I got back in the garden about three years ago so have been trying everything.
Tried mainly bowers and verve(big bags) first year and both great. Then i got some bowers with slug eggs in and thought verve is cheaper and then the next lot of verve was pants nothing would grow in it so dug it out and spread around the beds with some plant food.
Tried bulk bags from a local supplier had one bad bag with bits of brick in complained so they apologised and gave me another free which was excellent .£60-80 for 800 litres depending on what compost you want and how many you buy.
This year seeds are going in John Innes I remember it from child hood and plants and bulbs in miracle grow. The miracle grow did give me a fright after the slug egg incident but it was just slow release plant food.
Its hit and miss buying compost, maybe split bags at a reduced priced are the best at least you know what your getting.
Hi all! I've recently been using erin multi purpose compost from thecompostshop and have been seeing pretty decent results, I also bought my cheap multi purpose compost from there aswell and I found that the results were all in all great. I don't feel the need to try a different company as I am recieving great results from both products. Bring on the better weather! Happy gardening everyone.
I've been using Richmoor MPC for at least 3 years now and it does the job. At £2 for a 70L bag its a bargin. If I need to I add bone meal and/or slow release fertilizer to boost the mix.
Only thing is though the shop that I buy these bags from no longer stocks them! Boooo. I've now ran out too . As a quick fix I bought a 70L MPC from B&M and now regret it, it's just full of twiggs & shredded wood. I'm hoping they will stock it again soon.
Have to admit i've given up on non peat multi composts, for anything other than adding to boarders. So i pretty much exclusively use either my own stuff, or B&Q verve peat based based. I would use non peat if they were any good but they all are just full of twigs and plastic, not what i want to be using on my veg beds for example.
Hi I am having a go with miracle grow this year it professies to make plants twice as big. 2 for a tenner . I was going to splash out on tomorite grobags and thought 6 would be o.k.as giant bags but son in law said his toms didn't do well in them. Have you had any experience of either?
I have tried grobags but were almost a total disaster with me.
As I work and some times have to stay late, on very warm sunny days when I arrived home and checked I found the tomato plants drooping for lack of moisture, this led to blossom end rot on the fruit!
I did not have the same problem at the same time with those planted in the GH borders!
Maybe if they had been looked after all day they might be different!
I've tried and tried to get on with non-peat compost - but I just cannot waste a whole growing season to experimentation! Last year I bought Levington mpc. Disaster. Full of glass, pebbles, twine and woody bits. I sent samples back to the company, and to their credit, they responded (and gave me a voucher) promising me that they were trying to overcome the problems.
I have no faith in this - bags of mpc are all pretty much rubbish, and it's jolly hard work sieving out all the detritus. So I have gone back to a peat-enriched formula that is far better, with far better results, as well. It goes against the grain to use peat (although Ireland burns far more than my paltry few bags per year) but if it works, and if the alternative is no good, then I, for one, will not prop up the market for sub-standard produce.
Posts
I got back in the garden about three years ago so have been trying everything.
Tried mainly bowers and verve(big bags) first year and both great. Then i got some bowers with slug eggs in and thought verve is cheaper and then the next lot of verve was pants nothing would grow in it so dug it out and spread around the beds with some plant food.
Tried bulk bags from a local supplier had one bad bag with bits of brick in complained so they apologised and gave me another free which was excellent .£60-80 for 800 litres depending on what compost you want and how many you buy.
This year seeds are going in John Innes I remember it from child hood and plants and bulbs in miracle grow. The miracle grow did give me a fright after the slug egg incident but it was just slow release plant food.
Its hit and miss buying compost, maybe split bags at a reduced priced are the best at least you know what your getting.
Hi all! I've recently been using erin multi purpose compost from thecompostshop and have been seeing pretty decent results, I also bought my cheap multi purpose compost from there aswell and I found that the results were all in all great. I don't feel the need to try a different company as I am recieving great results from both products. Bring on the better weather! Happy gardening everyone.
I've been using Richmoor MPC for at least 3 years now and it does the job. At £2 for a 70L bag its a bargin.
If I need to I add bone meal and/or slow release fertilizer to boost the mix.
Only thing is though the shop that I buy these bags from no longer stocks them! Boooo. I've now ran out too
. As a quick fix I bought a 70L MPC from B&M and now regret it, it's just full of twiggs & shredded wood. I'm hoping they will stock it again soon.
Have to admit i've given up on non peat multi composts, for anything other than adding to boarders. So i pretty much exclusively use either my own stuff, or B&Q verve peat based based. I would use non peat if they were any good but they all are just full of twigs and plastic, not what i want to be using on my veg beds for example.
.
Notice how the bags are getting smaller, they used to be 120L then 100 then 90 then 80 last year 70 this year 50 and 40L?
Would not be surprised if they end up using 10L plastic buckets like with FBB!
The best I can find is J Arthur Bowers MPC 100L 2 for £13.00.
More expensive than last year.
Any ideas where to buy better value MPC? I will need around 800-1000L.
Thanks
Hi
I am having a go with miracle grow this year it professies to make plants twice as big
. 2 for a tenner . I was going to splash out on tomorite grobags and thought 6 would be o.k.as giant bags but son in law said his toms didn't do well in them. Have you had any experience of either?
.
I have tried grobags but were almost a total disaster with me.
As I work and some times have to stay late, on very warm sunny days when I arrived home and checked I found the tomato plants drooping for lack of moisture, this led to blossom end rot on the fruit!
I did not have the same problem at the same time with those planted in the GH borders!
Maybe if they had been looked after all day they might be different!
I've tried and tried to get on with non-peat compost - but I just cannot waste a whole growing season to experimentation! Last year I bought Levington mpc. Disaster. Full of glass, pebbles, twine and woody bits. I sent samples back to the company, and to their credit, they responded (and gave me a voucher) promising me that they were trying to overcome the problems.
I have no faith in this - bags of mpc are all pretty much rubbish, and it's jolly hard work sieving out all the detritus. So I have gone back to a peat-enriched formula that is far better, with far better results, as well. It goes against the grain to use peat (although Ireland burns far more than my paltry few bags per year) but if it works, and if the alternative is no good, then I, for one, will not prop up the market for sub-standard produce.