Kitchen Garden Forum

I remember some members on here were convinced nothing was as good as peat. While I have not used peat for years, the quality of peat free alternatives seems to be gradually getting worse. I imagine that with the impending ban on peat in composts for amateur use, the decent materials are getting to be in short supply.

I've been through New Horizons, Melcourt, and a Miracle grow peat free. Each has started off tolerable, but quickly turned to poorly composted wood waste. Seeds germinate (with very careful watering) then the seedlings stall and turn yellow when the energy in the seed runs out. I suspect the wood waste is still in fungal decay and depleting nitrogen. The Miracle grow was OK (but priced like gold dust) last year, but what this year ?

I use a homemade mix based on garden compost for growing on tomatoes etc. But for seed sowing, it is kind of nice to know which are the seedlings you sowed amongst all the stuff that germinates from my compost !

What will you be using ?

A very good question, Tony!
For any large tubs or planters, I use a mix of soil, homemade compost and FBB, so not a problem there!
For smaller pots, I have been using bought muli-purpose compost, mixed with john innes number one or two, depending how long the plants will be in the pots, or wether the plants are heavy feeders….so moving forward, it will be a bit experimental, peat free, john innes and sieved home made compost, in varying amounts, until I get something that works for me!
For seed sowing, I still use a good quality multi purpose compost for this and will probably buy a few sacks in, just to keep me going, until the professional growers get a reliable compost sorted!

Sorry if I'm being thick ... FBB ?

And what is this "good quality multi purpose compost" of which you speak ?

FBB, is fish, blood and bone!

Jiffy substrates is the compost, that I speak of….

I've been using homemade John Innes type formulations for a few years simply using leafmould in place of peat. My commonest potting mix is 5 parts soil, 2 parts leafmould and 1 part sharp sand. I add base fertiliser and sometimes lime and/or extra potash or phosphate depending on what I am using it for. For seed sowing there would be less soil and usually no fertiliser. I mix with a Rotosieve. I never attempt to use garden compost in sowing and planting mixtures though I do use it as a layer in the bottom of large pots. The majority of the soil I use is not fresh from the garden. I have a large greenhouse with beds and a polytunnel, I dig the beds and add a lot of compost every year, as I dig I put the first trench soil into bags for making mixes, this method stops the beds getting deeper and spilling over their edges.

Most of the popular peat free are buying garden waste from council tips apparently, hence the variable quality, I bought one that was coir based with added clay, this was better than I thought it would be, but did run out of steam after a bit, so added fertilisers seem to be the way to go.
I intend to try making my own next spring using leaf mould and sieved soil with added PPK, dependant on what is going in the pots. John Innes is a viable substitute and will be on my list.

Probably cuss quite a bit, as the alternatives are still pretty full of rubbish & lots of time wasted on sieving out the wood & stuff. I thought I had found something good, Incredicompost; but only available in quite small bags with some flower feed thrown in free. Didn't read the blurb properly & only when using an empty bag to take stuff to the tip, noticed it was peat reduced, not peat free! I had a look on T&M & this company are now doing a proper peat free so might give it a try as the nearly peat free is beautiful with no extra's thrown in for free. It does dry out quicker though but can adapt to that.

Fortunately I have an abundance of home grown compost from 5 pallet size bays plus one extra bay for manure.

I have been adding FBB for couple of years, used potato fertilizer for 1st time last year which seemed to help and using Onion, garlic& shallot fertilizer this year.

I use Fertile Fibre most years, which I find good. I grow some of my tomatoes and cucumbers in it in big pots in the greenhouse and I put a layer of my own compost on top which feeds them all season, and I get a good crop. I also use New Horizon MP (which is peat free)which, although it doesn’t always look great in the bag it seems to do the job.

Forgot to mention I use a lot of Perlite at seed planting time, not sure if this is an alternative to peat.

Wonder what peat in the compost is supposed to do?

Peat seems to have an ability to stay just moist. Kind of nice light spongy stuff. Many of the wood fibre based composts can go dry on the surface whilst still being soggy below. The JI loam based composts always seem rather cold and heavy to me.

Leaf mold is often suggested as an alternative but is hard to get enough of; I don't get enough leaves from my own garden, and don't really have space. Taking it from woodland seems potentially as bad as using peat ?

Minced and composted environmental activists, the clothing should all be plant based, with a bit of wool.
Might have more fox and rodent interest in the compost bin.


This is VERY firmly a tongue in cheek comment.