OED: compost |ˈkɒmpɒst| noun [mass noun] decayed organic material used as a fertilizer for growing plants:cover with a layer of fine compost. • a mixture of compost or similar material with loam soil used as a growing medium:sweet peppers can be grown singly in pots of potting compost | [count noun] : peat-free composts.
Horse manure is not compost. It is far too rich, esp when fresh. Good to add to soil, but not suitable for making a growing medium for pot plants, and especially not for seeds or cuttings.
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."
@wild edges I also had a big problem with fungus gnats. I used a soil drench of 3% hydrogen peroxide (1 part hp, 2 or 3 parts watet). Worked a treat and haven't seen any more for the last couple of months
@wild edges I also had a big problem with fungus gnats. I used a soil drench of 3% hydrogen peroxide (1 part hp, 2 or 3 parts watet). Worked a treat and haven't seen any more for the last couple of months
I guess that added to the cost! Can't take the compost back can we!
OED: compost |ˈkɒmpɒst| noun [mass noun] decayed organic material used as a fertilizer for growing plants:cover with a layer of fine compost. • a mixture of compost or similar material with loam soil used as a growing medium:sweet peppers can be grown singly in pots of potting compost | [count noun] : peat-free composts.
Horse manure is not compost. It is far too rich, esp when fresh. Good to add to soil, but not suitable for making a growing medium for pot plants, and especially not for seeds or cuttings.
True. I would use a low part of HM (mine has been in a bin for a year) and seed in a seed compost layer on top.
As an infrequent poster on this site I’ve made the point on similar threads that peat free is not being composted long enough and is consequently too open and woody. Most of it drains too quickly, contains too much air space and the worst won’t even suck liquid up from the bottom. Compost manufacturers really need to get their act together on this. Gone are the days when they pulverised some peat, adjusted the PH, added something for drainage, a bit of fertiliser then bagged and sold it. Making compost from scratch is much more complicated, especially when producing in volume while maintaining consistency.
It looks like manufacturers are expecting to produce something that does the same job as peat, for similar cost in too short a timescale and are having some pretty poor results. More time, no-how and achieving a viable, sustainable mix to aid decomposition is going to cost more and none of the manufacturers are willing to risk their current profits by being the first to bite the bullet. As long as we continue to buy rubbish they will happily continue to sell it.
Well, of course the price will go up if they spend more time making it a decent fertiliser. I am trying to grow spring onions in the stuff from seed and they struggle to push up through. Radish are OK. Trying to avoid the more expensive seed compost.
I have mentioned this on other threads. On the Beechgrove garden their head gardener has done a couple of items showing what they do, to modify peat free compost for greater success.Two points stand out, he always seives the peat free first, and adds sharp sand, the mix varies then for seed sowing or potting on. Now I know most of us don't have space for, loam stacks and leaf bays etc etc, but we can all have a little seive, and a small bag of horticultural sand, if it makes a real difference. I accept that many people just want to open a bag of product and use it, but it seems at the moment that if you want to avoid failure you will need to learn new methods, so will I.
I have had composts over the last couple of years where if you sieved the woody fibrous bits out you'd be left with little more than sand. That's probably at the extreme end of not rotted down long enough though. I've been mixing in sieved homemade compost when I have it ready but otherwise things have had to take their chances.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Posts
• a mixture of compost or similar material with loam soil used as a growing medium:sweet peppers can be grown singly in pots of potting compost | [count noun] : peat-free composts.
Horse manure is not compost. It is far too rich, esp when fresh. Good to add to soil, but not suitable for making a growing medium for pot plants, and especially not for seeds or cuttings.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I guess that added to the cost! Can't take the compost back can we!
True. I would use a low part of HM (mine has been in a bin for a year) and seed in a seed compost layer on top.
I accept that many people just want to open a bag of product and use it, but it seems at the moment that if you want to avoid failure you will need to learn new methods, so will I.