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Help needed
Have a go Nick
Posts: 352
is there such a thing as a BAD MULTI PURPOSE compost? Or are they all much of a muchness?
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I'm no expert Nick but I think you can get peat based compost and compost that contains no peat. There's been a lot of discussion on here previously. Some gardeners are happy with peat free composts but others say that a decent one hasnt been made yet and until then they will continue to use peat based composts. I know that you should use it within 6 months. Other than that I'm going to leave it to the experts, I'm sure one will come along soon.
As in do you get what you pay for?, if you get 2 x 50l compost from my local supermarket for £8 is it going to be cheap rubbish
Maybe not Nick, they just bag up what they get. One of the best I had this season was very cheap from Wickes.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I like the levington pro range best, but it is not easy to get hold of. It is peat based. Most multipurpose compost is just recycled green waste with added fertiliser, bits of broken pot, plastic and the occasional nail. I object to having to sieve the rubbish out before using it.
I have 4 compost bins [one made from pallets used only for weeds, which I will leave for at least another year before using] the others are plastic. Two of them are now ready, the compost being sweet and crumbly ready for top dressing and digging into trenches for peas and beans. The other bin will be ready next spring. All in all, although I have seldom had a problem with commercial compost, I will save a lot of money which can be spent elsewhere on the allotment.
I used to use peat free for pots and garden. The Range had an offer on Westland Multi-Purpose 4 for £12. It was hopeless and plants really struggled with it. I now use Jack's Magic peat based compost 3 for £12. So far it's perfect. No glass, plastic or other extra's in it.
I can't produce enough home made compost for the potato bags, pots for toms and carrots, so I use Verve from B&Q; ( about £5.50 for 125 litres I think, I buy on a Wednesday when I can use my 'wrinkly' card) I find it pretty ok. Sometimes there is a bit of plastic, but then there is also in my home made stuff
In direct answer to your question I find that they are all pretty much the same, personally I buy cheap, throw in some of the cheap fishblood and bone meal and it all seems to grow pretty well.
Alec