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Compost

WaterbutWaterbut Posts: 344
in Problem solving
With the lack of peat in compost bags I am not having very good results with my very young plants. Can anyone suggest a good mixture to make up for good results. My compost bins are empty at the moment.
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I use garden soil mixed with grit, or last year's compost/mix from containers, again mixed with some soil, or even manure, depending on what the plant will need, and if it's staying potted for a long time or being planted out later in the year.
    When potting on, you'll probably need to add a bit of slow release food to make up for the lack of nutrients, but it'll also depend on what your plants are.  :)
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  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited May 2023
    Peat is irreplaceable.  In the environment and in gardeners' hands.

    There have been a couple of recent threads.  Worth looking for.
     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."
  • Flora_petit_jardinFlora_petit_jardin Posts: 2
    I need to buy some compost but the last time I did that, two years ago, it contained the dreaded weed killer and so my little plants didn’t thrive well at all in it. Does anyone know if there’s a compost on the market that is guaranteed not to have weed killer in with it? 
  • Winston_The_Gravity_ManWinston_The_Gravity_Man Posts: 263
    Seriously , @janetbtyler ?  Weed killer in shop-bought compost ?  Is this a thing ?!  Can you remember the brand, please ?
    When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I think that it was in manure rather than MPC, but I could be wrong. Unfortunately it has happened several times over the last few years.
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  • ShepsSheps Posts: 2,236
    Sure I read on here that there was a big problem a few years ago with one of the Levington composts.
  • EustaceEustace Posts: 2,290
    I had contaminated peat free compost from Homebase last year. The tomato seedlings which were repotted in that compost all had shrunken leaves and failed.
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  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    punkdoc said:
    I think that it was in manure rather than MPC, but I could be wrong. Unfortunately it has happened several times over the last few years.
    Yes there is a weedkiller used on wheat and other cereal crops,  that seems quite persistent.  The reccomendation at the time was to grow something like Broad Beans  which are very sensitive to it. You pot them up in a compost you want to test . If they are OK then the product is OK. 
    AB Still learning

  • Flora_petit_jardinFlora_petit_jardin Posts: 2
    Yes the term to research is aminopyralid herbicide contamination. You can test grow in a sample to check first. I think there are ways to remove it eg. spread it out onto an unused patch of soil and let the microbes work on it for a year. 
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    IN COMPOST (say it like Lady Bracknell:  "in a handbag".)

    Are you sure it wasn't lawn dessing?
     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."
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