Potting on with 'rough' compost

[amandaandherveg]

I have some heirloom toms seedlings that needed potting on from their modules.

I opened a bag of Peat Free Compost but it's really 'rough' and not at all crumbly and all the bags appear to be the same and I had no other compost left. Now I'm worried that that my young toms won't survive. Should I be concerned or am I fussing?

[peanut]

I used B&Q Peat Free compost and that was really rough and woody but all my plants including Toms, Q's and Beans are all doing fine. Hope that reassures you.

[amandaandherveg]

Thanks Peanut - I have the same stuff. All my regular toms are doing well and I don't want my 'fancy' toms to die on me.

[HeyWayne]

I sowed my tomato seeds in the Homebase peat free - which is "rough" as you describe it (woody is another way I suppose).

All seem to have germinated without issue.

[pdblake]

I bought some westland peat free from Tesco's, it was like sawdust and shavings. Won't be getting that stuff again.

[mrdinkle]

I have found this - even some of the peat free seed compost has big lumps of tree in it.

Do any people have any suggestions of where to buy less chunky peat free?

I have been sieving mine and blending some john innes with it to make it a bit more er compost like I have then been using the larger bits of tree in the bottom of pots as drainage.

[zazen999]

I sow into peat free mixed with my own compost and sand - and sieve it [put the bits left in the sieve at the bottom of the module, and have the sieve fine stuff on the top]...but potting on is done into either growbags or growbags mixed with well rotted manure [WRM], or peat free mixed with well rotted manure.

Once germinated, toms and peppers need something more feisty than peat free....so I go straight for WRM...and mix it with anything I've already got hanging around.