Kitchen Garden Forum

I think another problem is that we don't really know what is in the composts that we buy or even how long they have been 'hanging around'.

The point about peat free being safer is why at least one environmentalist I know of is supporting the campaign to keep aminopyralid off the market. He says that it's use has impacted on people's confidence of peat free products. I agree that the fact that the mixes seem inconsistent is partly to blame too.

What OH says is what worries me because I suspect that the commercial compost firms can probably buy in bulk from local authority composting facilities and get a good price. With the pressure on them to reduce their own costs and buy in cheaper raw materials, how can we (the general public) know what quality control measures they put in place to check the purity of these materials, if indeed there is any way of testing the chemical additives which may be included.?

I always use Clover Multipurpose, which as far as I can see uses only peat.

Because of the poor quality of so much of the peat free compost, this year when I went to buy peat grow bags, I was unable to source it in Glasgow. The best that local garden centres chains and B&Q were able to provide was a mixture of 30%peat and the rest other stuff.
My tomatoes have survived with regular feeding in these growbags, but I note that one bag seems to be very short of nitrogen, judging by the colour of the leaves.

If you read the lables on most compost bags, most of them certainly contain composted green waste, although they word it differently, I don't have a problem with this as the composting process if carried out properly kills off any weeds due to the heat generated, but yes I am now concerned about any chemicals that may be present in the products.