Safety of peat free composts

[MikA]

I am a relative newcomer to gardening being retired with a rebuilt garden, raised beds and a small greenhouse.

We bought some reduced peat multi-purpose compost for potting on seedlings and my wife was surprised when she found pieces of chipboard in it. My understanding is that particle boards use formaldehyde or other agents which are classified as dangerous. Having seen what the local recycling site lets into the "wood for shredding and composting" I have been put right off using peat free or reduced peat composts.

Does anybody know how the compost producers ensure there are no harmful chemicals ib thier final produce?

Do manufacturers produce data sheets which are honest enough to say "contains chipboard"?

Thanks

MikA

[Cider Boys]

You are far better off sticking with a traditional peat based compost especially one based on Sedge Peat dug from the Somerset Moors. This would be dug with a responsible attitude and the older peat workings are now one of the most important sites in the country for wildlife so, you would be aiding wildlife preservation as well.

Stick with peat, you know it makes sense.

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Di ... ticle.html

Barney

[MikA]

Thanks Barney.

The peat debate has raged in various posts on the forum but while peat may be right for me if I can ignore all the comments e.g.from the RSPB of which I am a member, I'm worried about what we are actually buying with these new composts.

The discussion in "Planting and seed sowing >> Growing places >> Tomato Grow bags" describes my worries almost exactly.

The suppliers are being pushed into modifying their formulations to reduce their usage of peat. As a result they seem to be trying all sorts of bulking agents.
Just because you had good results last year with a branded compost doesn't mean you will get the same this year.

in parallel with this councils are being urged to recycle more and landfill less.

When our local amenity site started recycling wood they had a notice "Clean wood only". This didn't last long and now anything and everything is put into the skip from old cupboards of melamine faced chipboard complete with door furniture to old fence panels painted in creosote. I have even seen a panel of plasterboard directed there.

I would love to see the code of conduct for the industry ensure that we are told when council recycling products are in the mixture even if it means these will be lower priced and you pay more for "premium" products.

Being asthmatic I always now wear a mask when dealing with bought composts especially when they are dry.

[MikA]

it appears the questions I am worried about are being debated in this later topic

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9632

So for more on this please go there for a lot of interesting stuff.

MikA

[Baz]

I have been merrily using New Horizon this year... lots of it. It never even occurred to me to think what kind of wood they might be recycling so I appreciate the above posts. I know I find quite a few bits of glass in it. Will have to have a re-think now.

[Nature's Babe]

Has anyone complained to New Horizon? I make my own, so I know what goes into it. Also they accept plasticised cardboard in recycling, more chemical pollution.

[Primrose]

I have used New Horizon too this year and have been less than satisfied. It seems to dry out incredibly quickly too. Next year I think I may move to a soil based medium , even though it's probably more expensive. I specifically had a problem with my tomato seedlings this year which came up almost blue in colour. I replanted some of them into some pots with soil based compost and they very quickly improved. Don't know what this proves or disproves, but many of my other veg seedlings seem to be very pale or sickly looking in colour which may in part be due to the compost in which they were grown.

My only control medium is that I have some self seeded tomato & courgette plants popping up in various parts of the garden in ordinary soil. All of them have a better colour and look more healthy than the ones I sowed in compost. Compost must be pretty big business these days, and I'm begining to fear that a lot of stuff we wouldn't touch if we knew it was in there, is being used as a bulker.

[glallotments]

I have been merrily using New Horizon this year... lots of it. It never even occurred to me to think what kind of wood they might be recycling so I appreciate the above posts. I know I find quite a few bits of glass in it. Will have to have a re-think now.

Have you ever complained about finding glass in the compost - it's surely a health and safety issue. If someone cut themselves couldn't the company be liable to damages. Maybe we need to officially complain about composts to manufacturers, stores and anyone else in authority more often.

I think the secret to going peat free is to have something reliable and less expensive than peat based composts available. It's a win win situation so if the government want to make a difference shouldn't they be trying to work towards this aim by regulating the quality of composts.

[glallotments]

Next year I think I may move to a soil based medium , even though it's probably more expensive.

We've tried using soil based but find keeping it watered buy not too soggy is a problem and also the bags are so heavy that you have to buy in smaller amounts

[peter]

Trouble is municipal waste derived humus content for general purpose compost only needs one lame brain person to put glass in a bin to bugger it up for everyone down the line.

The other one that worries me is the lawn weedkillers that tell yoi not to compost the.clippings from the n mowings after application.
Where does your council insist you pit lawn mowings, on pain of fines of you don't comply?
Yup, the composting bin!

[alan refail]

The real sad "joke" is that New Horizon compost is boldly labelled Organic and Peat Free



When, it seems, there can be no real control over what goes into it from municipal "green waste" the use of the word "organic" is "greenwash".

Peat is 100% organic - but that's another story!

[glallotments]

When I was researching what organic meant during the aminopyralid problem I found this on the Garden Organic website. I've tried to find the reference again but can't as the link appears to have disappeared.

"Qualified Acceptance
. Plant wastes and by-products from non-Organic food processing industries, after being properly composted.
. Mushroom composts made from non-Organic animal manures, except those from ‘Unacceptable’ intensive systems
. Worm composts made from non-Organic animal manures, except those from ‘Unacceptable’ intensive systems
. Commercial gardening products such as bagged manures and garden composts from non-Organic sources except those from ‘unacceptable’ production systems and those containing peat"

It made me conclude that what we think of organic and what is accepted by those who determine what organic is isn't necessarily the same thing.

The answer from the Soil Association to a question posed is quoted on this blog http://the-gardener.blog.co.uk/2008/07/10/contaminated-compost-muck-bbc-4429976/ The first statement is
"Organic is a term defined by EU law. This means that anyone who is using the term on a food product needs to hold a licence with an approved certification body. This law does not apply to gardening products, much to our frustration".

[alan refail]

Hi Glallotments

Organic guidelines here - see pages 17 onwards.

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/pdfs/Or ... s-2010.pdf

[glallotments]

Thanks Alan - they have rewritten the whole thing then as before it was just a piece on their website and the statemnet I quoted isn't there any more.

This statement
"Commercially available growing media, with an organic symbol, or
wording, from an approved organic certification organisation".

Is interesting as it doesn't really clarify what is meant by organic does it? We would need to know what warrants a certificate of approval and how this applies to gardening products rather than agricultural products