Isn't it possibe to kill off the weed seeds by putting the compost in the
microwave, just a little at a time.

Alan

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
Judith in France wrote:
On Jun 1, 4:05 pm, David in Normandy
wrote:
Bill P. wrote:
Cheep? Maybe Cheap.
I thought it maybe had bird seed in it? ;-)

I've been caught out like that too buying cheap compost, laden with
seeds of specific weeds/plants.


David, the last lot I bought had a load of hay, straw and sawdust, it
doesn't retain water, I am not too happy with any of the French
composts. Some have bits of felt type stuff in them and I am yet to
find a good one, any suggestions?

Judith

I agree. Unless you spend lots of money on an expensive brand most of the
compost seems to be very poor quality.

Personally I buy two types of French compost. One cheap and the other even
cheaper!

For seeds and seedlings I just use the cheapest multipurpose compost from
L'eclerc ~ 6 euros per 40 litre sack, but also mix in some yellow builders
sand. Usually I don't get any weeds with it and it works reasonably well.

The very cheap one I use is from the Aldi stores at around 3 euros per 40
litre sack, but it usually has weed seeds in it. It is very fibrous and I
mix this with mole hill soil (more soil than compost) and use it for
potting on plants, tomatoes etc; however it does need weeding for a while.
It works well when used like this as the soil is a bit heavy and the
fibres help to break it up a bit.

The garden centres here in France have some compost much much more
expensive, but I'd rather keep my money for more plants and just use the
cheapest nastiest compost available - when mixed with sand / soil etc they
are adequate. I'm not bothered about those that contain fertiliser - I'd
sooner add my own anyway so I know how much feed the plants are getting.