Kitchen Garden Forum

I'm going compost shopping! I've almost run out, and the jack's Magic I've been using is getting worse every year. My germination rates this year are terrible, and I'm using heated propogators in my unheated greenhouse. What brands would you lovely, knowledgeable lot recommend please? I've been growing for 30 years, but composts seem to be steadily declining in quality and are full of big hard lumps of goodness know what and twigs. I've tried a few, but would prefer some recommendations to guide me. I normally add a bit of fine topsoil to the mix when potting on.

I use Jiffy substrates, I get on really well with it, Retropants, not sure if they will stock it near you though….it’s lovely fine stuff no big lumps…. But like with a lot of composts these days, don’t over-water….but me and Johnboy were always saying, more plants were killed by over watering, than by under watering.

You say you have fine top soil, do you also have leafmould? If so get some sharp sand and mix your own, equal parts works. If I had to use commercial compost for seed sowing I would sieve it through a rotary sieve blended with sharp sand. To turn it into usable potting compost I would try 5 parts soil, 2 parts compost, 1 part sand with base fertiliser and a bit of lime again blended with the sieve. If you don't want to use that much soil I would still add sharp sand and base fertiliser.

Thankyou OH & Geoff. I've had a look, and my local GC doesn't stock Jiffy, oh well. Geoff, I have neither the time nor the space to make my own, as much as I'd like to! I buy bags of topsoil along with the compost and mix as I go. I no longer have my allotment, just a small patch at the back of the garden. We were on the verge of investing in one of those rotary sieves when my parents moved to Dorset and we had to give up the allotment - it was far too big for me to manage and no one else connected with me was interested.

Clover compost used to be good too, Retropants.

Thankyou, I’ll have a look at the weekend