I've just been out to the GC for the first time this year. I was sort of intending to buy some peat-free seed compost but in the end just couldn't bring myself to pay £4.99 for a tiny bag which wasn't entirely peat free.
As I mentioned in another thread, over the past year I've invested much time, a fair bit of money & a lot of space into creating a composting system that should give me all the compost I need. So I decided in the GC that I'd sieve some of my home-made stuff and add some vermiculite (and maybe some sand) and see how I get on. I'll use my chilli seeds as the first experiment. Not a problem if they don't germinate as I've still got tons in the freezer from the last 3 years!
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Peat-free general purpose bought last summer from QD. In all honesty its probably the worst compost I've ever used. Very woody with little body to it. Plants over wintering in the GH have looked sickly, and thus less resistant to disease and those hard frosts.
For smaller seeds I make a mixture of sieved MPC with topsoil from the garden and a bit of horticultural grit or perlite/vermiculite … whichever I have available. So far it seems to work just fine🤞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sieving is necessary with lots of composts, including home made stuff. If it's wet, that adds to the problem. I'd have to keep a load somewhere that it would dry out a bit if I wanted to sow seed in early spring. Trying to sieve wet compost of any kind is a massive no no! I've just put some from the compost bin in a site where I'm going to plant later. It would be useless for seed, but it's perfect for soil improvement. The leaf mould from the stuff gathered in autumn 21 is also too rough, but great for the soil. As @Dovefromabove says- it's about getting a friable mix which will enable seed to germinate easily. They don't need nutrition, just adequate drainage/moisture, and warmth/cold depending on the plant. I'll use the compost from last year's sweet pea pots for seed sowing in March. I've used some recently to pot on a couple of small plants. That's perfect as a sowing medium.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Peat-free general purpose bought last summer from QD. In all honesty its probably the worst compost I've ever used. Very woody with little body to it. Plants over wintering in the GH have looked sickly, and thus less resistant to disease and those hard frosts.
Tho there does appear to be some decent Peat Free available, it can be difficult to avoid the rubbish, Trial and error but a lot of time, effort and cash can be wasted trying to find a good consistent brand
sieve some of my home-made stuff and add some vermiculite (and maybe some sand) and see how I get on.
Look out for weeds seeds and creepy-crawlies. Best to sterilise. 5 mins at 70ºC seems to do it. It improves the texture a bit too. Add the other stuff after the sterilsing (of course).
Just read earlier posts. Composting leaves separately is worthwhile. Sterilising before sieving is better.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Good to see you too Dove. And you Fairygirl and Philippa. You as well Bede though I don't think we've met.
Philippa, some of Gordon Ramsay's vocabulary was certainly uttered
I think I should have explained that the plants weren't grown from seed in the QD peat free stuff. They were potted on into that, and went downhill from there. Lesson learned though, lots of young delphinium requienii perished but luckily can be treated as an annual if sown early enough. Descendants that came from your seeds incidentally Dove.
I’ve got healthy young Delph. requenii plants appearing in the front bed at the moment @Fishy65 … I noticed them this morning. It’s the bed I’d planned to more or less ‘empty’ this year to try to get rid of the Allium triquetrum 😖
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
sieve some of my home-made stuff and add some vermiculite (and maybe some sand) and see how I get on.
Look out for weeds seeds and creepy-crawlies. Best to sterilise. 5 mins at 70ºC seems to do it.
I'm going to propagate some trays of it for a couple of weeks without adding any of my seeds. That'll show if there are any weed seeds in there ready to germinate. If there are I'll sterilise as you say. Thanks.
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Nice to see you again too @Fishy65 - hope you're doing fine even if the young plants haven't! I'm still wondering what QD means - can't figure that out... Sylvagrow gets mentioned a lot as being very consistent, but as several of us have said before, it isn't available everywhere.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
As I mentioned in another thread, over the past year I've invested much time, a fair bit of money & a lot of space into creating a composting system that should give me all the compost I need. So I decided in the GC that I'd sieve some of my home-made stuff and add some vermiculite (and maybe some sand) and see how I get on. I'll use my chilli seeds as the first experiment. Not a problem if they don't germinate as I've still got tons in the freezer from the last 3 years!
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
For smaller seeds I make a mixture of sieved MPC with topsoil from the garden and a bit of horticultural grit or perlite/vermiculite … whichever I have available. So far it seems to work just fine🤞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've just put some from the compost bin in a site where I'm going to plant later. It would be useless for seed, but it's perfect for soil improvement. The leaf mould from the stuff gathered in autumn 21 is also too rough, but great for the soil.
As @Dovefromabove says- it's about getting a friable mix which will enable seed to germinate easily. They don't need nutrition, just adequate drainage/moisture, and warmth/cold depending on the plant.
I'll use the compost from last year's sweet pea pots for seed sowing in March. I've used some recently to pot on a couple of small plants. That's perfect as a sowing medium.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Tho there does appear to be some decent Peat Free available, it can be difficult to avoid the rubbish, Trial and error but a lot of time, effort and cash can be wasted trying to find a good consistent brand
Just read earlier posts. Composting leaves separately is worthwhile. Sterilising before sieving is better.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Philippa, some of Gordon Ramsay's vocabulary was certainly uttered
I think I should have explained that the plants weren't grown from seed in the QD peat free stuff. They were potted on into that, and went downhill from there. Lesson learned though, lots of young delphinium requienii perished but luckily can be treated as an annual if sown early enough. Descendants that came from your seeds incidentally Dove.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm going to propagate some trays of it for a couple of weeks without adding any of my seeds. That'll show if there are any weed seeds in there ready to germinate. If there are I'll sterilise as you say. Thanks.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
I'm still wondering what QD means - can't figure that out...
Sylvagrow gets mentioned a lot as being very consistent, but as several of us have said before, it isn't available everywhere.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...