Best supplier of compost 2025

Sooo then compost buyers what’s your recommendations for the compost to go for in 2025

I do like jackmajic but I have only seen it for sale in Wikes and that was a couple of years ago.

Spruce

 

Jacks Magic lost its Magic when they reformulated it . Reduced the Peat.

Just used the first bag of Aldi enriched ld bought last year when reduced and it looks really really good to me.

Will try a bag again when this years compost arrives in store.

And btw, heard that the coconut plantations are needing to be fed artificially now as the soils depleted because all the coir has been shipped around the world to save the enviroment.

 

Jacks Magic is nothing like it was. It was my go to for years. Not anymore. The best I have found which does not cost the earth is Clover. I have just bought a pallet load and happy with it.

 

Vitax Q4 multipurpose is my favourite. It has a good texture and colour and retains moisture well. Most importantly, when watered in pots it doesn’t extrude a trail of gravy to stain my paving .

 

Sylvagrow was one of the best until last year. I have noted that when Garden Which do their trials it varies from year to year, as to which is best overall. Sylvagrow was best for several years but recently even they have said it's not suitable for seed sowing.
Recently I have gone back to Humax but it contains 60% peat. Up to this time last year they were 75L bags now down to 60L.

 

We need to keep peat on the Scottish islands, how else are we going to get a decent wee dram of Malt?

 

Most of the peat based composts are using peat from Ireland. As for malts, I don’t like the treacle coloured/peaty ones so I am not affected. A nice wee Glenmorangie fits the bill for me!

 

It puzzles me a bit why the manufacturers haven't been able to make decent compost based on green waste and/or wood waste. If I can get stuff of a decent texture out of my small domestic-size compost bins from weeds/grass clippings/hedge clippings/shredded woody prunings/veg & fruit peelings etc, then surely they can do much better with industrial-scale heaps that get much hotter, and big machinery to do the shredding, sieving, etc. My theory is that it's because time is money so they don't let it rot down for long enough, and maybe they skimp on the sieving as well. Maybe someone's done the sums and decided that the cost of the end product would be more than the market will stand.

I have something usable in a year with two turnings then sieved, but it's better left to sit in bags for an extra 6 months after that And funnily enough, cheap bought stuff left over from the previous year often has a better texture than when it was fresh, but probably the nutrients are gone.

I do use some of my own stuff mixed with the cheaper end of bagged potting compost (Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains etc - long since given up on the expensive brands that usually aren't significantly better) but in a small-ish garden with quite a lot of container plants, I can't make enough to be completely self-sufficient and have enough for mulching, soil improvement etc as well.

 

Indeed but it all sells !
Typical composting is 6 weeks
Have never seen retailers left with large stocks at end of season; not even one variety so its all good enough for its main purpose -selling !

 

In the February GW mag, monty (bravevely) has published his own mixes. From seed sowing , potting on, and final container, plus a gritty cutting and bulb mix. All of them use loam, leaf mould and garden compost in various proportions, ie the old turn of the 20th century method. He has space for multiple compost and leaf bays etc which most of us do not have.

I do agree with @JennyJB that commercial composts probably need to be rotted down for much longer.

 

Six weeks! Well I suppose 6 weeks in a very large very hot heap that's turned often will rot down more than 6 weeks in my small compost bin, but still, it's even less than I thought.

I will stick to buying the cheap stuff and amending it with home made compost, extra fertiliser, grit, perlite, whatever it seems to need. I'm tempted to clear out my smaller plastic compost bin (which is currently housing cardboard and bags of shredded paper ready for grass cutting season), filling it up with loads of cheap compost and letting it rot down some more before I use it. Kind of a more organised version of leaving a bag lying around for a while.

 

For peats sake, in the winter you cannot beat a nice wee Laphroaig, Jura, Tobermory or Highland Park. But I do also like a Glenmorangie!

 

Clover for us too. Have used it for years and it’s by far the best here. We, too, had used Jacks Magic but have stopped since they changed it, it was pretty dire.

 

Can anyone recommend a supplier of loam please? I have requested for my birthday in a few weeks the beginners set of soil blockers. Was all excited but now am unable to find loam or coir in the garden centres. Has anyone used soil blockers and if so, is there an alternative for loam/coir that will hold the amount of water needed for the blockers to work properly?