@CraighB. was your bag from last year Peat Free? I have said for a few years now, the time I can’t get peat compost is the time I stop gardening, it’s coincided with old age, so this will probably be the last year of major growing.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
@Lyn Actually I'm not sure I will check tomorrow morning for you.
I feel the same as you though about not being able to get compost which contains peat. I get why they have to stop it but the peat free stuff you get just isn't as good. You never know what your going to get with peat free compost. It seems like a bit of a lottery and you can waste a lot of money buying absolute crap even from big brands.
I find that peat free drys out so much faster in containers, which is frustrating because I can't stand watering pots! I find it so boring and tedious
I think the only way forward is to mix your own home made compost with whatever you buy.
The Westland JI seems quite inconsistent at the moment. My last few bags of JI2 (bought together, so probably the same batch) I found to be very claggy, dense and clay-heavy. I'm having to dilute it with multi-purpose to open it out.
That photo looks like my shreddings before it goes into the compost heap. What comes out after a couple of turnings is better than that. This year I've used my own stuff mixed with BFB for nutrients to pot on my tomatoes.
I’ve used our own compost mixed with chicken pellets or bone meal for potting on, but it’s a but heavy for seeds, I could mix perlite in but really the compost should be fine on it’s own, not everyone had the ability to make their own mix.
@CraighB I have grow bag trays that I keep filled with water and alternate the pots/trays daily in there. Not so much work as the constant watering.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
This topic gets done over and over again every other week.
Make your own, it's easy. Kitchen waste + garden waste + wood chip + paper/cardboard + manure. Mix it up, leave it. It's as simple as that. I think that people seem to compartmentalise gardening. Some are shocked they have to sow seeds and that it isn't part of gardening. Some are appalled that they have to weed as they never knew it would be part of gardening. Sadly the same often applies to having children too. "I did the easy bit, do you mean I actually have to invest and look after them too?" Sorry, I CBA with that.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T RAPE THE EARTH AND BUY GROWING MEDIUM IN PLASTIC BAGS? GOD DAMN YOU I WANT EASY PLANTS AND I WANT THEM NOW!"
I recently I bought some Melcourt John Innes 3 (peat free) and it's basically woodchip. There doesn't seem to be any loam or any sand or heft to it at all. Melcourt/Sylvagrow has been my go to compost for years and this is the first time it's been bad. If it was regular MPC it would need another year for the woody material to break down. But JI3 is a whole other different recipe and it is concern. I might well write to the company with pics.
Posts
I have said for a few years now, the time I can’t get peat compost is the time I stop gardening, it’s coincided with old age, so this will probably be the last year of major growing.
I feel the same as you though about not being able to get compost which contains peat. I get why they have to stop it but the peat free stuff you get just isn't as good. You never know what your going to get with peat free compost. It seems like a bit of a lottery and you can waste a lot of money buying absolute crap even from big brands.
I find that peat free drys out so much faster in containers, which is frustrating because I can't stand watering pots! I find it so boring and tedious
I think the only way forward is to mix your own home made compost with whatever you buy.
Make your own, it's easy. Kitchen waste + garden waste + wood chip + paper/cardboard + manure. Mix it up, leave it. It's as simple as that.
I think that people seem to compartmentalise gardening. Some are shocked they have to sow seeds and that it isn't part of gardening. Some are appalled that they have to weed as they never knew it would be part of gardening.
Sadly the same often applies to having children too. "I did the easy bit, do you mean I actually have to invest and look after them too?" Sorry, I CBA with that.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T RAPE THE EARTH AND BUY GROWING MEDIUM IN PLASTIC BAGS? GOD DAMN YOU I WANT EASY PLANTS AND I WANT THEM NOW!"