NEW SURVEY ON PEAT FREE COMPOSTS

I thought you might like an up date on the peat based and peat free compost surveys being carried out. This is an extract of an article from the Amateur Gardening Magazine:

"A consumer watchdog has found that 2 of the best performing container composts on the market are peat free. Mystery shopper at Which? Gardening bought 22 brands of multi-purpose that were suitable for plants in containers. Although the top scorer at 95% was Arthur Bowers Multi-Purpose [70% peat] the Magazines two other best buys were eco-friendly.

Both New Horizon Organic & Peat Free Growbag and New Horizon Organic and Peat Free Multi Purpose scored 84% in trials. The Magazine said "Our three best buys include two peat frees, proving once again that peat isn't essential for container compost to perform." New Horizons Fiona Carrington responded "We are delighted. This will be the 6th year in a row that New Horizon has won a best buy" One of the poorest performers in the Which? Gardening trial was B&Q Multi Purpose Compost which scored 41%, despite containing 63% peat.

The emphasis on this trial was compost for Container Use, I guess the thing being that containers are supposed to be regularly watered and fed thereby cutting out the need for peat. Personally, I still need to be convinced

 

Yes, that's my thinking too, Mowgley. The fact that you're watering and feeding a container regularly makes up for there being poor compost in the container.

 

Yes, Ma'am!

 

Now you should know that your wish is my command

 

I'm still using Wickes multi purpose and they've kept the same price as last year at £13 for 4 x 75 litres. Almost everything we pot on is going into peoples' gardens so they aren't remaining in the compost for long. When we make up baskets and pots we then add moisture retention and slow release feed.

We find this compost perfectly serviceable and get a very high success rate. I think we got through something close to 6,000 litres last year and it makes a considerable cost saving at those prices. BioBizz is almost certainly better, and as you're a professional garden I understand you want to use the best, but a saving of £1,200 for something that does the job OK is a major factor. Last year I used the compost bags as growbags in the greenhouse as they hold twice as much compost as a growbag and work out at only £3.25 each. They get regular watering and feeding and give good results.

Most people that buy our plants are keen gardeners and look after the composition of their soil. So the plants end up in good soil.