Compost, Fertilisers & Recycling

Weldmesh (or expanded metal mesh) would be more bite-resistant, take longer to degrade and be less susceptible to damage when shovelling the compost out. Old heater guards can be a cheaper source of mesh than a DIY store. Concrete bases don't have to be 100% concrete and can have lumps of brick,...

Going off on a tangent (Blimey Zig, you've never done that before )I used about 20 block feet left over from hieras fencing to build an enclosure to pile all the leaves that hadn't rotted down due to the fridge conditions of the last few months.I have placed a mushroom on top so it drops...

What Ziggy says makes good sense. But I still see this as a problem in physics. Its very similar to an atom bomb. Neutrons are created in proportion to the mass involved, but are lost (like heat) via the surface area. Very small atom bombs don't work. Only when you get above a critical mass...

Ahhh right, thanks Ziggy

Thanks MM, yes that cleared it up nicely. I agree with your comments about the green issues with coir and I'm beginning to be less inclined even to experiment with it. Getting advice from people with the experience really is a great help, thanks again.

I bought some cutting compost once and only once. It seemed to me to be grittier and more finely sieved than multi purpose and a good deal more expensive.Never bought any since, i always use multi purpose these days and it seems to work fine for me.

I've just bought this weeks Amateur Gardening magazine and there's an article in it by Marc Rosenburg regarding peat-free compost. It seems, according to him, that the government is to try to "press" gardeners to abandon compost with peat added by 2020. I have no qualms in using peat-free...

Just had a bonus . Been up the allotment and there's a big pile of free to take horse manure .. Out with the barrow so I now have a good quantity of manure . good start to the New Year.Dave

I must admit that for most things I just use general purpose compost, but I mix it with one third sharp sand. For seeds I usually sieve it to give a finer material.Really seeds will grow anywhere - even out in the garden in the soil. But a major reason for using some sort of compost is that...

Would be interesting to compare all/most/most of the other composts. But thanks Dave, though I have to say if you why not make your own, otherwise it's only going to go to waste anyways.

That video seemed to take an overly complicated method of working with worms Ziggy. If you are thinking of putting a few in bear in mind that the worms need pretty regular feeding to keep their numbers up.

Best NOT to get me started on the French, military or otherwise. Chopper.

Hi,Just a little feedback for all that helped and read this topic. I watered the compost and turned it over. Ants have all gone.[In fact, as Palmatum suggests, I think they may have already left before I did that as the weather became damper at the start of autumn. My real problem and the...

I saw an episode of "Lost Gardens of Heligon" on Blighty a few days ago (probably a repeat from 10 years ago, or more). They drove a tractor and trailer down to the beach and filled it to the brim with seaweed.I've always assumed it took ages to gather a decent quantity of seaweed, (and that...

See here for how to test your manure, on the right hand side of the page under "What can I do?" http://www.manurematters.co.uk/gardening.htm"Ask your manure supplier Ask your manure or compost supplier if their material came from a farm or equine business where Forefront, Pharaoh, or...

You have just reminded me that some time ago I went with a friend to a saw mill to get some bark chippings. They were charging 50p per container of any size!All the bark had been removed from the trees and put into a massive pile 100 feet long and 20 feet high. You could hardly see the pile...

As far as I know Woodlice (slaters) are harmless. Sometimes they finish off the job slugs have started and get into fruit that slugs have made holes in and get a bad press for it but they are not the originators of that damage - thinking strawberries here. I never worry about slaters. They do a...

That's been very much my experience too. I see Vermiculite and Perlite referenced as if they are interchangeable, but Vermiculite seems to hold a lot of moisture and make quite a soggy mix.I'm going to stick to using Perlite mixed with multi-purpose compost (about 1:2 or 1:3) for cuttings...

Manure will only raise the acidity if used repeatedly (well, I suppose if you put a mountain load on that would be equivalent!).On vegetable patches Lime is traditionally used before the Brassica crop in the rotation to reduce the acidity - thus combating the effect of year-on-year manuring....

Don't worry you weren't the only one who bought that rubbish:yez: As for composted bark, our local council deliver wood chippings to our allotment several times a year,so I get all I need for free!