I've been using the Aldi peat free for everything but seedlings (supposedly better brands aren't as easily available as I'm in Ireland) and was really disappointed in it initially but after an initial few weeks of sulking & yellowing most of my plants are doing fine now. Definitely not as good or reliable as peat but not a disaster either. It smells awful though and is very chunky/fibrous so definitely not suitable for indoor or seriously fussy plants.
I’ve had success with my home made compost and garden soil, my pepper plants are thriving in just the compost, I’ve fed them once, I would normally have potted them on by now when using bought compost but these are good as they are. I sowed and pricked out all veg seeds in my own compost. I planted the tomatoes out in the green house in my compost, with garden soil and I had a couple of Levintons grow bags that I added just to get rid of them, tomatoes and lettuces and cucumbers best they’ve ever been.
This is what gardeners have always done before we were cajoled into buying 'manufactured' products, it's the same with baby formula, pet food, meat pies and more. It's at times like this a 'reality' check is needed - 'Are manufactured products really any better'?
First bag of compost I think was sold in 1920's:
"Composting dates back to at least the early Roman Empire, and was mentioned as early as Cato the Elder's 160 BCE piece De Agri Cultura.[84] Traditionally, composting involved piling organic materials until the next planting season, at which time the materials would have decayed enough to be ready for use in the soil. The advantage of this method is that little working time or effort is required from the composter and it fits in naturally with agricultural practices in temperate climates. Disadvantages (from the modern perspective) are that space is used for a whole year, some nutrients might be leached due to exposure to rainfall, and disease-producing organisms and insects may not be adequately controlled.[citation needed]
Composting began to modernize somewhat from the 1920s in Europe as a tool for organic farming.[85] The first industrial station for the transformation of urban organic materials into compost was set up in Wels, Austria in the year 1921......
This is what gardeners have always done before we were cajoled into buying 'manufactured' products, it's the same with baby formula, pet food, meat pies and more. It's at times like this a 'reality' check is needed - 'Are manufactured products really any better'?
OH and I were saying that, They never bought bags of compost it was unheard of, a farmer sowing seeds first in compost! We need to think differently now. Why do we pay companies to do what we can do, its all the same stuff, Rotted down green waste, all they do is add 6 weeks of feed, you can do that yourself, and the weeds are suppose to be dead. The only weeds I sometimes get is the Hairy Bittercress but they’re so tiny and easily pulled it’s not a problem.
Seeds germinate well in compost and garden soil with a scoop of perlite or vermiculite mixed. I know some don’t have space for a little heap, but most do, once you start, it doesn’t take long to become expert.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Problem is, I can only make so much homemade compost, not enough for growing on all the plants I raise from seeds and cuttings, ones that are bought too small to go straight into the garden, hanging baskets and pots for the hard standing around the house, as well as mulching and soil improvement. Nowhere near enough. I might have to switch to buying in mulch/soil improver (as well as using the coarse stuff that's left after sieving the homemade) instead of buying potting compost.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Yes same here. I have used up all of mine now - two bins on the go but won't be ready for some time (and there is a bee/wasp nest in one of them, now So I suppose only really one on the go...) There is a limit to how much I can produce anyway. The problem with peat free is the inconsistency of quality - not just from brand to brand but within the brand. It's not all rubbish by any means. I have had some good MiracleGro stuff and also some Sylvagrow that seems ok (although the texture is a bit bark-y.) I too think I have had some contaminated stuff (Wickes) the other bags of which I daren't use. I will get round to testing it at some point (the broad bean test). I have had some very strange, slightly chemically-smelling peat stuff too, but it was ok. I suspect that when compost is contaminated, it's usually trace amounts that you would not detect except when growing plants that are sensitive to it - scuh as beans and tomatoes... which is basically what I use it for! Like Dove from above I am compromising by using a mix of peat and peat free at the moment.
Oh where is the jet black, rich looking, nice smelling, crumbly stuff of the past, that you never had to even think about using!😭 Instead of this pale brown, looks like the sweeping off a woodworkers floor, odd smelling, stuff they call peat/peat free today 😭 And no not all of us have the room to make our own, or the space to have multiple bags of this or that to mix the right stuff for our soils, or endless pockets either. So in the end it may come down to my joy being lost in growing my own veg all because I can't afford to grow it anymore 💔
Sylvagrow is very good. I dunno what people are expecting when they buy peat-free compost from Aldi - of course it's not going to be brilliant!
Many commercial nurseries have switched to 100% peat free, which suggests to me that none of us really have an excuse.
And just to add, I have bought non-peat-free compost in the last year which has had the same issues as the cheaper peat-free stuff, it seems to be more a problem of manufacturer's cutting costs.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
I would love to try Silvagrow but there aren't any stockists around here. The nearest is a 40 mile round trip and that's not good for the environment, before we start on the cost of the fuel - and I don't live in a remote rural area where 40 miles might not seem like much.
I've had good, bad and indifferent peat-free stuff from Aldi as well as Lidl and B&Q own brand, over the last several years, so it's not just about price.
My pet theory is that the big increase in demand due publicity about not using peat as well as lockdown effect (lots more people gardening) means they have in some cases at least rushed the process and not let the material compost for long enough.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Sylviagrow might be good @Loxley , but our nearest stockest (20 miles) doesn't keep it ( Dobbies, go figure ) and it is twice the price of any of the available locally brands, so right there has priced itself out of the question. If the producers are getting away with inferior products for the cheeper stuff, how long before they do it to the dearer end of the market? As for excuses I don't have acres of land to use to make compost! BTW Loxley if you are making your own, why are you buying?
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First bag of compost I think was sold in 1920's:
"Composting dates back to at least the early Roman Empire, and was mentioned as early as Cato the Elder's 160 BCE piece De Agri Cultura.[84] Traditionally, composting involved piling organic materials until the next planting season, at which time the materials would have decayed enough to be ready for use in the soil. The advantage of this method is that little working time or effort is required from the composter and it fits in naturally with agricultural practices in temperate climates. Disadvantages (from the modern perspective) are that space is used for a whole year, some nutrients might be leached due to exposure to rainfall, and disease-producing organisms and insects may not be adequately controlled.[citation needed]
Composting began to modernize somewhat from the 1920s in Europe as a tool for organic farming.[85] The first industrial station for the transformation of urban organic materials into compost was set up in Wels, Austria in the year 1921......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
We need to think differently now. Why do we pay companies to do what we can do,
its all the same stuff, Rotted down green waste, all they do is add 6 weeks of feed, you can do that yourself, and the weeds are suppose to be dead.
The only weeds I sometimes get is the Hairy Bittercress but they’re so tiny and easily pulled it’s not a problem.
Seeds germinate well in compost and garden soil with a scoop of perlite or vermiculite mixed.
I know some don’t have space for a little heap, but most do, once you start, it doesn’t take long to become expert.
The problem with peat free is the inconsistency of quality - not just from brand to brand but within the brand. It's not all rubbish by any means. I have had some good MiracleGro stuff and also some Sylvagrow that seems ok (although the texture is a bit bark-y.) I too think I have had some contaminated stuff (Wickes) the other bags of which I daren't use. I will get round to testing it at some point (the broad bean test). I have had some very strange, slightly chemically-smelling peat stuff too, but it was ok. I suspect that when compost is contaminated, it's usually trace amounts that you would not detect except when growing plants that are sensitive to it - scuh as beans and tomatoes... which is basically what I use it for! Like Dove from above I am compromising by using a mix of peat and peat free at the moment.
And no not all of us have the room to make our own, or the space to have multiple bags of this or that to mix the right stuff for our soils, or endless pockets either.
So in the end it may come down to my joy being lost in growing my own veg all because I can't afford to grow it anymore 💔
Many commercial nurseries have switched to 100% peat free, which suggests to me that none of us really have an excuse.
And just to add, I have bought non-peat-free compost in the last year which has had the same issues as the cheaper peat-free stuff, it seems to be more a problem of manufacturer's cutting costs.
As for excuses I don't have acres of land to use to make compost!
BTW Loxley if you are making your own, why are you buying?