Grrrr, multi-purpose compost my arse - I should do them under the trade descriptions act!
I'm talking about a bag of Homebase Multi Purpose Peat Free Compost, supposedly with 'enriched nutrients to feed plants for 6-8 weeks', and 'improved water retention'.
I knew it was rubbish as soon as I opened the bag - it looked more like mulch than compost (I even checked the bag to make sure I hadn't accidentally got the wrong stuff) but I had been given a lift to the shop to buy it, and there was no going back - I had no choice other than to use it because I had seedlings that needed pricking out.
After a week, it was obvious that the sprouts were going to die if I didn't do something quickly, as they were starting to go yellow, and hadn't grown at all. All I could do was re-use some old compost out of the pots of sweetcorn that hadn't germinated. I only had enough to do twelve of the fourteen plants, and even then I had to use the old compost sparingly to make it go far enough, but I hoped it would be enough to do the trick.
This is a photo of the plants a couple of days ago. No prizes for guessing that the two in the middle were the ones still stuck in the Homebase compost:
And these are some Romanesco seedlings pricked out at the same time into the Homebase 'compost'. I can't remember exactly when I pricked them out, but they were sown back in mid-May. I have to say, I don't hold out much hope for them!!! :
I wonder if Homebase will compensate me for the loss of next winter's brassicas!
And just in case anyone argues that this type of compost is really meant for larger plants, in pots and baskets, I'd like to mention that even they are struggling in the stuff, wilting badly as it is drying out too quickly. When I water, most of it is running straight through the compost!
Multi-purpose compost???
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Hi Mouse,
A little while back I posted this website with an article by Peter Seabrook.
Peter is one of the finest gardener and writers we have in this country and I post this website again for you to peruse.
http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/100 ... y-compost/
My personal thoughts are that the gardening public is is being duped into buying very inferior products suggesting on the packet that they are wonderful when in fact are absolute rubbish. (literally)
I feel that we should be pressing the government for a British Standard within the whole framework of Compost.
JB.
A little while back I posted this website with an article by Peter Seabrook.
Peter is one of the finest gardener and writers we have in this country and I post this website again for you to peruse.
http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/100 ... y-compost/
My personal thoughts are that the gardening public is is being duped into buying very inferior products suggesting on the packet that they are wonderful when in fact are absolute rubbish. (literally)
I feel that we should be pressing the government for a British Standard within the whole framework of Compost.
JB.
Hi Mouse. That stuff looks just like the rubbish I bought from Netto! It's absolute trash, with what appears to be shredded chipboard in it. It was cheap but like yourself, it was "handy" and I was in urgent need of compost. Once I opened the bag and saw the state of it, I decided not to use it for pricking out my seedlings....seeing the results of yours, I'm glad I followed my instincts.
I filled a large tub with it and sowed a packet of carrots that were a freebie from a magazine (not KG!). Like yours, it dries out and is almost impossible to re-wet (Strange word but I reckon you know what I mean! ) and the surface goes like concrete. The carrots took absolutely ages to germinate and those that did are not looking too promising. I might just tip the whole lot out and dig it into the garden because that's about all it's fit for.
Cheers.
I filled a large tub with it and sowed a packet of carrots that were a freebie from a magazine (not KG!). Like yours, it dries out and is almost impossible to re-wet (Strange word but I reckon you know what I mean! ) and the surface goes like concrete. The carrots took absolutely ages to germinate and those that did are not looking too promising. I might just tip the whole lot out and dig it into the garden because that's about all it's fit for.
Cheers.
Happy with my lot
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Homebase compost is junk. I gave it up years ago for the above reasons mentioned by others. B&Q MPC - in large bags has been great for me - so far.
I heartily agree with you, Johnboy, about having a British Standard for potting composts. I have had some really strange stuff the last few years, presumably because the bulk comprises council-collected garden rubbish. The difficulty is, of course, that, until you open the bag you don't know what you are getting. I used to buy Arthur Bowers potting composts but they have not been consistently good lately, either.
Included in this British Standard should also be a requirement for a "sell by" date or similar, because some places certainly sell off their last year's badly stored bags in spring.
Included in this British Standard should also be a requirement for a "sell by" date or similar, because some places certainly sell off their last year's badly stored bags in spring.
I have been buying B&Q compost with John Innes for the last couple of years, it was okay and I did not really have any problem. This year the compost just keeps drying out more quickly than in previous years and when watering the water runs straight through the pot and takes quite a long time to wet properly.
We bought some compost from Wilkinsons which is called professional compost. Absolute rubbish. So full of some sort of fibre that you could not plant small seeds.
I think the compost companies are cutting back and making cheaper quality compost for the same money. Not good.
We bought some compost from Wilkinsons which is called professional compost. Absolute rubbish. So full of some sort of fibre that you could not plant small seeds.
I think the compost companies are cutting back and making cheaper quality compost for the same money. Not good.
- glallotments
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Buying good compost is becoming a real problem as even stuff that has been good before seems to be unreliable.
The texture is really awful in some composts.
The texture is really awful in some composts.
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I'm using home made compost, and for seeds I just seive it, now that I am mulching veg beds it frees up the compost for pots and seedlings.
No problems with plant growth or water holding capacity.
No problems with plant growth or water holding capacity.
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
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- alan refail
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Hi Mouse
Truly dispiriting pictures. Have you made your feelings known to Homebase? Its name is not entirely misleading - it certainly looks "peat-free"! - multipurpose compost it ain't!
I imagine the combined pressures of reducing peat use, municipal composting and "grow your own" have persuaded many companies that there is a ready market amongst the unwary for low-grade rubbish.
Maybe the answer is to only buy peat-based composts. I have never had any problems with
Always a consistent quality and composition.
Or, maybe, go back to making your own from the John Innes recipes?
http://www.gardeningdata.co.uk/soil/joh ... _innes.php
Truly dispiriting pictures. Have you made your feelings known to Homebase? Its name is not entirely misleading - it certainly looks "peat-free"! - multipurpose compost it ain't!
I imagine the combined pressures of reducing peat use, municipal composting and "grow your own" have persuaded many companies that there is a ready market amongst the unwary for low-grade rubbish.
Maybe the answer is to only buy peat-based composts. I have never had any problems with
Always a consistent quality and composition.
Or, maybe, go back to making your own from the John Innes recipes?
http://www.gardeningdata.co.uk/soil/joh ... _innes.php
- Geoff
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Erin also still make peat based composts and the Wickes own brand is largely peat and is a great texture. When I see summaries of the Which? testing (haven't read a full report) it seems they concentrate on food content and how long it keeps things going for, which to me is pretty irrelevant. Seed raising success should be easy to measure. "Wettability" and water retention a bit more tricky. For growing things on I think adding a standard food mix to almost make the original fertiliser content irrelevant then measuring top growth and root growth should show how well they support development. I am intending to try and up my production of leaf mould then try using it in JI type formulations instead of peat. I've never been keen on sieving the compost heap to use as a growing medium but might try that as well. Have a feeling the few usable products will be squeezed out eventually.
Hi, Alan.
No, I haven't made my feelings known to Homebase. I had to go in there for something last week, and had every intention of complaining, but when faced at the tills with a posse of three 'Saturday boys', I cowered out!!!
From now on, I will be able to shop around a little more carefully for compost (and everything else, come to that!), because after five years of managing without a car, having to cycle everywhere, and relying on the occasional lift to get such things, I have finally admitted defeat and bought a car.
In the meantime, based on what Nature's Babe said, I shall have a look at the bottom of my compost bins at the lottie and see if there is any usable compost there. I must admit, I had never thought of using it for seedlings - I have always just dug it back into the beds on the allotment.
No, I haven't made my feelings known to Homebase. I had to go in there for something last week, and had every intention of complaining, but when faced at the tills with a posse of three 'Saturday boys', I cowered out!!!
From now on, I will be able to shop around a little more carefully for compost (and everything else, come to that!), because after five years of managing without a car, having to cycle everywhere, and relying on the occasional lift to get such things, I have finally admitted defeat and bought a car.
In the meantime, based on what Nature's Babe said, I shall have a look at the bottom of my compost bins at the lottie and see if there is any usable compost there. I must admit, I had never thought of using it for seedlings - I have always just dug it back into the beds on the allotment.
Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.
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- Shallot Man
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Johnboy. was uanable to open the Peter Seabrook link on y-composts.
- alan refail
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Shallot Man wrote:Johnboy. was uanable to open the Peter Seabrook link on y-composts.
Try this one
http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/100 ... y-compost/
- Tony Hague
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New Horizons seems to be consistently the best of the peat free composts, according to various sources. Works OK for me, but a blend of 3 buckets sieved (home made) garden compost to 1 bucket vermiperl with a handful fo seaweed meal thrown in is working every bit as well. I have Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in a greenhouse doing just fine in this mix, with some in New Horizons for comparison. So far no discernable difference, though the taste test is yet to come ...
- glallotments
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I potted up all my houseplants this year as did my sister and we both have noticed a higher than usual number of small black flies which could be fungus gnats. I'm guessing they are related to the compost in some way. Nothing to do with keeping compost too wet which I know can increase their numbers.
visit my website http://ossettweather.com/glallotments.co.uk/index.html
blog http://glallotments.blogspot.com
and school gardening website http://theschoolvegetablepatch.co.uk/index.html
Weather blog http://ossettweather.blogspot.com/
blog http://glallotments.blogspot.com
and school gardening website http://theschoolvegetablepatch.co.uk/index.html
Weather blog http://ossettweather.blogspot.com/