Aldi peat-free compost

[ameno]

Does anyone have any recent experience with Aldi's peat-free compost, and could comment on its quality?
It's £2 for a 40L bag, and at that price I'm considering getting five or so bags to use as soil improver, so how well it actually performs in pots isn't really important to me. I just want to know if anyone knows whether it has any toxic contaminants (weedkiller, or high salt levels), or any other issues, like bits of plastic, or lots of large pieces of wood.

[burnie]

I've noticed some of the less cheap compost is just stuff from council recycling tips, poor quality seems to abound, I am currently trying new makes, Westlands ""Jacks Magic" does seem to have a lot less "rubbish" in it, it would seem it has been screened to remove the bigger lumps at least, but that is a peat blended one.

[Snadger]

Funnily enough I was considering using the 'Vegetable compost' which is £2.99 for 40 litres on my plot.. Come to think of it I have a bag of the peat free stuff lying around and it would work out cheaper as a mulch. It probably will be from recycling but would be fine for what I need it for.

[annie8]

I just got a bag of Homebase peat free for the first time. Quite pleased with it. Haven’t tried Aldi but did try Lidl peat free last year and it wasn’t the best. Shame as the Lidl non peat free stuff was decent.

[Grafitti]

I've found small bits of plastic in quite a few different (large store chain) brands of compost. Nothing that can't be picked out, and I've never had issues with plants being harmed by traces of weedkiller etc.
I would think using it as soil improver, it's perfectly fine, maybe less so if you're building a raised bed and filling it with nothing but that.

[ameno]

I'm thinking I'll buy a single bag and do a weedkiller test on it, and if things are fine then I'll buy a few more. If it's not fine, well,I've only lost £2 (although I will have to dispose of the rest of the bag somehow).

[ESBkevin]

Currently by us Morrisons are doing 5 x 40Ltr bags for £10.00
This is comparable to previous years where 3x 70Ltr bags were £10 and have been decent enough in quality.
In my experience all these recycled waste composts benefit from 'sitting about' a while if you have that luxury, while they finish off composting. That's not to say it's not good stuff, but it can improve with time. If you are lucky you might get a batch that was prepped last year and has already sat around in storage, I managed this two tears ago and it was lovely and black. I got several lots and all were good.
As ever your mileage may vary. I got another 5 bags last week but am yet to open any of them to give a latest quality report.

[Snadger]

I bought one bag of Aldi peat free, tried it by sowing a few PSB in modules. It looked like sawdust to me, very light in colour and water drains straight through. I went and bought another three bags just to use as a mulch on plot where it should be OK but I wouldn't recommend using it for potting plants on. Only my personal view of course.

I will have to have a look to Morry's and maybe try some of theirs.

[annie8]

Been finding it hard to find peat free compost in Homebase - closest shop to me. Bought some new horizons today. Seems fine but bit of a manure smell from it. Son was complaining as I still have plants on windowsills inside. Anyone tried it?

[bikermike]

I've bought the Aldi stuff in the past, it varies hugely - sometimes it was dark, heavy and almost soil-like, other times it was light and fluffy. I think all you can do is take a punt on it - the only thing to remember is that the bags are significantly smaller than other compost bags, which means any estimates you did with other bags don't hold up.

I think all peat-free is struggling a bit at the moment, people are aware of the environmental issues with peat, but there's only so much green waste coming in.

[totalastronomy]

I bought this three weeks ago. I am very disappointed with it. Very wet and highly compressed. I used it to pot up some lily of the valley. They are doing okay but my patio is not! Hideous tannin stain from brown fluid running out of the post.