multi purpose compost

[SelkirkAlex]

is it just me or has the quality of shop bought multi purpose compost become noticeably worse of late?

[happyhumph]

It's not just you.....

[Thelma Sanders]

It's not just you.....

I agree, absolute rubbish this year and it wasn't a cheapo brand either

[Potstubsdustbins]

It is mainly down to the lack of peat in the mix, the manufacturers seem to be struggling to find the right mix though of course none of them will admit this.

I have used Jack's Magic for the last couple of years with success, its one of the few old peat recipes about these days.

[Bren In Pots]

I've been using B&Q verve compost and had no problems with it but then I only buy one 125L bale a year, and that mostly gets mixed with leaf mould and Dalek compost.

[Martin H]

I've bought several bags of Verve this year and they've been fine. I sieve before using but there's only been the usual amount of rubbish in there.

[bramble]

Martin. Should we have to sieve it?
I buy Hortons multi putpose compost.
I have been using this more years than I care to remrmber.
Year on year it has got steadily worse.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Maybe I am pedantic but in my opinion like Bramble I ask should we have to sieve it? My answer would be a resounding NO it would be classed as not fit for purpose unless it states on the packaging requires further sieving.

I can just see the look on a clients face when after we have installed a new boiler I hand him a ........box of matches and kindling.

[Martin H]

Martin. Should we have to sieve it?

Well in an ideal world obviously the suppliers would do their job properly and we would be able to use the stuff straight out of the bag.

Dream on.

I have some sympathy for the suppliers in that back in the day, it was easy to get hold of high quality peat to make their compost with so they didn't have to do much to it other than mix in feed and bag it up. Nowadays the peat is from less "pure" sources and the peat substitutes are rather variable in quality.

But I've found that this season is no worse than last season, either for multipurpose compost or for the equally patchy quality John Innes mixes. All need sieving before use, even (especially) the JI seed compost. I haven't found any one brand to be particularly better or worse than any other, although to be fair I haven't tried the really expensive ones like Jack's Magic.

[ESBkevin]

Some compost (sold as compost) seems to be lttle more that the cheap/free soil improver we get that is just recycled garden waste collections. Now it may contain added nutrients but the texture is little different IMHO. I make as much compost myself as I can and collect large volumes of autumn leaves too. I'm not going to pay someone to supply me thier shredded garden waste and a bit of fertilizer stirred in.
I have bought the odd bag for hanging baskets, but usually feel disapointed in the quality these days. I use all available space and compost everything including the neighbours grass guttings and garden trimmings if they have any.

[bario1]

Even this year's J@ck's M@gic was full of hard little nuggets the size of peas - it wasn't like that last year.

[burnie]

I have noticed more lumps in the bags, but to be honest, it's better than mine and my growing results have been good this year. I can't remember what I used and as it's raining you've got more chance plaiting fog than me going out to read the bag................

[vixylix]

I use verve too - I had a problem early on with fungus gnats, which I'm sure came out of the compost bag. Not had a problem since then though

[Potstubsdustbins]

Blooming Heck AP gave me a like..............nice to have you back young man........

[SelkirkAlex]

all the stuff I have tried lately seems to be nothing better than wood fibre (recycled pallets?) with some sand and twigs.

just enough rubbish to stop me knitting a jumper from the wood fibre.