For the last couple of years i have been using a multipurpose compost which is called Q4, which can be brought from Taylors Corn Stores.I have not had any problems with this, you sometimes find the odd bit of twig in there but these are minuscule pieces.It is a good quality and was highly recommended by the people down on the allotments as it is good for growing vegetables and flowers in. I find seeds and all other plants thrive in it and would never buy any other. I have set 20 trays of seeds and all have grown and i haven't lost any of my potted on plants.
I am relatively new to gardening, and being disabled and on a tight budget, tend to read any reviews of stuff before I buy - you gardeners seem a very honest and passionate (about gardening!) bunch. If you look at the most recent reviews on both the B&Q and Wickes websites, all of the RECENT reviews say what complete rubbish this is.
Like I said, I am fairly new to gardening, and trying to raise a lot of things from seed to save money (flowers as well as veggies). The best results I've had so far are with the Jiffy plugs, where this is a bit of compressed stuff that you add water to, then sow the seed, great in my opinion, as I know when I can see roots, I need to pot these on. However, the potting on has been a bit hit & miss, the first bag of potting on compost I got was ASDA's own, which was good, the next 3 bags I bought were not as good though. Next I've gone on to a massive bag of Levington's, which I thought I'd be OK with, but I wouldn't even TRY to sow seeds in this, there are big bits of wire and fairly big twigs in there. It's OK for potting on, but too coarse for seeds (not that I really know what I'm talking about).
If I hadn't read about how rubbish the b&q and Wickes stuff is, I would have bought it, had everything die, and probably been put off gardening for life. If anyone wants to start a 'grow your own compost' thread, I'd be really interested.
For sowing seeds I've always used multi-purpose, but have always sieved it before use. I've never been that bothered about whether it's peat free or not. This year I bought 3 bags of Westland with added JI. It wasn't as fluffy as the stuff I've used previously, and has quite a few bits of fibrous stuff in it that I wouldn't be happy to sow into - but as I said previously, I've always riddled potting compost prior to seed sowing anyway.
I've saved the riddled bits to use as a base for stuff that I'm potting on. I haven't found any bits of glass, wood or rubbish in it. If the companies are using council composted green waste as a major constitiuent, and that waste is contaminated with uncompostable waste, then who is responsible?
Compost which has been stored outside in the wet starts to decompose anaerobically - producing exactly the unpleasant rotted smell many have noted. It also means the compost can start to leach out compounds which are inhospitable or even toxic to plants. Compost bought early this spring may have been left over from the previous autumn and may well have been too old. If I opened a bag of compost and it smelt bad I would take it straight back and complain. No plant will thrive in it. Roots must have air - oxygen - to grow and plenty of it.
Many of the complaint posts here are about soil based and peat based composts too, such as the Levingtons and JI. Also, it's not clear that the opening question referred to a peat-free compost. Multi-purpose composts usually include peat, unless they expressly say peat-free. Many people are surprised by this - they assume that a compost which includes peat would say so clearly, but it's the other way round.
I choose not to use peat because I think it's the right thing to do - as a gardener I want to leave the world a better place, environmentally, if I can. I have grown peat-free for over 10 years and now grow 20,000 plants a year without peat. The phrase I hear murmured most often around the nursery is 'Don't the plants look healthy?'
I use New Horizon peat-free compost for pretty much everything. The retail mix is a little more fibrous than the commercial mix I now get in large bulk bags, but for three years I used the bags. I mix in a bit of horticultural grit sand to give it a bit of 'bite' for potting up. I sieve it for seeds.
Just to add - have never found glass etc. in our commercially bought peat-free compost. We do get it a little plastic in the composted green waste we get direct from the council, but that's very cheap, and just goes onto the garden as mulch.
Well this explains why my dahlias have all failed and got green mould on the surface. I used the 3 for 10 B & Q mp, can't believe it thought I had done something wrong even though I have followed the same procedures for a good few years. So pleased this thread had been started and going out to buy different MP this weekend, does anyone have advice on which brand to buy. I used B & Q seed compost as well, some seeds have done well but others very bad.
For seed sowing, try a scattering of medium vermiculite or fine grit on the surface of the seed tray. Stops that greening on the surface and 'capping off' where the seed tray gets a crust on it.
I am relatively new to gardening, and being disabled and on a tight budget, tend to read any reviews of stuff before I buy - you gardeners seem a very honest and passionate (about gardening!) bunch. If you look at the most recent reviews on both the B&Q and Wickes websites, all of the RECENT reviews say what complete rubbish this is
They don't actually the last six reviews on the B& Q stuff in my link above praises it to the hilt-suspiciously so in my opinion-4 or 5 stars.
Sue Beesley aka Trillium I think? So you post with serious provenance, having won Gardener of the Year (green with envy!)
I take your comments seriously, but have to report that locally (one GC six miles away and a couple of nurseries within an hour's drive - just) I have to go with what's available. But I think I'll have a word with the owner who knows just how much patronage she gets from me! (OH has no idea of my annual spend ) and see if things can't be improved for next year.
If you need a LOT of compost it is well worth giving your local council a call. I bought some from ours (S Glos) in February. I wanted 5 tons (their minimum delivered) but as their riddle machine wasn't working they gave me 8 tons for the same price - £50 delivered!!
I think you can collect smaller amounts free but tbh at that price it isn't worth it.
A little bit on the twiggy side (as it hadn't been riddled) and the odd small piece of plastic or glass, but on the whole seems weed free and better quality than the bagged stuff. I'm just recomposting some of the twiggier bits with some chicken manure from a local farmer, so no problem. Just a bit of a large pile, but I'm sure it'll get used!!
Posts
For the last couple of years i have been using a multipurpose compost which is called Q4, which can be brought from Taylors Corn Stores.I have not had any problems with this, you sometimes find the odd bit of twig in there but these are minuscule pieces.It is a good quality and was highly recommended by the people down on the allotments as it is good for growing vegetables and flowers in. I find seeds and all other plants thrive in it and would never buy any other. I have set 20 trays of seeds and all have grown and i haven't lost any of my potted on plants.
I am relatively new to gardening, and being disabled and on a tight budget, tend to read any reviews of stuff before I buy - you gardeners seem a very honest and passionate (about gardening!) bunch. If you look at the most recent reviews on both the B&Q and Wickes websites, all of the RECENT reviews say what complete rubbish this is.
Like I said, I am fairly new to gardening, and trying to raise a lot of things from seed to save money (flowers as well as veggies). The best results I've had so far are with the Jiffy plugs, where this is a bit of compressed stuff that you add water to, then sow the seed, great in my opinion, as I know when I can see roots, I need to pot these on. However, the potting on has been a bit hit & miss, the first bag of potting on compost I got was ASDA's own, which was good, the next 3 bags I bought were not as good though. Next I've gone on to a massive bag of Levington's, which I thought I'd be OK with, but I wouldn't even TRY to sow seeds in this, there are big bits of wire and fairly big twigs in there. It's OK for potting on, but too coarse for seeds (not that I really know what I'm talking about).
If I hadn't read about how rubbish the b&q and Wickes stuff is, I would have bought it, had everything die, and probably been put off gardening for life. If anyone wants to start a 'grow your own compost' thread, I'd be really interested.
For sowing seeds I've always used multi-purpose, but have always sieved it before use. I've never been that bothered about whether it's peat free or not. This year I bought 3 bags of Westland with added JI. It wasn't as fluffy as the stuff I've used previously, and has quite a few bits of fibrous stuff in it that I wouldn't be happy to sow into - but as I said previously, I've always riddled potting compost prior to seed sowing anyway.
I've saved the riddled bits to use as a base for stuff that I'm potting on. I haven't found any bits of glass, wood or rubbish in it. If the companies are using council composted green waste as a major constitiuent, and that waste is contaminated with uncompostable waste, then who is responsible?
Where to start...
Compost which has been stored outside in the wet starts to decompose anaerobically - producing exactly the unpleasant rotted smell many have noted. It also means the compost can start to leach out compounds which are inhospitable or even toxic to plants. Compost bought early this spring may have been left over from the previous autumn and may well have been too old. If I opened a bag of compost and it smelt bad I would take it straight back and complain. No plant will thrive in it. Roots must have air - oxygen - to grow and plenty of it.
Many of the complaint posts here are about soil based and peat based composts too, such as the Levingtons and JI. Also, it's not clear that the opening question referred to a peat-free compost. Multi-purpose composts usually include peat, unless they expressly say peat-free. Many people are surprised by this - they assume that a compost which includes peat would say so clearly, but it's the other way round.
I choose not to use peat because I think it's the right thing to do - as a gardener I want to leave the world a better place, environmentally, if I can. I have grown peat-free for over 10 years and now grow 20,000 plants a year without peat. The phrase I hear murmured most often around the nursery is 'Don't the plants look healthy?'
I use New Horizon peat-free compost for pretty much everything. The retail mix is a little more fibrous than the commercial mix I now get in large bulk bags, but for three years I used the bags. I mix in a bit of horticultural grit sand to give it a bit of 'bite' for potting up. I sieve it for seeds.
Just to add - have never found glass etc. in our commercially bought peat-free compost. We do get it a little plastic in the composted green waste we get direct from the council, but that's very cheap, and just goes onto the garden as mulch.
For seed sowing, try a scattering of medium vermiculite or fine grit on the surface of the seed tray. Stops that greening on the surface and 'capping off' where the seed tray gets a crust on it.
They don't actually the last six reviews on the B& Q stuff in my link above praises it to the hilt-suspiciously so in my opinion-4 or 5 stars.
Sue Beesley aka Trillium I think? So you post with serious provenance, having won Gardener of the Year (green with envy!)
I take your comments seriously, but have to report that locally (one GC six miles away and a couple of nurseries within an hour's drive - just) I have to go with what's available. But I think I'll have a word with the owner who knows just how much patronage she gets from me! (OH has no idea of my annual spend
) and see if things can't be improved for next year.
If you need a LOT of compost it is well worth giving your local council a call. I bought some from ours (S Glos) in February. I wanted 5 tons (their minimum delivered) but as their riddle machine wasn't working they gave me 8 tons for the same price - £50 delivered!!
I think you can collect smaller amounts free but tbh at that price it isn't worth it.
A little bit on the twiggy side (as it hadn't been riddled) and the odd small piece of plastic or glass, but on the whole seems weed free and better quality than the bagged stuff. I'm just recomposting some of the twiggier bits with some chicken manure from a local farmer, so no problem. Just a bit of a large pile, but I'm sure it'll get used!!