Thoughts on Westland Ericaceous Planting & Potting Mix

Hello has anyone used this product , if so what are your thoughts
Does it need to be mixed with top soil or can i put it in a pot and then put the plant directly into this without mixing with top soil

 

If its an Ericaceous loving plant then yes plant it directly into 100% compost.

Pointless adding soil as it defeats the point of using an Ericaceous compost.
The soil will likely not be as acid, possibly even alkaline.

What plants are you looking to pot up ?

 

I'd add soil if its a long term potting, you can get ericaceous JI compost, ideally I'd use half and half if you can find some.
If not I think you might need to feed and top up more.

It would be good to know what you are potting up.

 

It depends totally on what's being planted and for how long.
A lot of garden soil is acidic, depending on where you live. It can also be alkaline - depending on where you live, but a soil based mix is needed for anything woody, or staying potted long term, as @pete indicates. Compost alone isn't enough for that, whether ericaceous or not.

 

im planting Ugni molinae in a pot .

The reason i ask is that the word compost isnt in the name of this product , so whats the difference between compost and potting mix ???

 

but its not called compost

 

Check on the bag, and or online to see if you can find a list of ingredients. It's probably a blend of soil, sand , composted pine bark etc. If it is then plant directly into it. Remember John innes compost is a blend of loam, sand grit, and compost, in various proportions depending on planned use. Even the blend intended for potting long term only has about 6 weeks worth of feed in it. The ericaceous blend will be similar, but lower PH.

 

Compost has a couple of different meanings.
In this case potting Compost, which, as far as I can tell, is probably the same as potting mix.

I don't think Ugni Molinae requires very acidic conditions, it is growing well enough in my mostly neutral soil.
Just slightly on the acid side would probably be OK.

 

Now im worried it was doing fine but then i went on chat gpt which says it prefers acidic soil so i thought i should pop it in a bigger container with this potting mix , i did mix in a bit of top soil though

 

Sorry, did not mean to confuse you with the word "compost" when refering to that Westland Mix.

If it was us we would follow the advice from these two sites which are probably the most respected in the uk for their plant growing knowledge.

Chatbot etc could come back with loads of "compost".


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