Kitchen Garden Forum

We found this chunk of wood in a grow bag that we emptied this weekend. Had we not been using this to top up tomatoes planted using growing rings rather than planting straight into the bag maybe we would never have noticed it?

Hi glallotments

I must admit that all I have found in mine has been peat

After last year's trials with a couple of peat-free composts, I have gone back, unrepentantly, to



A couple of weeks ago I was in B&Q and saw a split bag of their compost (cutely branded Verve). The contents were what looked like large pieces of wood bedded in a sort of wet sludge - I'd never seen anything like it, not even composted bark chippings for spreading on paths. I did a search on Verve and came up with this posting
http://seeog.org.uk/2012/05/no-enthusiasm-for-verve/
If you click on the picture it will enlarge to show exactly what I saw for myself. To peddle this sort of rubbish as a growing medium is little short of fraud; it certainly gives the whole concept of peat-free compost a bad name.

We've been using New Horizon compost but have been supplementing it with seaweed feed as it seems to lack nutrients. At least this way we are getting things to grow.

Some new potatoes and seedlings of cape gooseberries and tomatoes, growing from the top of my homemade compost pile! Lots of worms! A nest of slow worms! I have three big wooden compost bays ! Oh and a few fish bones ouch !

Being a cynic at heart I do wonder what sort of riddle these shoddy composts are passed through or over.


My last DIY shed compost had no chunks, but was far too fibrous, if it had had a decent percentage of actual soil in it then it would have been half decent.

Anyone know why soil-based composts are so hard to find?
A 50-50 topsoil peatfree-GP mix could be the way forward.

Last year I needed quite a lot of fine compost (for growing some show carrots) so I put a bag of B&Q (pre Verve!) multi-p through my small electric shredder. The result was a superb compost - just what I needed for the carrots and excellent for sowing small seeds.

John

John wrote:Last year I needed quite a lot of fine compost (for growing some show carrots) so I put a bag of B&Q (pre Verve!) multi-p through my small electric shredder. The result was a superb compost - just what I needed for the carrots and excellent for sowing small seeds.

John

You shouldn't have to go to this length to get decent compost though should you - for most of us we would have to add the cost of an electric shredder to the mix!

I agree but in this case it was worth it. My carrots earned me a red card in the village show.

John

Hi John,
Good job it wasn't football then.
JB.

Just an update - last year we grew tomatoes in the same brand of grow bags and had one set that performed poorly which I posted about http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9894&p=94798&hilit=tomorite#p94798
As I mentioned in the post I emailed Levington and their reply included
"We can assure you that we buy only from PAS100 accredited producers and all of our compost mixes undergo vigorous testing at our research station for many years prior to release onto the market."

So I've emailed them again to see what they have to say this time. I had to use an internet form so couldn't include a photo so I directed them to look on my blog if they wanted to see the photo. Maybe I should have mentioned posting on this forum as well.

Wonder what their response will be this time and whether they will care that I've given the problem publicity!

glallotments wrote:"...all of our compost mixes undergo vigorous testing at our research station for many years prior to release onto the market."

I'd sooner they undertake their research rigorously rather than vigorously.

I have to say, though, that I don't regard finding a short piece of wood in a bag of compost as any great big deal. It's inevitable that the odd piece should find its way into bags of compost every now and again, given that most composts include a certain proportion of wood waste. I've encountered the odd chunk or two in bags before in the past and thought nothing of it.

Hi Felix,
What I would suggest to you is that when wood is not properly degraded as it degrades in the bag it is depleting what little nitrogen it contained in the first place and chunks of wood should simply not be there.
JB.

The vegan society says small branch chippings can be used without depleting nitrogen, apparently it is the larger branches that deplete nitrogen, it is also an excellent additive to improve long terrm fertility and to encourage natural soil balance of bacteria and fungi.

http://www.goveganic.net/article17.html

FelixLeiter wrote:[quote="glallotments I have to say, though, that I don't regard finding a short piece of wood in a bag of compost as any great big deal.

That's just an example of how unexpected things can be found in compost. What about pieces of glass - which have been found in bags of compost - are they a big deal?

Nature's Babe wrote:The vegan society says small branch chippings can be used without depleting nitrogen, apparently it is the larger branches that deplete nitrogen, it is also an excellent additive to improve long terrm fertility and to encourage natural soil balance of bacteria and fungi.

http://www.goveganic.net/article17.html

I have no doubt that there is a lot of truth in this technique. I always found fresh shredded prunings made an excellent quickly heating compost - presumably because of the balance between nitrogen and carbon.

However, this has no relevance to the sort of old wood waste in commercial composts, which is what this thread is about.