Best Supplier Of Compost 2023

That's correct, they do harvest peat near their works. It looks like they are going down the slow release fertiliser also but it looks like you have to incorporate it yourself as a sachet of 4 month feed is supplied. So is the compost good for seeds, cuttings and potting or is it only a potting compost when you incorporate the extra feed?

Godwins Premium Multi-Purpose Compost 60L - Compost | Green-tech

 

Dont think I will be paying those prices.

 

I was recently reading an article online about the ban on peat based products being delayed, is this true and does it mean we will still be able to buy peat based compost as home gardeners.

Or, is the delay only for the horticulture business side of things?

 

I mostly buy multiple bag discounts but as I say I normally get away without feeding of seedlings before planting out, but not this year.
Plants are turning yellow at a very early age and stop growing.

 

I would say they are getting ready for going down the peat free route for the retail sector. But instead of incorporating the extra fertiliser at their works, they are allowing the public to add to what ever they are growing. Echo's what I have been saying about we can only get the compost to work with slow release fertiliser. A different stockist but again with fertiliser in a separate package but a 70L bag of compost.

Multi-Purpose Compost - 70 Ltr Bag

I think the manufactures that are not going to incorporate slow release fertiliser into peat free compost and stick with a base fertiliser should be altering the wording of how long it feeds for, probably 2-4 weeks would be more appropriate.

 

I bought two split bags of this stuff, it appears to be topsoil with some added nutrient, nice texture.
I've mixed it with the peat free stuff that was about the worst I've come across up till now, and the priciest.

 

I've not yet read all the pages on this thread, so apologies if I am repeating stuff here, but it seems worth mentioning. A long time ago soil based composts were the go to product and the John Innes formulae were universally acknowledged, I recall the likes of Geoff Hamilton recommending them.
On a recent visit to a garden centre not too far from us they had the three different types on offer, from seed sowing to potting on and finally the finished compost for final growth. I am using this along with other peat frees as well as intending to have a go at becoming self sufficient in making my own compost.

 

Barking up the wrong tree !

 

But wouldn't this be a retro-grade step; the cost of procuring the ingredients, heavy = costly in transport alone, even if you could find loam of a reliable quality, to achieve a product equal to that which failed to deliver the benefits of the soil-less products sold as Vermapeat and Levingtons in the late 60s. I recall the excitement of Roy Hay and Percy Thrower in demonstrating their virtues.

The further prospect of DIY is confounded by the difficulty of sterilisation not least the energy costs in raising the blend to 65 deg C for a while.

 

Let's give it a go.

 

Peat use is unsustainable in the long term and we will not be able to buy peat products, so need an alternative. It would seem I am not alone in being critical of the alternatives offered to us, a lot seems to based on re-cycled household waste, which I doubt has been sterilised to the proper temperature either. The stuff I have purchased over the past few years is full of rubbish and is barely fit for purpose. I will not be buying or transporting soil/loam, now I understand not all gardeners live in the country as I do, but the modest amount of material I will need to sow early crops will be catered for by using Levingtons formulae soil based that I will buy from the same garden centre that has supplied the peat based in the past. I make my own compost for the garden, I can collect soil improver(the same stuff some of the current "Peat free" is made from)from our local council re-cycling yard. I intend to make leaf mould and experiment making my own seed compost and potting on compost myself, just as my Dad did in the 1950's.
We have to change, no-one likes change, but we cannot continue taking peat in the industrial quantities we have. I am actually looking forward to making my own potting compost, it was after all, part of gardening in the past before mass consumerism took over.

 

I have had similar thoughts, but have not got the project off the ground due to the difficulties I outlined. Potting compost may be easier than seeding regarding the problems of rogue plants (weeds & tomatoes!) from home compost. More effort in producing a well composted base material is my next move. The desire to avoid chemical fertilisers is stronger than the dubious move away from peat. We are being duped by "environmentalists" who cannot see the real elephant in the room....