Best supplier of compost 2024

I do like your avatar

 

Problems of utilising sewage include the issues of contamination with heavy metals , pharmecuticals and micro plastics. While some is disposed of by incorporation to agricultural land, agriculture is increasingly reluctant to accept it because of this contamination. Regrettably, it seems to be acceptable to dump in to rivers and seas, where the problems are concealed from common gaze.

 

I think the saving the environment part is not so much reducing CO2 as much as preserving the peat bogs and the habitat they provide for plants and animals, some quite rare. Also they hold water which otherwise would go straight into rivers and increase the risk of flooding.

 

It is possible sometimes to use sewage from plants which process domestic waste only and are much less liable to be contaminated with heavy metals. Not so much microplastics but they are everywhere now unfortunately. The thing is that sewage is a huge potential resource and artificial fertilizers are getting more and more expensive and their manufacture uses lots of energy (which is why they're getting more expensive). We should have been finding ways of making it safe to use years ago. Actually there may be (are actually) microbes that can break down plastic and sewage is a good source of those. We need someone to fund the research and development.

 

They could start by, banning plants sold on, sale or return. When certain retailers are adopting a no watering policy, your just creating more waste. If you have a no watering policy then you shouldn't be allowed to sell live plants.

From my brief discussion with earth care, these pathogens are being found in peat free and peat reduced compost, which suggest industrial composting is not working as efficiently as it could be. Or has the felled larch trees due to disease went to green waste recycling plants when ideally they should of just been burnt. The nurseries where these pathogens had been found were in plants grown in peat free compost, probably sent back on a sale and return. Whether these nurseries have the knowledge in composting to kill these pathogens is highly unlikely. Many pathogens tend to be found in parks and gardens opened to the public, the problem is they tend to compost their own waste, but if you have diseased plants, trees etc etc then you need to have some experience of composting so your heaps generate enough heat to kill any pathogens, if not, then they should be burnt.

My understanding is, that nurseries in the future will not be allowed to compost waste plants on site as we go down the peat free route.
Also I have been told some of the DNA of these pathogens has been found in market ready compost, which is very concerning.

 

But are you saving the environment with the alternatives where pathogens have been found that have never been recorded in the UK before. As I am a manufacturer of compost, most people that do buy peat free is because they believe they are reducing their carbon footprint, in two ways, carbon sink peat is not being used and were using the waste that would normally go to land fill.

 

I've been using that one for a few years now and it's very good, used to have the same brand with the peat in it, but they don't do it anymore.

 

Mixing large supplies of garden waste for centralised composting then sending it out again is almost garenteed to cause outbreaks in the long term. Importing stuff like coir is also dangerous but not quite as bad as re-use. Some pathogens can be extremely hardy, with spores or similar things surviving boiling, but these are rare, and competition with other microbes should stop that.
Agree very much with sewage processing research. It is a very complicated and difficult topic though; being able to process a dozen different chemicals into something edible by nature is difficult! Not exactly glamorous though, who grows up dreaming of being a sewer scientist

Ive been using coir for seedling, its such a lovely texture but having things imported is not very good. It came compacted and Ive been reusing one block mixed with compost 50/50 for several years now.

I just bought 2 bags of westlands general compost, but without john innes. It seems okay but was very wet and heavy.

 

I use Westlands multi purpose compost without peat and with John innes for a long time and it's very good. But don't have to water it so much because the top can feel dry with the bottom still wet.

 

Went for a trip out yesterday to a garden centre about 30 minutes away from us bought compost clover and one with added seaweed which I have used before with very good results but couldn’t find last year ,last year used peat free and was not impressed thes both are peat based .

 

Was the compost stored outside where you purchased it from?

Our local Home Bargains has a small garden centre and they stock Westlands General Multi-purpose. The whole area has a concrete floor and where all the bags of compost are stored the concrete is wet compared to the rest of the area. There is at least 12 pallets of Westlands compost and bulk of it has been there since late September, I know this as I took a photo of the batch number. So that compost has been exposed to the weather and with all the rain, this has got in to the compost through the air holes in the bag, it is so wet know that it is leaching out, hence why the concrete around the compost is always wet.

I have said numerous times, I would never advise anyone to buy compost if the retailer is storing it outside especially late autumn/winter. This time of year you could be buying compost that has been there for months, when stored under cover, it's not an issue.

 

That one has been discontinued now, but there is still some retailers in the country that still have stock.