composts

Westland seed compost was good last year

I bought several bags of westland multi purpose with john innes this year, for potting on and it is rubbish. Full of half composted fibres and sticks with lots of sand

I wish I had bought jacks magic but maybe the new formula has also changed. The old formula was wonderful, westland again

DH is fed up with the usual compost from the GC. Full of bits and twigs, and weeds seem to appear in his plantings.

It was a multi purpose, £15 for 3 bags.

He’s now trying Jack’s compost, more expensive but hopefully better.

We use Westland multi purpose peat free with added John Innes which we mix 50/50 with coir compost. Have had great results for seeds/ seedlings, bedding plants and cuttings for a few years now. The veg beds are rejuvenated with well rotted manure during the winter months and have an added granular feed depending on what is being grown in them.

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We like Rocket compost.
It's pretty good. Used it last year and earlier this year - haven't tried the "basket" one yet but will do soon.

I think there are four or five in the range.

The Rocket is organic.
We have used the Westland too and that works.

Rocket does a good general purpose.

I have always used Jack’s Magic but last season it was obvious they had changed the formula and it was pretty awful, coarse stuff. I discarded half a bag because I was so disappointed in it. Not likely to need much compost this year but see what else is available. I have to say, I hate peat free compost but it seems there’s little other choice now.

Commercial buyers can still buy peat based compost but the general public can't. Frankly I find it difficult to find a really good compost for the reasons mentioned. We make our own compost and add it to soil from the garden, that seems to be ok for potting on but we struggled with seeds. A friend who's a commercial grower gave me a bag of her compost last year but I can't keep relying on her so what compost has anyone found to be reliable for seeds?

I’m very pleased with Jack’s Magic. Seed germination rate has been very good so far this year. I haven’t used it before but it was on offer at our allotment society shop so a real bargain.

I’ll use it for pricking out and potting on but when it comes to top dressing large pots I use a mixture of my own home made compost and Aldi’s seaweed enriched stuff which you have to grab PDQ because it flies off the shelf.

Allotment sites report good results with Sylvagrow, I’ve still got a stash of the original Jack’s Magic for this year, might try the former next year.

I use Strulch or Bloomin’ Amazing as a mulch on my borders in Autumn and Spring, after a lot of rain. It’s a nutrient, weed suppressant and slug/snail deterrent. I recommend it.

I always buy Sylvagrow as I haven't found anything else as reliably good.

Jack's Magic isn't for me because of the peat content.

I'm very happy to use a peat free compost if it works well. Commercial growers will have to be peat free in the near future if they want to exhibit at the main garden shows but there's been a great deal of unhappiness with the performance of some of the peat free products that have resulted in huge losses of plants in the commercial sector. I certainly noticed I had less success with seeds and overwintering using a peat free compost. I'll certainly look out for Sylvagrow though.

I almost bought rocket but saw some dreadful reviews. Good to see your positive comments Notspaghetti

we have a compost maker nearby, they have been making the best compost for decades using local peat. They cannot make any more, even for commercial businesses and will soon be closing down. That plus the awful farm tax they are having to pay is the end of the road for them.

Jacks magic no longer contains peat, it did last year, not now

I am inclined to make my own seed compost when my no dig allotment is established, thermal composters and loads of bocking 14. That combo heats up very fast and all I will need is a good sieve

Just wondering why peat is no longer being used in compost?I haven’t heard anything about it being removed from compost here in Canada.🤔

It’s because the peat bogs are quite literally running out. It’s a finite resource. I remember being on a holiday in Kerry a few years ago and being taken to see peat cutting going on - some of it was still cut by hand. I forget what the timescale was but it was frighteningly close to running out. That was before peat free compost.

Also, when we lived in Northern Ireland, and had open fires, we bought a mix of coal and peat, which was the norm there. Until recently, I believe they had peat fired power stations in the Republic.

Greyduster,thank you for the explanation.

Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store.

Apparently they store far more CO2 than any other type of landscape, so desperately needed to be left in situ.

Karmalady I can't find peat free Jack's Magic. It all says 'peat-reduced' at the two garden centres I visited today and on line. What is the peat free version called please?

Our local council makes compost from garden waste and sells it cheaply. Only for outdoor use though, we have found, as it breeds little flies

I too am not happy with most composts. Most dry out on the surface far too quickly. The last couple of years I’ve added fine leafmould when sowing seeds. You can get the occasional unexpected plant, but it didn’t dry out as badly. Nonetheless, whatever I use my cosmos are always slow-growing and spindly!