Yes ..... But ...... which is a good NON PEAT COMPOST?

With thread similar to this, often wonder why no mention of John Innes compost ?

As its soil based and in three grades includind seed why is it not big used more ?

 

It is a more dense product, soil depending on moisture content will generally weigh about 1.2 - 1.8 ton per cubic metre, peat at the moment is roughly 330 - 360kg per cube at the moment. The greater the volume you can move contributes to keep the cost per litre down.

Wickes is advertising on their site, 25L multi-purpose peat free top soil, in the description they say it is 16kg for 25L. Without seeing the contents, the weight to litre ratio does not add up for it to be top soil, that works out at 640kg per cubic metre. The weight and wording suggests to me it has been bulked up with something else.

Good top soil is not that plentiful, I think a lot of this recycled waste is probably being blended with a percentage of loam and then being sold as top soil, my opinion.

 

Because its mostly mud.
Its difficult to find good JI.
The loam used is often very claggy and unless you mix more peat grit etc. into it you end up with a very airless compost that sets solid when it dries out

 

Kettering loam, that's what you need to make good JI

 

Kettering loam is mainly aimed for the groundsman sector, with a 24% loam 18% silt and 58% sand blend. They sterilise the clay with flame, we used to use this technique when we first started making JI, we found that the flames burnt the fibre in the soil which ruined the texture, resulting in the compost going solid.

We went down the steam route, we have a perforated stainless steel grid inside a 5 ton trailer which the steam is pumped into.

 

I have tried reduced peat/ non-peat composts since they became commonly available. Over the years I've found them pretty variable in both texture and composition; generally the reduced peat were better than the peat free and you get what you pay for. I have found bits of glass, plastic and metal (including nails and screws) lumps of wood and stones. Suppliers vary from year to year and even within the year.
Some years ago I tried coir based multi purpose and didn't get on with it, wetting issues, poor water retention.
What I have done for the past few years is get Aldi peat free, mix it approx 50:50 with my garden soil and use this for things like tomatoes and dahlias that go in big pots and get regular watering and feeding. For plants I'm passing onto other people, have grown from seed or cuttings i use a multi purpose compost; this year it's Westland as it was 3 for 2, this may get mixed with soil or grit or the cheapo Aldi depending on what I'm doing.
The best I've found is the Sylvagrow from Melcourt consistent from year to year to year, nice texture and works well, however it is pricey. Again this will probably get mixed with garden soil, to give it bit more weight for pots in a windy garden. The Sylvagrow gets used in mixes for special plants and bulbs ie ones I've bought recently.

 

I use coco coir as bedding material for my worm bin then mix it into my potting mix.

I have experimented with coco coir as a potting mix for tomatoes for years and have never been able to prevent a certain amount of blossom end rot.

Coco coir Can lock out calcium, magnesium and iron: Because of its high cation exchange rate, I have used so called buffered coir and have buffered it myself and used dedicated coco coir fertilisers but have never eradicated blossom end rot.

Using up to 20% worm compost(coco coir based) has had lots of benefits to my toms without any blossom end rot.

I believe peat used by gardeners is negligible compared to professional use

Sandy

 

Agreed re loam in JI, but do folk realise that THOUGH soil based JI contains Peat!!

 

Yes, in fairness though, the peat content is considerably less in John Innes compared to a peat reduced multipurpose.

Melcourts sylvagrow range is all peat free, they use bark, wood fibre and coir. There John Innes range is also peat free. On their website they have a list of stockists who stock their range, they do recommend on their site you phone your local stockist to confirm they have stock before travelling.

There is a couple of good peat free composts out there, however is there enough good quality peat free compost to meet market demand?

We are the only country that is going to ban peat based composts to the general public, they still might even ban the commercial sector. Yet there is no ban pending or currently in the pipe line to ban plants being imported in to the UK grown in peat.

Level playing field with fines for imported peat-grown plants required if England bans peat

 

Wow, what a fantastic array of data you've included here! My favourite has been " coirpeat"!!! John Innes compost was something I grew up with (7:3:2) loam was a problem til I started teaching when I could rot down turves and steering it in a posh little steriliser we bought! That was the "7". Then the PEAT (3) always the best and then sand/gravel, that was always a mixture depending on where my school was in the country! The best was in the West Country and was from washings of cornish porcelain clay. A mixture of sand, excellent sharp grit and some clay particles! We used to use it as a hydroponics base on its own! We always bought in the JI fertiliser and of course some lime. However going back to PEAT Free!! Loam IS important surely AS LONG as its based on good turves ??? But probably only for potting ?? Coir (peat!!) IS surely the main ingredient of a seedsowing material simply because of its basic structure. Added could be a 'large' sand particle (not grit) or even well rotted bark/wood chips again with sharp drainage. I think potting compost is going to be still very variable with well made garden compost being the main ingredient. Being lazy by nature, the other ingredient is always re-used compost from previous year! What we call 'potato soil' forms a large part of this! Most of our potato's are grown in pots/containers or black plastic bags simply because they are easier to harvest. Both the spuds and their soil that is!!!
I must aim for consistency and be less idle!!

 

When my dad first started making JI compost he actually made his own JI fertiliser, using hoof&horn, superphosphate and potash, those were the days.

There was not that many readily made composts or compound fertilisers back in those days 1970's both for retail and commercially, you had to make your own. Baled peat and a box of chempaks different formulas was the norm to make your own compost for the general public.

 

I've bought the chempak base fertiliser and mixed it with a bale of peat many years ago.
Can't actually remember what stuff grew like in it.

 

I just bought some small blocks of coconut coir from Poundland, that still only cost one pound each, which each expand when mixed with water to give 10 litres. They are compressed, light and tiny, so presumably if they are shipped as compressed blocks they are reasonably economical and ecological? I use them mainly for my carnivorous plants, but often end up mixing them with other compost and perlite for general pots when I run out of compost, which I always do because I always underestimate how much I will need. These small compressed blocks are very light and easy to carry, and easy to store, and only slightly more expensive than Poundland's 40 litre bags of compost for three pounds, and cheaper than other brands of compost. I also bought some Westland Multipurpose Compost with added John Innes, which was a bit more expensive but I really like it as it seems to retain water really well in pots and wall baskets. I only bought it because there was nothing else available at the time, during the winter. In the past I have noticed issues with water running straight through compost without wetting it.

I mostly use my home made garden compost in the garden rather than pots and baskets, but I have got away with putting a little garden compost in the bottom of big pots, and the plants grew fine.