On May 30, 11:24*am, Dave Poole wrote:
Sacha *wrote:
That's not compost though. *That's soil improver, if that.

And highly variable too *:-| *I've seen some that is OK, but I've also
seen other stuff that is truly 'crap' and not fit for anything. *As
for growing on plants in containers, if you aren't particular about
the quality of what you're growing then go for the cheapest potting
compost you can find. *If you want to grow a really good plant that
performs well and makes the effort of growing it worthwhile, then you
need to either make a well-balanced compost or buy a decent one. *The
latter is the least expensive and easiest option.

All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks, so they
need to be supplemented after that, but reluctantly I have to admit
that the best all rounder is the B&Q multi-purpose. *It has beat the
others in trials by Garden Which? for 2 years running and I like its
open, airy, root-promoting texture. *I use it as a base, adding
perlite and slow release for certain plants and use it 'neat' for
others. *I've never had anything other than very good results.

B&Q's multi pourpous compost has been the Which best but for around 10
years now.
I pass it through a 1/2 inch seive and mix pearlite at 1 to 8 for
seeds and cuttings, I add some fertilizer for potting on and for
larger stuff I add 20% steralized topsoil (With thanks to the moles
who prepare it for me).
B&Q are around 3 miles from me and they have 1 to 2 artic loads of
compost a week so I know it is always fresh.
I buy around 8 bales at a time (on a Wednesday, so I get the 10%
discount),
It saves me storage space and I don't have to lay out cash in advance.
I tried their Peat free compost last year and it was impure rubbish.
David Hill

All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks

But I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is fundamentally
untrue. What you're supposedly left with after the nutrients have been
used is never explained. All I can say is that every flower I've grown
in "spent" compost has flourished, and must be feeding on something.

On May 30, 8:41*am, harry wrote:
On May 28, 7:07*am, mrcpea wrote:

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good quality Multi Purpose Compost other than
J. Arthur Bowers. We've found this to be rather inferior & not as good
as it used to be.

Kind regards

mrcpea

This compost business is all crap, *Get down to your local recycle
centre and see if they sell it there. Our's sells it for £2/ big bag.

It's rough stuff full of little bits of wood etc. *However, I riddle
it and add sand as neccessary. *Works out at a fraction of the cost.
I get a ton bag of sand from the builders merchant, lasts for years.

If you want to get really technical:http://gardener.wikia.com/wiki/John_Innes_compost

I made that mistake a few years ago. Bought some from my local Council
Recycling Centre to improve the soil for my runner beans. I then got a
virus, (Verticillium Wilt) in my beans that ruined them and is
impossible to cure according to expert at my local Horticultural
Merchants. The ground is now permanently infected. As there is access
to the recycling centre for many commercial growers in the Evesham
area I reckon someone dumped a load of virus ridden runner beans there
and they got composted. Composting does not get rid of virus. I cannot
grow runner beans at all now. Everything gets infected, ground, tools,
boots. Wont use it again.

Bookworm

On May 30, 8:48*am, "'Mike'" wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...
On May 28, 7:07 am, mrcpea wrote:

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good quality Multi Purpose Compost other than
J. Arthur Bowers. We've found this to be rather inferior & not as good
as it used to be.

Kind regards

mrcpea

This compost business is all crap, *Get down to your local recycle
centre and see if they sell it there. Our's sells it for £2/ big bag.

It's rough stuff full of little bits of wood etc. *However, I riddle
it and add sand as neccessary. *Works out at a fraction of the cost.
I get a ton bag of sand from the builders merchant, lasts for years.

If you want to get really technical:http://gardener.wikia.com/wiki/John_Innes_compost
.................................................. ..........................*........

That's interesting. How big is your Big Bag for £2.00? Our local council do
a 1 ton builder's bag for £35.00 delivered

Mike
(I think it may have gone up recently not sure)

--

...................................
Remember, a statue has never been erected to a critic.
...................................
About twice the size of acoal sack, (remember those?)
Sounds a good deal to me. I can have a truckload delivered loose.
Dunno what the charge would be.

On May 30, 9:57*am, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-05-30 08:41:04 +0100, harry said:





On May 28, 7:07*am, mrcpea wrote:
Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good quality Multi Purpose Compost other than
J. Arthur Bowers. We've found this to be rather inferior & not as good
as it used to be.

Kind regards

mrcpea

This compost business is all crap, *Get down to your local recycle
centre and see if they sell it there. Our's sells it for £2/ big bag.

It's rough stuff full of little bits of wood etc. *However, I riddle
it and add sand as neccessary. *Works out at a fraction of the cost.
I get a ton bag of sand from the builders merchant, lasts for years.

If you want to get really technical:
http://gardener.wikia.com/wiki/John_Innes_compost

That's not compost though. *That's soil improver, if that. *We've
bought something a little better to use on 'starved' soil for a
customer, to make it lighter, less compacted etc. but it's not a
nourisher for growing young plants.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Tell us all the diifference then?
The recycle centre stuff comes from the shredded and rotted down
garden "waste" people put in the recycle centre skip. They have huge
COMPOST heaps at the place where this is done.
Nourisher?

Nutrients are recycled from plant waste as it rots down. Oil based
artificial additives should be a last resort.

"harry" wrote in message
...
On May 30, 8:48 am, "'Mike'" wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...
On May 28, 7:07 am, mrcpea wrote:

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a good quality Multi Purpose Compost other than
J. Arthur Bowers. We've found this to be rather inferior & not as good
as it used to be.

Kind regards

mrcpea

This compost business is all crap, Get down to your local recycle
centre and see if they sell it there. Our's sells it for £2/ big bag.

It's rough stuff full of little bits of wood etc. However, I riddle
it and add sand as neccessary. Works out at a fraction of the cost.
I get a ton bag of sand from the builders merchant, lasts for years.

If you want to get really
technical:http://gardener.wikia.com/wiki/John_Innes_compost
.................................................. .........................*........

That's interesting. How big is your Big Bag for £2.00? Our local council
do
a 1 ton builder's bag for £35.00 delivered

Mike
(I think it may have gone up recently not sure)

--

...................................
Remember, a statue has never been erected to a critic.
...................................
About twice the size of acoal sack, (remember those?)
Sounds a good deal to me. I can have a truckload delivered loose.
Dunno what the charge would be.
.................................................. ....................

Wow that turns the clock back ;-) ........ (and I remember bread and milk
being delivered by horse and cart too!!)

Coal sack or Coke sack ??????

Coke was lighter than coal so was a bigger sack for the Cwt.

£2.00 for a Coke sack is good value I would say, though we make our own ;-))

Mike


--

....................................
Remember, a statue has never been erected to a critic.
....................................

On May 30, 11:24*am, Dave Poole wrote:
Sacha *wrote:
That's not compost though. *That's soil improver, if that.

And highly variable too *:-| *I've seen some that is OK, but I've also
seen other stuff that is truly 'crap' and not fit for anything. *As
for growing on plants in containers, if you aren't particular about
the quality of what you're growing then go for the cheapest potting
compost you can find. *If you want to grow a really good plant that
performs well and makes the effort of growing it worthwhile, then you
need to either make a well-balanced compost or buy a decent one. *The
latter is the least expensive and easiest option.

All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks, so they
need to be supplemented after that, but reluctantly I have to admit
that the best all rounder is the B&Q multi-purpose. *It has beat the
others in trials by Garden Which? for 2 years running and I like its
open, airy, root-promoting texture. *I use it as a base, adding
perlite and slow release for certain plants and use it 'neat' for
others. *I've never had anything other than very good results.

I've found my method perfectly adequate. Where do you suppose the
shop bought stuff comes from? Not from peat any more.
Gardeners over the years are responsible for enormous ecological
damage with the peat thing.

The reason they "run out of steam" is that the artificial fertilizers
added are expended. I can always go out and buy phoprogen or
something if I want. Rarely needed,I have little stuff in permanent
pots anyway.

On May 30, 1:49*pm, stuart noble wrote:
All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks

But I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is fundamentally
untrue. What you're supposedly left with after the nutrients have been
used is never explained. All I can say is that every flower I've grown
in "spent" compost has flourished, and must be feeding on something.

No it is most certainly not "fundamentally untrue". What you're left
with is a reduced level of nutrient that may be sufficient to sustain,
but not promote the same level of growth or productivity. Of course
there are plants that can perform moderately well on a sparse regimen,
but many, many more will only grow at a very modest rate and produce
fewer flowers and/or less fruit over a shorter period if not
supplemented. Your idea of 'flourishing' and mine are probably
completely different and I want the very best growth and productivity
over the entire growing cycle. This is only achievable if nutrient
levels are correctly maintained throughout the season. That is not to
say they should be over-fertilised, but sensible additional feeding
always gives consistently better results.

stuart noble wrote:
All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks
But I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is fundamentally
untrue. What you're supposedly left with after the nutrients have been
used is never explained. All I can say is that every flower I've grown
in "spent" compost has flourished, and must be feeding on something.

I've found the best re-cycle of compost is to use grow-bags (last year's
were peat free, which were fine, but we couldn't find them this year, so
Nick put his foot down!), then use the grow-bag compost next year for plant
pots that are staying out of the greenhouse, or to throw the content onto
the strawberries in the garden. A few years of emptying grow bags onto
that side of the garden has hugely improved the soil!

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2011-05-30 20:06:27 +0100, said:

stuart noble wrote:
All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks
But I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is fundamentally
untrue. What you're supposedly left with after the nutrients have been
used is never explained. All I can say is that every flower I've grown
in "spent" compost has flourished, and must be feeding on something.

I've found the best re-cycle of compost is to use grow-bags (last year's
were peat free, which were fine, but we couldn't find them this year, so
Nick put his foot down!), then use the grow-bag compost next year for
plant
pots that are staying out of the greenhouse, or to throw the content onto
the strawberries in the garden. A few years of emptying grow bags onto
that side of the garden has hugely improved the soil!

We do that here with peat bags used for rowing e.g. our own tomatoes, or
indeed, any large quantities of compost used for raising seedlings or
plugs. It's a great soil improver.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

I spread and rotovated in several bags of last years compost from pots at
home into my allotment beds today. Maybe the nutriants are gone, but it
improves the heavy clay soil.
--
Pete C

In article , Charlie Pridham
writes
We are using Wicks peat free with some soil and slow release added this
year, happy with results so far.

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk



Speaking to a compost company owner who was on the Hillier stand (he was
giving out coupons for Westland plus) Westland plus is giving a mixture
of JI and ordinary compost a try, so it's grittier thank goodness. I
find Westland very variable, some bags really good but other bags
containing huge lumps of wood and bits etc.

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy

On May 30, 8:47*pm, "Pete C" wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message

...



On 2011-05-30 20:06:27 +0100, said:

stuart noble wrote:
All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks
But I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is fundamentally
untrue. What you're supposedly left with after the nutrients have been
used is never explained. All I can say is that every flower I've grown
in "spent" compost has flourished, and must be feeding on something.

I've found the best re-cycle of compost is to use grow-bags (last year's
were peat free, which were fine, but we couldn't find them this year, so
Nick put his foot down!), then use the grow-bag compost next year for
plant
pots that are staying out of the greenhouse, or to throw the content onto
the strawberries in the garden. * A few years of emptying grow bags onto
that side of the garden has hugely improved the soil!

We do that here with peat bags used for rowing e.g. our own tomatoes, or
indeed, any large quantities of compost used for raising seedlings or
plugs. *It's a great soil improver.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

I spread and rotovated in several bags of last years compost from pots at
home into my allotment beds today. Maybe the nutriants are gone, but it
improves the heavy clay soil.
--
Pete C- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Get a truckload of sand and rotovate that into the clay. The benefit
is permanent.

I have long agricultural hedges. I shred all the cuttings up and
compost them too. Takes me several days.

On May 30, 8:06*pm, wrote:
stuart noble wrote:
All multi-purpose composts 'run out of steam' after 6-8 weeks
But I have proved to my own satisfaction that this is fundamentally
untrue. What you're supposedly left with after the nutrients have been
used is never explained. All I can say is that every flower I've grown
in "spent" compost has flourished, and must be feeding on something.

I've found the best re-cycle of compost is to use grow-bags (last year's
were peat free, which were fine, but we couldn't find them this year, so
Nick put his foot down!), then use the grow-bag compost next year for plant
pots that are staying out of the greenhouse, or to throw the content onto
the strawberries in the garden. * A few years of emptying grow bags onto
that side of the garden has hugely improved the soil!

Doesn't everybody do that?

In article , Bob Hobden
writes

I think that is a problem we are all having, always used Levingtons but
the last lot of that I bought had mouldy bits in it, non-sterilised
composted waste I suspect.
Used a "John Innes" this year and it's worked better although I have
mixed it with other stuff depending on what I'm potting up.


I have come across some dreadful stuff in the last couple of years,
including Bowers - frequently mouldy with large bits of something very
odd looking.

Westland multi-purpose seems good this year (where I get it from,
anyway. It looks very similar to moss peat and is a good consistency -
but I don't know if this is because it has a lot of peat in).

But I tend to then mix it pretty much half and half with JI #3 - and
depending on what's being planted, add nothing, perlite, sand or grit
(and occasionally water retaining gel).

--
regards andyw

They say a accepted purpose admixture contains abundant nutrients for x number of weeks, but I grew a bonanza crop of spuds in annihilation but the B&Q stuff, so that absolutely doesn't add up. Presumably it break down like any added vegetable matter, although conceivably added slowly.