Best supplier of compost 2024

I agree and would like to see peat banned altogether, but I've yet to find a peat free compost that's worth buying.

 

The thing that probably rankles people most is that its just an English peat ban and appears to only apply to amateur growers.
Everyone else can carry on as usual.

 

But, more and more nurseries aren't.

 

It's not our hobbies destroying environment. Peat being used for burning for energy. Right today saw it mentioned on another thread here. Our hobbies are not even a tiny portion of the quantities. Just a propaganda.

 

They are following a trend, I think, because they are expecting it to become compulsory at some point, also it looks good to state that they have gone peat free.

Its a bit like buying an electric van for your business use, but ATM you dont have to, but for big companies it suggests they are going green.

 

Can you enlighten me of these many other sources of compost and is the volumes there to fully replace peat?

When you go to the supermarkets, 54% of edible crops are germinated in 100% peat based growing media. One of the leading UK brassica propagators grows 600,000,000 young plants yearly in the 45 acre glass houses for the agriculture sector. Even they say moving away from peat is proving difficult as they grow in such small cells the alternatives are not fine enough, with the exception of coir.

No other country is going down the route of a blanket ban on peat, even the Dutch have set a target of only having 10% peat in growing media by 2050.

Dutch have no plans to be peat-free until at least after 2050.

The UK has no plans of stopping peat being harvested for burning in the distilleries, the whisky industry is worth nearly 30 Billion, the treasury are not going to jeopardize duty revenue.

 

It would help the environment more to ban all private jet and helicopter flights. Oh no ... wait ... that would impact the super-rich. Can't have that, can we?

 

Composted green waste, available in huge quantities.

As gardeners, we are supposed to be doing everything to help the environment, using peat does the opposite.

 

But you can't use it in large quantities in growing media, especially with seeds and young cuttings.

Below is the the recommendations of the percentage of green waste could be used in growing media after trials conducted by WARP.

Application % range of composted green material Seed mixes 5-10% Bedding plants 20-25% Pot plants 20-25% Nursery stock (general)* 30-35% Nursery stock (vigorous)* 35-50% Multipurpose growing media 20-40%

An abstract from an email I received earlier in January.

Project background: The drive towards peat-free and reduced peat growing media means that plants sold in the UK are increasingly being grown in media made from mixtures of materials produced and processed in a variety of ways. Recent research has shown that some of these materials can pose particular risks in terms of plant pathogens. For example, Forest Research pathologists have found live Pythium and Phytopythium species and DNA matching a range of Phytophthora species in several individual constituents as well as market-ready growing media in the UK. Although some of the pathogens found are now endemic in the UK, others have not been recorded in the UK before, which is clearly worrying.



Defra is looking to gain information on the types and volumes of constituents used in peat-free and reduced-peat growing media and processing methods used to prepare them, with a view to determining the level of risk which the constituents pose in terms of plant pests and pathogens. To that end, we aim to contact the manufacturers of all growing media (both amateur and professional) sold in the UK.

 

The forestry did a research both them and earth care have been funded by Defra to research peat free substrates.

https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2...ant-Nurseries-Training-Event-PPT_Oct-2023.pdf

 

Do these 'new ' pathogens survive processing to 65 deg C ?
The requirement for seeding compost is to be free of weed seeds, mildews, pathogens etc. Some would define this as 'sterile'.
This is where peat has been sucessful although some sedge seems to come through, presumably by contamination with surface overburden which is 'living'.
Perhaps Defra could be influenced to produce standards for media, some might call composts, that define contents and standards of processing. Stricter enforcement of PAS 100 accreditation would be a start
Peat could be used where justified by needs; the argument that restricting new growth/carbon sequestration to protect old sequestration is valid, ignores the carbon cycle and is misleading when the science is "settled" without empirical evidence backed by sound calculation.
Other materials could be used for 'potting on' and soil improvement where sterility is not needed and there is scope to use all manner of 'wastes' to provide for horticultural industries and hobbists as well.
A really worthwhile project for Government would be to improve the recycling of human waste to yield valuable materials and energy rather than dump it in to the environment, often raw, complete with chemicals, heavy metals, pharmacuticals not to mention plastics large and small.

 

I doubt the pathogens would survive been composted at 65c, but these windrows are outside and exposed to wet weather. Veolia has had to dump some of the PAS 100 in the past due to flooding. if it gets to wet it will never get back up to the required temperature. Last year was one of the wettest years in decades, has some of this PAS 100 not been composted properly.

There is improvement in the recycling of human waste, if you can call it that. Councils are short on money so the waste to energy sectors tend to be getting more and more contracts as the waste is worth more when it goes to incineration.

 

Got to admit, I'm tempted....