Suze, loam is basically soil as Burhinus rightly says only not always found in those precise percentages. Seeds like babies need some weak nutrition when they are first sprung from the seed you plant, so a seed compost would be a third loam or compost, a third fine grit for drainage and a third washed sand. The seeds will happily germinate in that with some bottom heat, remember all seeds do not need heat though some need more heat than others. Once the first true leaves are set pot the seedling on into half loam, a quarter fine grit and a quarter washed sand, this is the next stage of weaning the young plants. The last move is to loam with a small amount of grit and sand and that should do until you harden the plants off and plant them out. each move give more and stronger nutrition.
Pure Compost is what you make in your compost box or bin at home, waste material which with heat air and time will become pure gold. When planting new plants I dig in some of my own compost to give the plant a boost until it has settled in not forgetting to always water in a new plant after putting in position. Hope this helps.
Hello Frank, many thanks for that explanation. I have never fully understood the different composts and the stages of potting on. Although I have been gardening/pottering on a small scale for over 40 years it is only the last couple of years, since acquiring an allotment, that I've got into seed sowing.
I did purchase some of Asda's multi-purpose compost yesterday, after accidently catching the bag with my car key which exposed some of the contents and if I can learn to upload a picture of it on the boards I will.
oops me again. Sorry I meant to also say that Wickes website customer reviews are very critical this year and Wickes have responded with the following:
Wickes Multipurpose Compost now has a new look and feel, with a new and improved formula. We are confident that when you use this product and see the results you can achieve, you will have a much more positive opinion of it, however, please note that this product is not suitable for planting seeds.
The shredded wood mentioned by some customers actually contains an exciting new wood fibre technology (and is not just for ‘bulking out’). This material is sterilised, pest and weed-free and is manufactured using a patented process. The fibres created using this process provide a lot of benefits, such as improved air spaces for root respiration and growth, easier wetting – so avoiding dry spots in pots, improved drainage – so no risk of water-logging, a drier surface to avoid growth of moss and liverworts, and also a lower density – making it easier to handle. Brenda
I think from all of what I have read in recent months about composts in particular multi- purpose, it is time for a change of name! I suggest " Not fit for purpose" compost.
Have just looked the reviews on the Homebase compost-exactly the same wood chips etc-my feeling it that it is all being produced in the same place and then branded for individual stores-that has never seemed the case in the past
Hello Brenda, we did not have this problem when we could buy peat based seed composts. Peat is not full of nutrient as home made compost is so was very good for seed setting the big growers are still allowed to use it by the way. I still at times can get hold of peat blocks and use it as a mix for setting seed. Another way is to empty last years pots into a bin and rest it then taking out small amounts and sterilising it by steaming, pouring boiling water through it or Jeye's fluid leaving it to dry in the air. All a bit of a palaver after years of just sowing your seeds into seed compost. As for wood in compost old gardeners know that wood takes a lot longer to break down than ordinary green waste, it also takes the nitrogen out of the compost or if spread as a mulch the soil something we all fell for years back when bark was introduced as a miracle mulch. I remember asking my father why he put an old tin bath of soil on his bonfires, no packaged seed compost back then and no one screamed if you lit a fire, he said he was sterilising his seed compost "Hmm", could it be possible to sneak a metal container of soil into the oven and give it thirty minutes on 180 c, we could probably slip a chicken casserole in at the same time says he whistling!
I have three compost bin/ barrels, one tumbler bin, three pallette bins and a section for leaves still in the bags I collected them in. The old green things that used to take all kitchen wastes are now for forcing rhubarb, VERY efficiently, yet, I still feel I need more compost ! I can go and collect as much horsemanure as I can load, sheeps dags, and my allotments own stuff, but I still itch for more. It's becoming an obsession ! My wife thinks I have gone too far now, and is threatening me with heavy blunt instruments, and I don't mean tuba's.
we have found the same probs with B&Q multipurpose, luckily we have found a forgotten heap of grass turf which we removed from a patch of grassland a few years ago and stacked in a pile - it has now turned into fantastic loam.
My husband also got a bit carried away with composting a neighbours horse manure - he filled all three compost bays before I couls stop him!!
Posts
Suze, loam is basically soil as Burhinus rightly says only not always found in those precise percentages. Seeds like babies need some weak nutrition when they are first sprung from the seed you plant, so a seed compost would be a third loam or compost, a third fine grit for drainage and a third washed sand. The seeds will happily germinate in that with some bottom heat, remember all seeds do not need heat though some need more heat than others. Once the first true leaves are set pot the seedling on into half loam, a quarter fine grit and a quarter washed sand, this is the next stage of weaning the young plants. The last move is to loam with a small amount of grit and sand and that should do until you harden the plants off and plant them out. each move give more and stronger nutrition.
Pure Compost is what you make in your compost box or bin at home, waste material which with heat air and time will become pure gold. When planting new plants I dig in some of my own compost to give the plant a boost until it has settled in not forgetting to always water in a new plant after putting in position. Hope this helps.
Frank.
Hello Frank, many thanks for that explanation. I have never fully understood the different composts and the stages of potting on. Although I have been gardening/pottering on a small scale for over 40 years it is only the last couple of years, since acquiring an allotment, that I've got into seed sowing.
I did purchase some of Asda's multi-purpose compost yesterday, after accidently catching the bag with my car key which exposed some of the contents
and if I can learn to upload a picture of it on the boards I will.
Brenda
oops me again. Sorry I meant to also say that Wickes website customer reviews are very critical this year and Wickes have responded with the following:
Wickes Multipurpose Compost now has a new look and feel, with a new and improved formula. We are confident that when you use this product and see the results you can achieve, you will have a much more positive opinion of it, however, please note that this product is not suitable for planting seeds.
The shredded wood mentioned by some customers actually contains an exciting new wood fibre technology (and is not just for ‘bulking out’). This material is sterilised, pest and weed-free and is manufactured using a patented process. The fibres created using this process provide a lot of benefits, such as improved air spaces for root respiration and growth, easier wetting – so avoiding dry spots in pots, improved drainage – so no risk of water-logging, a drier surface to avoid growth of moss and liverworts, and also a lower density – making it easier to handle.
Brenda
Have just looked the reviews on the Homebase compost-exactly the same wood chips etc-my feeling it that it is all being produced in the same place and then branded for individual stores-that has never seemed the case in the past
I have some wicks compost & my plants are doing fine just mix in some of your garden compost it fine.
Hello Brenda, we did not have this problem when we could buy peat based seed composts. Peat is not full of nutrient as home made compost is so was very good for seed setting the big growers are still allowed to use it by the way. I still at times can get hold of peat blocks and use it as a mix for setting seed. Another way is to empty last years pots into a bin and rest it then taking out small amounts and sterilising it by steaming, pouring boiling water through it or Jeye's fluid leaving it to dry in the air. All a bit of a palaver after years of just sowing your seeds into seed compost. As for wood in compost old gardeners know that wood takes a lot longer to break down than ordinary green waste, it also takes the nitrogen out of the compost or if spread as a mulch the soil something we all fell for years back when bark was introduced as a miracle mulch. I remember asking my father why he put an old tin bath of soil on his bonfires, no packaged seed compost back then and no one screamed if you lit a fire, he said he was sterilising his seed compost "Hmm", could it be possible to sneak a metal container of soil into the oven and give it thirty minutes on 180 c, we could probably slip a chicken casserole in at the same time says he whistling!
Frank.
I have three compost bin/ barrels, one tumbler bin, three pallette bins and a section for leaves still in the bags I collected them in. The old green things that used to take all kitchen wastes are now for forcing rhubarb, VERY efficiently, yet, I still feel I need more compost ! I can go and collect as much horsemanure as I can load, sheeps dags, and my allotments own stuff, but I still itch for more. It's becoming an obsession ! My wife thinks I have gone too far now, and is threatening me with heavy blunt instruments, and I don't mean tuba's.
we have found the same probs with B&Q multipurpose, luckily we have found a forgotten heap of grass turf which we removed from a patch of grassland a few years ago and stacked in a pile - it has now turned into fantastic loam.
My husband also got a bit carried away with composting a neighbours horse manure - he filled all three compost bays before I couls stop him!!