Is it worth spending a little extra on Miracle Gro compost?

[21again]

I was going to buy some Miracle Gro multi purpose compost tomorrow as it is on special offer, 3 x 50ltr bags for £12.

My husband mentioned other makes which were on offer at 3 x 70ltr bags for £10.

I am growing mainly veg, is it better to spend a bit more for the Miracle Gro or should I buy a cheaper compost?

Is Miracle Gro all it is hyped up to be?

[Spiderling]

Hi 21 Again. We grow mainly veg too and have only ever used ordinary everyday multi purpose compost. We have always had good results. Last year,we bought some from Lidl and it was dirt cheap (ouch sorry ). We had excellent results with it and it was brilliant stuff! Sadly, they don't appear to have any this year! I like J.A Bowers compost best. B&Q compost isn't as good as it used to be. The last lot we got from them contained shredded plastic and alot of fibrous lumps and twigs, so by the time I had sieved it, there was alot of wasted stuff...well not waste, it went into my compost bin! I wouldn't buy the miracle grow stuff but it's personal choice really. Why not buy a small bag and do a trial to make a comparison? Cheers.

[selfraising]

I have only used multi purpose compost for the past 3 years with some added manure, chicken pellets and perhaps every now and then watering with tomato feed. So far the veg has been fine.

[DioBach]

I used ordinary last year, but this year I've spent a couple of quid extra on bags of Westland's Organic Vegetable Compost, will see if it was worth it as the season progresses. Maybe I'm just a mug, but it feels a lot nicer than the general multipurpose I normally use, and of course is also peat free.

[rodofgod76]

Is it just me, or are most peat free vegetable composts a bit naff?

Now I'm no expert, but this year I've been trying a few different composts, and the peat free, just doesn't seem to be able to hold a light to the peat based products.

I tried sowing some tomatoes and peppers in Westland Advance peat free, and only 10 out of 30 germinated and of those 10 only 5 survived. So I sowed some more, out of the same seed packets in some Erin peat based multi-purpose compost and only the odd one or two didn't germinate and none died. Then I tried B&Q's peat-free veg compost for potting the chillies on, and out of 10 4 have died. I know it's hardly scientific, but I'm far from impressed with peat-free composts. The Erin multi-purpose does me, especially when it's 3 bags for £10. One other thing I dislike about B&Q's peat-free veg compost is the fact that when you water the plant, the water immediately runs out of the pot, within like 2 or 3 seconds, plus it's full of bits of plastic and concrete. Crikey!!

[SarzWix]

I've just finished using a bag of Miracle-Gro compost that my MiL bought for me. I have to say, I thought it was absolute pants! I was using it to pot up, and the amount of really hard lumps I had to chuck away was ridiculous, and that's not counting the twigs and barely rotted fibrous lumps.. The 3 bags of Erin MP for £10 that I got today are much better - there are lumps, but they're easily crumbled or pulled to bits, and there is much less twigs too.
I would save a bit of money and avoid Miracle-Gro...

[selfraising]

Not much experience with peat free but watched Toby Bucklands programme where they ran an experiment (at Kew I think) and the results seemed to imply that for sowing the peat compost did better but once the plants had germinated the peat free did better. As I say I've no experience with peat free but for next year was going to try peat based for sowing and peat free for the rest. I have heard before that the peat free does not hold water well, the only way around it I can think of is to add water retaining granules

[zazen999]

Miracle Gro is based around the Mittleider Method of adding fertiliser to your crops....it leaves out the grow bed and spacing requirements that the feed is calculated on...and is also a non-organic interpretation of the mix.

Vegetable Gardening Books for the Home Hobbyist

Personally, I found out more about the crops when I stopped using multipurpose fertilised compost and looked deeper into their requirements and needs - and treated them all differently...but for a first timer why not?????

[IgglePiggle]

I've just finished using a bag of Miracle-Gro compost that my MiL bought for me. I have to say, I thought it was absolute pants! I was using it to pot up, and the amount of really hard lumps I had to chuck away was ridiculous, and that's not counting the twigs and barely rotted fibrous lumps.. The 3 bags of Erin MP for £10 that I got today are much better - there are lumps, but they're easily crumbled or pulled to bits, and there is much less twigs too.
I would save a bit of money and avoid Miracle-Gro...

Mine is great! Never had a bag like that, any lumps are easy broke up and sometimes you can count the hard useless stuff on both hands from a full bag. Only bad thing is homebase has put the price up to £5.99, even through their site says different!

[21again]

Thanks folks.

It looks like our local Homebase has sold out of Miracle Gro so I am going to try the Wickes 4 for £10 ones and see how that is.

I am going to fill a 1m x 1m raised bed which is 15cm deep so I think I will need about 180ltrs to fill that.

[IgglePiggle]

Thanks folks.

It looks like our local Homebase has sold out of Miracle Gro so I am going to try the Wickes 4 for £10 ones and see how that is.

I am going to fill a 1m x 1m raised bed which is 15cm deep so I think I will need about 180ltrs to fill that.

Out of interest how much were they charging at yours for one bag? I'm sure I was conned

[ardroil]

im using wicks, 4 for a tenner, and im now on my third lot, ive no problems with it, nothing unusual in the bags and it looks good stuff, ive got loads of healthy plants, i would give it a go, well worth it,

[21again]

Out of interest how much were they charging at yours for one bag? I'm sure I was conned

There were some bags that said 3 for £12 in the top corner of the bag.

I suppose if they don't have that on the bag they may scan at a higher price.

[SarzWix]

If you're filling a raised bed with it, I'd be inclined to buy some bags of topsoil too and mix them together. It gives a bit more substance to the soil, holds water and nutrients well too.

[butter fingers]

last year i used B &Q 3 bags for a tenner and grew my tomato and peppers in it fine.
I just buy the cheapest on offer from werether i am at the time. Lidl"s and yesterday a bag from wilko"s reduced cause it was torn.this stuff is more fibreous and expands like crazy when its out of the bag so it might need mixing with some soil. might be called sungold.