Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi Primrose,
I believe that you were complaining about the Multi-purpose Compost on sale at present. This is what Peter Seabrook writes in the Horticulture Week Magazine which is primarily a trade paper.
JB.

http://www.hortweek.com/news/search/100 ... y-compost/

Hi Primrose, I use my home made garden compost for pots trays and seedlings, and seive it for seed trays, it works very well and I have some control of what goes into it, The things you describe are just what you can see in the compost, maybe as manufacturers are not too choosy we may be importing diseased stuff too. Using no dig and mulch method, I don't need to use the compost on the garden, the soil improves on its own just like woodland soil does.

Peter Seabrook has been a realist for a long time, championing using peat instead of all this rubbish that doesn't work. I am wondering if all the germination problems there seem to be are related to the wetting agents that are used to make some of these materials half usable. When peat based composts were first introduced I think the only wetting agent used was sand but I have no idea what goes into them now.

Are all the seed & potting compost suppliers the same ie rubbish? Or can anyone provide a short list of "good" manufacturers we can look out for at our local suppliers?
John N

Geoff may have a point about wetting agents in compost because I've been growing my own vegetables from seed for many years and can't recall a time when I seem to have had so many failures across a wide range of vegetable seeds. The compost I've been used this Spring has been Levington's which I imagined to be a reliable brand but I've been really disappointed at its texture. It was sodden in the bag and has been difficult to maintain a "gently moist" texture. It's either soaking wet or drying hard like clay. I've tried filling up my modules or pots with it 24 hours before use to let it dry out a little for sowing, but as soon as I've sowed and tried to gently mist it to keep it damp it seem to go all solid and hard again. I'm beginning to wonder if my own garden soil, finely sieved, wouldn't serve just as well in future.

Can anybody say specifically what the advantages are of using compost for germinating, rather than finely tilthed soil? After all, that works perfectly well for germinating when you sow direct into the ground.

Primrose the only drawback I can imagine is that you might have weed seeds in the soil, and might need to weed your seed trays !