Some of the compost bags sold on amazon (from various brands) seem to have quite a big gnat problem, and/or the soil is mouldy and killing the plants. So many bad stories, such as:
"I
used this to re-pot only one of my house plants and now there’s a
massive infestation of gnats in my home. It’s awful, I can’t believe
this mess of gnats everywhere in my home happened as a result of the
single plant that I’ve re-potted with this soil. I’ve now used about 12
of those sticky gnat traps and every single one of them are full by the
end of the day."
"Our
soil was full of fungus gnats. I’d never seen them/heard of them
before. I’d re-potted our precious plants with this stuff and new
seedlings. I’ve lost some plants to the heavy infestation and my whole
house is covered in these flies! They’ve even gone into our food! Seems to be a common issue here so hoping miracle gro with compensate us but I won’t expect it...."
"... the worst thing was
the infestation of fungus gnats that I now have in every plant that this
was used for! So now I've had to isolate all the infected ones,
purchase more houseplant compost (not from Amazon, very wary now) along
with hydrogen peroxide and Diatomite to try and save my plants. Buying
this was a very expensive mistake. Please avoid as you will have to take
measures to rectify - if you use it there is a real risk you will lose
your plants."
"Extremely
disappointed. Used this soil on two plants; both died within two weeks
from the same issues. Other plants I repotted with different soil are
fine. Leads me to suspect this bag was contaminated, possibly with
pests. My succulents are sadly headed for the bin. Strongly advise
against purchasing this soil. Can't recommend it."
"Stay
clear of this product! I'm devastated...I've lost 6 (all) of my plants
that I have had for years after repotting with this compost...so much
money, time and effort gone cause of this company's infected
compost...hundreds and hundreds of little, white, worm-type bugs
crawling all over my plants and I couldn't get rid of them...please stay
clear and save yourself the disappointment.."
Can anyone suggest a good place online that will sell safe repotting compost?
I've had the B&Q Verve stuff before (not this year though) and it was fine. Most brands do seem to be variable these days. I expect it's because of what they're putting in instead of peat.
I don't think I'd buy compost online - I prefer to have a look if there's an open bag, and make sure it doesn't look as if it's been in stock for too long, or kept outside in the rain (or at least pick one from underneath others).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks JennyJ. My current big bag of Verve multi-purpose seems OK (not bought this year either). I recently potted some new little seedlings into pots with it and as far as I can tell it's clean and without bugs. I just need to find some safe drying stuff I can mix it with for the anthurium, as on it's own it seems it'll be too wet from what people are saying.
Thank you JennyJ. I read your links, and as far as I can see, perlite seems perfect for my anthurium! Do you have any idea of the best % of multi-purpose and perlite I should use, and do you think this should work OK?
You are overthinking this slightly, and taking too much notice of online reviews for compost! I just use the standard multi-purpose I have lying around, and I mix it up to what seems a reasonable texture with orchid bark and perlite; I have to be honest and admit I never measure. Something that looks coarse, like the picture below, is what I would aim for personally, but there is no single 'right' way of doing this.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
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Seems to be a common issue here so hoping miracle gro with compensate us but I won’t expect it...."