|
dirty peat free composts
Has anyone else noticed how many weeds grow in the new peat free alternative
composts ? This year seems to be worse than last, growing annuals from seed I am constantly trying to weed within a couple of centimetres from plants without pulling plants up as well. I am not certain but suspect that this is partial result of local authority recycling with insufficient heat and time given to the rotting process. anyone else more authoritative on this subject? regards Cineman |
dirty peat free composts
Ca you be more specific as to where you are finding the problem? Do you
mean commercial peat free composts? (if so - any in particular?) Or do you mean local authority composts? Or do you suspect that local authority composts are being sold on to commercial producers of compost? I use New Horizon and don't find a weed problem (although I did in the early days - it seems to have improved in quality in the last few years). My own compost, otoh, gives me abundant crops of annual euphorbias. So I use New Horizon for seeds and small plants, and my own compost for large pots. cineman writes Has anyone else noticed how many weeds grow in the new peat free alternative composts ? This year seems to be worse than last, growing annuals from seed I am constantly trying to weed within a couple of centimetres from plants without pulling plants up as well. I am not certain but suspect that this is partial result of local authority recycling with insufficient heat and time given to the rotting process. anyone else more authoritative on this subject? regards Cineman -- Kay |
Quote:
|
dirty peat free composts
"beccabunga" wrote cineman;808337 Wrote: Has anyone else noticed how many weeds grow in the new peat free alternative composts ? This year seems to be worse than last, growing annuals from seed I am constantly trying to weed within a couple of centimetres from plants without pulling plants up as well. I am not certain but suspect that this is partial result of local authority recycling with insufficient heat and time given to the rotting process. anyone else more authoritative on this subject? regards Cineman I agree - it is very likely that the compost makers are not properly rotting down the material. And since they take what is dumped, it will also contain noxious weeds so a longer period of rotting down and maintenance of heat is needed. Time is money! -- Regards Bob Hobden |
dirty peat free composts
beccabunga snippy
Eh, Get back to my stream! ;) -- Pete C London UK |
dirty peat free composts
|
dirty peat free composts
|
dirty peat free composts
On Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:29:49 +0100, cineman wrote:
Has anyone else noticed how many weeds grow in the new peat free alternative composts ? This year seems to be worse than last, growing annuals from seed I am constantly trying to weed within a couple of centimetres from plants without pulling plants up as well. I am not certain but suspect that this is partial result of local authority recycling with insufficient heat and time given to the rotting process. anyone else more authoritative on this subject? regards Cineman I've been using HomeBase peat free GroBags this year - works out a lot cheaper than buying bags labelled 'compost' - and I have had no problems with weeds and the plants seem to have thrived. The compost is coarser than the usual peat compost and is easier to wet - you don't get the drying out problems you can get with peat. I transfer it to pots (roughly 10") and plant tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes in it. Oh, and a couple of chillies. All going well so far, touch wood. I even have some tomato 'cuttings' producing well - the shoots from the leaf joints which you usually pinch out. A few got ahead of themselves and I rooted them then potted them up. They are a bit behind the original plants, but still growing well. Cheers Dave R |
dirty peat free composts
David WE Roberts writes
I've been using HomeBase peat free GroBags this year - works out a lot cheaper than buying bags labelled 'compost' What volume are they? And how much do they cost? -- Kay |
dirty peat free composts
On Aug 12, 9:02*pm, David WE Roberts wrote:
On Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:29:49 +0100, cineman wrote: Has anyone else noticed how many weeds grow in the new peat free alternative composts ? This year seems to be worse than last, growing annuals from seed I am constantly trying to weed within a couple of centimetres from plants without pulling plants up as well. I am not certain but suspect that this is partial result of local authority recycling with insufficient heat and time given to the rotting process. anyone else more authoritative on this subject? regards Cineman I've been using HomeBase peat free GroBags this year - works out a lot cheaper than buying bags labelled 'compost' - and I have had no problems with weeds and the plants seem to have thrived. The compost is coarser than the usual peat compost and is easier to wet - you don't get the drying out problems you can get with peat. I transfer it to pots (roughly 10") and plant tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes in it. Oh, and a couple of chillies. All going well so far, touch wood. I even have some tomato 'cuttings' producing well - the shoots from the leaf joints which you usually pinch out. A few got ahead of themselves and I rooted them then potted them up. They are a bit behind the original plants, but still growing well. Cheers Dave R Thanks Dave, I just hope that when I am in the UK in September that Homebase have huge bags of the stuff for me to bring back to France. Judith |
dirty peat free composts
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:49:05 +0100, K wrote:
David WE Roberts writes I've been using HomeBase peat free GroBags this year - works out a lot cheaper than buying bags labelled 'compost' What volume are they? And how much do they cost? 33 litres in volume (so 3 to match 100 litre compost bags). When I bought the majority they were £1.18 per bag, reduced to match the peat GroBags. I think they are a little more now, but still quite a lot cheaper than the larger compost bags. I think it was 'Which?' that recommended HomeBase GroBags as best value for money - in general GroBags seem to be cheaper per litre than bagged compost, presumably because they "stack them high sell them cheap". In previous years I have made my own growing medium by mixing HomeBase bags of peat compost, farmyard manure, and top soil/JI No. 3 (depending which was cheapest at the time) because this seemed to give the best mix of easy rooting, easy re-wetting, and built in food (I also added chicken manure pellets and GrowMore). This year I have mainly been using the peat free GroBags because they seem to provide a good all round medium. I still add extra food to the bottom of the pot to save feeding in the earlier stages of growth. Cheers Dave R |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:41 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter