I've tried different mpc from the cheap and cheerful to more expensive one's. One year the quality was particularly bad and so I took to making more myself and only purchasing split bags so the content could be seen, these usually come at a discount.
I'm not a fan of council recycled compost because of all the unrecyclable bit's in it, after saying that presumably it's put there by gardeners so we only have ourselves to blame
We do a bit of work in this sector and the issue is speed and space and sales.
On a good year there is lots of materials to process and the processors want it off site and sold ASAP.
So the processing time can drop and the heat needed through the initial Mesophillic microbes to generate the heat for the Thermophillic microbes just isn't there. So the diseases/pathogens stay in the compost and you get large pieces of material.
Ideally windrows need turning every 5-10 days, but there is also a cost in terms of manpower and diesel, so reducing the amount of turns can also reduce costs.
I also wonder whether they restrict intensity of the shredders/macerators to reduce wear/maintenence costs which means you have much larger pieces of 'compost'.
A combination of one or all three has the potential to create almost the perfect storm
No sites we have spoken to were interested in using bacterial based compost accelerators nor biostimulants to stimulate the bacterial growth speed.
I suspect bottom line is this is an extra cost and the pressure is on them from the councils to take the materials and the retailers to reduce costs rather than improve quality.
i bought three bags of Verve compost from b&q and re potted my perennials and planted my tomato seedlings in the com post. They have all stopped growing and started to die.I gave my neighbor some of the tomato plants and they are perfect, so it must have been the verve compost. .
I am so glad I have found this forum. Bought 3 big bags of B and Q MP compost and my plants and seedlings are struggling and dying off at root system as described in earlier blogs. It's such a shame after the hours and hours I have spent growing from seed and potting on and then finding out I have sentenced them to an early end. I will write to B and Q but I don't think the issue will be resolved. Lesson learned buying cheap nasty compost. Thanks my our all who shared your experiences. I thought I was going mad.
It seems to still be happening this year as well. I bought Four bags of Levingtons giant tomato planter, there was a sour smell from a very wet compost when I cut them open.
The three variety's of tomatoes planted are very stunted, I also planted the same variety's of tomato in a couple of Miracle Grow Gro Your Own bags and these are fine.
I still have yet to find what company makes Levingtons I can't seem to get an answer on line.
Posts
I've tried different mpc from the cheap and cheerful to more expensive one's. One year the quality was particularly bad and so I took to making more myself and only purchasing split bags so the content could be seen, these usually come at a discount.
I'm not a fan of council recycled compost because of all the unrecyclable bit's in it, after saying that presumably it's put there by gardeners so we only have ourselves to blame
We do a bit of work in this sector and the issue is speed and space and sales.
On a good year there is lots of materials to process and the processors want it off site and sold ASAP.
So the processing time can drop and the heat needed through the initial Mesophillic microbes to generate the heat for the Thermophillic microbes just isn't there. So the diseases/pathogens stay in the compost and you get large pieces of material.
Ideally windrows need turning every 5-10 days, but there is also a cost in terms of manpower and diesel, so reducing the amount of turns can also reduce costs.
I also wonder whether they restrict intensity of the shredders/macerators to reduce wear/maintenence costs which means you have much larger pieces of 'compost'.
A combination of one or all three has the potential to create almost the perfect storm
No sites we have spoken to were interested in using bacterial based compost accelerators nor biostimulants to stimulate the bacterial growth speed.
I suspect bottom line is this is an extra cost and the pressure is on them from the councils to take the materials and the retailers to reduce costs rather than improve quality.
i bought three bags of Verve compost from b&q and re potted my perennials and planted my tomato seedlings in the com post. They have all stopped growing and started to die.I gave my neighbor some of the tomato plants and they are perfect, so it must have been the verve compost. .
I am so glad I have found this forum. Bought 3 big bags of B and Q MP compost and my plants and seedlings are struggling and dying off at root system as described in earlier blogs. It's such a shame after the hours and hours I have spent growing from seed and potting on and then finding out I have sentenced them to an early end. I will write to B and Q but I don't think the issue will be resolved. Lesson learned buying cheap nasty compost. Thanks my our all who shared your experiences. I thought I was going mad.
It seems to still be happening this year as well. I bought Four bags of Levingtons giant tomato planter, there was a sour smell from a very wet compost when I cut them open.
The three variety's of tomatoes planted are very stunted, I also planted the same variety's of tomato in a couple of Miracle Grow Gro Your Own bags and these are fine.
I still have yet to find what company makes Levingtons I can't seem to get an answer on line.