local council compost made from garden waste, after an expensive and very poor encounter with Miraclegrow growbags last year (£5 per growbag!). The council bags were five large bags for £10. I'm growing my tomatoes in them, using them as growbags, three per bag, and so far so good. They are lush growing and healthy looking, flowering well with little tomatoes now. So far no supplementary feeding. I've also used it as seed compost and that's worked well too, (for tomatoes, sunflowers, courgettes and a few other things).
I know this product is bound to vary council to council, how hot it gets and the making process; some councils will do much better than others. My point is don't write off the council stuff, try it and see.
Update to the above: my tomatoes planted into the council stuff, growbag style, are doing very very well. They are profusely flowering and have setting tomatoes and the foliage is lush and dark green. There has been no need to feed so far as they look every bit as good as those growing in pots with my home compost.
Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
I mentioned this particular peat-free compost on another thread, available from Home Bargains and much cheaper than garden centre brands. My tomatoes, chillies & cucumber are growing really well in it. Although I will say I'm having to water the tomatoes a lot more, but then this is the first year I've grown them all in only 10 inch pots, so.....
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Tried compose from garden centre and from other places. I agree you get what you paid for. Alternatively, for the same compose comparing prices before purchase.
I had a horrible experience this year with a bag of New Horizons, lost loads of seedlings. Happily, like @Redwing, we can buy from our local council place. £1 a bag, as many as you can fit in the boot of your car! As we've started our garden from scratch, we've got it everywhere and the whole garden is romping merrily, as well as lush, green and fruitful toms, chillis and sweet peppers. It does come with added bits of plastic and occasional weeds but I'm happy to trade that off for the quality we're getting. Reading other comments I realise how lucky we are to have this facility. Seems like peat-free producers need to get on their game a lot more.
It's knowing what to do with things that counts - Robert Frost
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I know this product is bound to vary council to council, how hot it gets and the making process; some councils will do much better than others. My point is don't write off the council stuff, try it and see.
I’ve had the best success with our own compost, Just germinated some veg seeds in 3 days.
For finer seeds I mixed garden soil, compost and perlite.
I haven’t found our homemade compost gets anymore weeds germinating than bought compost, seeds float about in the air or perhaps birds drop them but you soon get used to what’s a weed and if you sow your seeds in rows you can easily see what’s what.
When you think about, what exactly is bought compost, just been sterilised and some sort of feed added, the basic ingredients are the same, you can add your own feed to your own compost.
Update to the above: my tomatoes planted into the council stuff, growbag style, are doing very very well. They are profusely flowering and have setting tomatoes and the foliage is lush and dark green. There has been no need to feed so far as they look every bit as good as those growing in pots with my home compost.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Might give some of that a try, thanks.
Today I bought a bag of SylvaGrow multipurpose peat free £9.99 from a local garden centre, will give it a try.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful