On 29 Jul 2019 22:53, Charlie Pridham wrote:
On 28/07/2019 16:43, Bob Hobden wrote:
After having a long discussion on Twitter regarding Peat Free what are
your thought on it (as long as you have tried it).
I use bought composts for germination and growing on of allotment
plants, for potted plants like Cannas and Dietes etc and for summer
bedding type pots for the patio.
I'm interested in the newer types of PF which are more expensive
Dalefoot and Sylvagrow to name two.


On the nursery we use Melcourts silva mix, but we mix 1 third soil to 2
thirds compost (bagged ph neutral soil) and we also always add a slow
release fertilizer. The reasons for doing the adding is that with all
peat frees you seem to get batches which will kill or stunt anything in
them. Also certain plant types hate peat free, again adding soil gets
over this. We have been using various brands now for over 20 years.

Thank you Charlie. So you effectively make a John Innes type compost
using Peat Free instead of Peat, interesting. I originally used New
Horizons some years ago and it was a disaster which put me off trying
again but I keep being told the new types are good so next season we
will see.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden