The only problem I have ever heard of regarding weedkiller, was when Horse manure had been contaminated with Aminopyralid weedkiller. People who had this problem are still suffering from it 4 years later, but that was not in peat free composts.
I use Vital Earth mainly because it comes from nearby so the road miles are not too bad. Never had any trouble with getting stuff to grow.
I would add that one has to remember that the peat free stuff is made from whatever people put in their green waste bins and that could well include plant material which has been treated with weedkiller. However the manufacturers of this material all claim that the heat and other treatments they give their product remove things like that and any other pathogens. Pity the treatment does not remove Oxalis cornuta seeds though.
If I remeber correctly, there was a couple of articles in a major newspaper gardening section covering this problem.
Many readers had complainted to the gardening Guru that they had dismall results using a range of different composts and how many had found bits of wood./polythene and other small debris in their favourite compost, and It was said, that a lot of compost firms are addng a good amount of council recycled compost to bulk up their regular stuff...YUK!!
(the guru concluded it would probably have a good amount of weed killer in it, from what householders put in their recycle bin..eg dandelions/ weeds after treating them with a weed killer )
also many of them employed a degree of spin by hiding the info by saying the compost has other additives or words similar to that.
A couple of years back there was a problem with weedkiller in compost. I think that this has now passed but for info this year I have found that one of the top makes of compost was rubbish, yet Homebase own brand is brilliant.
The only thing I would add is that IF there was any residual weedkiller in the peat free compost then a. There would be screams from the gardeners who suffered and b. from the professional who are being forced into using it by the RHS who insist on it for any plants sold under their aegis.
I have only ever used the one kind and so far I have never seen any problems with my plants growing in it. Indeed I have more trouble with peat based stuff these days, that is full of rubbish and lumps and such like.
That is all really interesting. I have not had good results with the compost I have bought in recent years - so called organic, or peat free but to be honest thought it was my lack of watering or feeding rather than the compost! I see New Horizon is recommened on this web site so will try to track some of this down.
Thank you everyone for your feedback, it has been really helpful.
It has indeed been veryinteresting. I think you need to change the way you water and feed with Non-peat. It does not retain moisture anywhere near as well as peat and consequently it loses nutrients much more quickly.
I confess when making up my potting compost for sales plants, I add about a third of peat based stuff to the peat free before adding grit (my stuff is mainly alpines) and then the slow release granules. It seems to work well.
I did not realise that about non-peat so thank you. I do need to be a bit more consistent I admit, it is just at the end of a long day trudging around with a watering can or doing battle with an ever tangled hose is not my most favourite job - but perhaps worthwhile for better results!
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Makes sure you tell them that, when you make your complaint.
Good point, I will do. Thank you!
The only problem I have ever heard of regarding weedkiller, was when Horse manure had been contaminated with Aminopyralid weedkiller. People who had this problem are still suffering from it 4 years later, but that was not in peat free composts.
I use Vital Earth mainly because it comes from nearby so the road miles are not too bad. Never had any trouble with getting stuff to grow.
I would add that one has to remember that the peat free stuff is made from whatever people put in their green waste bins and that could well include plant material which has been treated with weedkiller. However the manufacturers of this material all claim that the heat and other treatments they give their product remove things like that and any other pathogens. Pity the treatment does not remove Oxalis cornuta seeds though.
If I remeber correctly, there was a couple of articles in a major newspaper gardening section covering this problem.
Many readers had complainted to the gardening Guru that they had dismall results using a range of different composts and how many had found bits of wood./polythene and other small debris in their favourite compost, and It was said, that a lot of compost firms are addng a good amount of council recycled compost to bulk up their regular stuff...YUK!!
(the guru concluded it would probably have a good amount of weed killer in it, from what householders put in their recycle bin..eg dandelions/ weeds after treating them with a weed killer )
also many of them employed a degree of spin by hiding the info by saying the compost has other additives or words similar to that.
A couple of years back there was a problem with weedkiller in compost. I think that this has now passed but for info this year I have found that one of the top makes of compost was rubbish, yet Homebase own brand is brilliant.
The only thing I would add is that IF there was any residual weedkiller in the peat free compost then a. There would be screams from the gardeners who suffered and b. from the professional who are being forced into using it by the RHS who insist on it for any plants sold under their aegis.
I have only ever used the one kind and so far I have never seen any problems with my plants growing in it. Indeed I have more trouble with peat based stuff these days, that is full of rubbish and lumps and such like.
That is all really interesting. I have not had good results with the compost I have bought in recent years - so called organic, or peat free but to be honest thought it was my lack of watering or feeding rather than the compost! I see New Horizon is recommened on this web site so will try to track some of this down.
Thank you everyone for your feedback, it has been really helpful.
It has indeed been veryinteresting. I think you need to change the way you water and feed with Non-peat. It does not retain moisture anywhere near as well as peat and consequently it loses nutrients much more quickly.
I confess when making up my potting compost for sales plants, I add about a third of peat based stuff to the peat free before adding grit (my stuff is mainly alpines) and then the slow release granules. It seems to work well.
I did not realise that about non-peat so thank you. I do need to be a bit more consistent I admit, it is just at the end of a long day trudging around with a watering can or doing battle with an ever tangled hose is not my most favourite job - but perhaps worthwhile for better results!