Best Multi Purpose compost 2015...Your thoughts please.

This is always a contentious subject as there is so much variation, because it changes from year to year.
I favour Jacks Magic, made by Westland, for me it is a cut above the rest......It was last year and has maintained the quality this year.
It is quite fine a little bit sandy and has a loamy feel, it also has seaweed supplement.
It is perfect for seed sowing, no lumps thus it doesn't need sieving.
It is 90% peat.............so not for the non believers.
An all round good egg.

 

I've gone for Wickes again which I really like. Never again will I used Asda's own. It was horrendous last year. It was full of what looked like lumps of green foam and it set like concrete so I moved on to Wickes. OH got me some bags of it last weekend and it's nice stuff. I use Verve seed and cutting compost for sowing.

 

I am using Verve ( B and Q ) seed compost this year. As the nursery opposite my works sells Irish "Clover" MPC , same price as the B and Q stuff , so I will use that again.
I keep my compost purchase to a minimum so early in the season , as it is probably last years stock. Whether that makes much difference , who knows ?

 

Well I am nowhere near to a 'shed' so my choices are limited, Arthur Bowers used to be my favourite but now it is dreadful don't waste your money, then there is the Co-op's own brand and this is worse than Arthur Bowers, so I usually go with Levingtons, which is just about OK, well my violas grow well in it so that's good enough for me!

 

Just brought my 1st bag of the year B&Q's multi purpose 125L bag
Seems a nice, dark with a fine texture with the odd twig

 

should be a good read I haven't picked anything as of yet , as concerned its last years stuff left out over winter picking up spores etc.

 

I usually buy something like Leavingtons, or Aurthur Bowers, then add either grit, sand or JI loam, depending on what I'm growing.
Seeds just get the basic MP stuff, its only when potting on I add other ingredients.

Never touched anything from Wickes, B & Q, or those kind of places.

If its cheap, it will be cheap for a reason.

Also, I rarely go on what it looks like, if its got a few twigs, but grows well, I dont worry too much.
Often the very spongy fine stuff is a recipe for root rot, as it holds too much water.

 

@pete Have you bought Arthur Bowers recently? this used to be my favourite compost as it was a really nice sandy mix, the bags I bought last year were awful, nothing like it used to be at all.

 

No I dont think I have, not MP anyway, it does vary I know.
Even from batch to batch.

But surely its about results, not how it looks, the plants dont look at it, they either grow, or dont.

 

I swear by Humax if you can find it.
But the fact is that no matter what I buy I do tend to add to it depending on what is going to be growing in it.

 

My orchard farm shop man has it... and I'm looking forward to trying it this season. Will mix with some fine sand for root help and some larger grit for drainage when potting on. I'll watch this thread so that I can report on it in due course,
Jenny

 

Yes, of course but you could lose a whole growing season before they showed bad results so I try to give them as good a start as possible. If it looks nice, feels nice, smells nice, that's the one!!!

 

MPC 2015 has started

 

Like Roders I'm using Jack's Magic....and for the first time. It's a good consistency and 'clean' with no rubbish mixed in. I used B&Q's Verve multi-purpose for many years but in the last two years it has deteriorated in quality, I found that seedlings/plants didn't grow as well so the mix has obviously been down graded.