Topic: Rant about the quality of potting compost.......

[caroline7758]

Found this on the WRAP website:

http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Introduction_to_BSI_PAS_100-20052.f3cd704a.2181.pdf

See p.9 for the minimum standard for amount of glass, metal, plastic etc .

Can't see any mention of this standard on my Westland compost-wonder if any of the major brands meet it?

[littlebabybird]

I use fertile fibre BUT i dont pay the 1 bag price
lbb

[shadowdragon]

£15 or £3 a bag if it says compost it should be compost not landfill, theres definatley a trading standard issue here.

Im new to the allotment scene and never have been a big gardener but I wouldnt expect to shove my hands into a bag of compost and find glass or metal or anything that wasnt well Compost like!!! irrelevant of price. I always assumed that if you paid more for your compost it was better quality nutrient wise ect.

[Eristic]

I am all too well aware that I'm poking a wasp nest with a short stick but wasp nests, sticks and boys all go together. If anyone has been offended then I apologise.

Baccy Man has pointed out that the techno how is there to grade finer but there is considerable added cost. If current compost were to be passed through 5mm screens a good percentage of the mix would be removed which in itself would up the price of a bag considerably, but also the waste created would either have to be reprocessed or sent to landfill with added cost.

How do I roll my own?
Ingredients: Garden topsoil, garden compost, sharp sand.

The topsoil I use currently comes from the waste from landscaping projects but could just as easily come from the allotment itself as it is not being removed from the plot. The garden compost I produce myself using the Moriati method, and the sharp sand is the leftovers in bulk bags at the end of a project.

Method:
First the garden compost is passed through a 1" mesh screen and stored in another container. Topsoil  is treated in a similar manner. To make the mix I tend to use any suitable flowerpot as a measure to scoop material into a mixing tub. I use a ratio of 3:3:1 soil:compost:sand. The mix is then stirred up with a hand fork then put into store. Process is repeated till I get bored or run out of something. Later on the mix gets passed through a quarter inch mesh for seed compost.

Much of this compost does end up back on the plot as all the 2 litre pots of tomatos etc. get planted out, but all compost remaining in pots at the end of the season is cleaned up and reused.

The mix ratio can be amended to suit specialist needs or the variation in ingredients. I do not add any fertilizer to the mixture at all and find that seedlings have more than enough to last them the week or two before pricking out. Fertilizer is added to growing plants according to their needs later.

[asbean]

I've been using Homebase all-purpose for years.  Th only crap lot we had was the Homebase peatfree stuff a couple of years ago.

[hello]

Re: arthur bowers smelly reduced peat stuff!
Yes potted my spuds in that now removed outside as to smelly.
Look for Arthur bowers with sand added hard to find.
Or west+ compost reduced or peat free
Looking for some nice green fingerd females to chat gardening with 25-40yrs.
I can't manage to send messages on here please email me
{email removed by mod - best to pm it!}

I'm James 38yrs been working at a local college 20yrs as a gardener.
Have a nice garden you name it I grow it!
Cheers catch up laters
James

[shadowdragon]

Re: arthur bowers smelly reduced peat stuff!
Yes potted my spuds in that now removed outside as to smelly.
Look for Arthur bowers with sand added hard to find.
Or west+ compost reduced or peat free
Looking for some nice green fingerd females to chat gardening with 25-40yrs.
I can't manage to send messages on here please email me
{email removed by mod - best to pm it!}

I'm James 38yrs been working at a local college 20yrs as a gardener.
Have a nice garden you name it I grow it!
Cheers catch up laters
James

You will only get banned for spamming and trolling, this is not an online dating forum. Its about allotments. Ive come across at least half a dozen of your posts all about giving your contact details, reported to mod.

Have a nice day

[thifasmom]

Looking for some nice green fingerd females to chat gardening with 25-40yrs.
I can't manage to send messages on here please email me
{email removed by mod - best to pm it!}

I'm James 38yrs been working at a local college 20yrs as a gardener.
Have a nice garden you name it I grow it!
Cheers catch up laters
James

:o :o :o what the!!!!! :o :o :o

[Robert_Brenchley]

I can see why you're prevented from sending messages! What would you do, spam every woman on the site?

[Deb P]

Well that certainly livened the thread up, if indeed it required any further livening....I was interested to note on 'hello's first post that it is a different name that has edited it at the bottom......do you think he is trying to tell us something! :o :-[ ???


I'm too old for him anyway......... ;)

Ho hum, interesting someone else has encountered the foul smelling compost as well.

Interesting stuff from Caroline7758 about the WRAP standards for composts.......also can't see any mention of it on the JAB bags though, I wonder why.....?

[Borlotti]

I need a bag of potting compost to plant a few more FREE SEEDS.  Why do I keep sending off for seeds, saw people refusing them on Gardeners World and was jumping up and down and saying give me, give me.  Have sent off for the 5 packets, but I don't really need them.  Now you have put me in a quandary, do I go to B & Q, Homebase or Morrisons.  Have found Morrisons OK in the past and cheap.  The compost the Council delivers to us free has odd bits of glass etc in it, and it has white stuff in it that smells and seems to heat up.  I wear gloves when collecting it, some people swear by it, some don't.  I got some because it was free and love anything for nothing.  The soil in parts of my allotment is good but clay in others.  I think the good bits are where the man before had his compost heap that he moved about.  I have found that the big heap where I just dump everything seems to be doing better than by compost box or plastic one.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Well that certainly livened the thread up, if indeed it required any further livening....I was interested to note on 'hello's first post that it is a different name that has edited it at the bottom......do you think he is trying to tell us something! :o :-[ ???

Impressivemarrow? Could that be our old friend Biggus Dickus by any other name? If so, I doubt whether anyone would be impressed by his teeny weeny.

[Borlotti]

OH bought me compost from B & Q, cost £6 for a big bag.  Seems OK to me, no glass or rubbish and have just potted up a few more seeds.

[Baccy Man]

Impressivemarrow? Could that be our old friend Biggus Dickus by any other name?

ImpressiveMarrow is actually the other admin that helps out when Dan is busy.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Impressivemarrow? Could that be our old friend Biggus Dickus by any other name?

ImpressiveMarrow is actually the other admin that helps out when Dan is busy.

So i put my foot in it as usual!

[lewic]

I'm James 38yrs been working at a local college 20yrs as a gardener.
Have a nice garden you name it I grow it!
Cheers catch up laters

Cmon now, show us yer willy. Cretin.

[lushy86]

The bloke is a creep, he has sent me 2 emails - I know I was stupid not to hide it - Iknow that now.  It has spooked me a bit tho - see Ok now I'm really not happy thread.  >:(

Lushy x

[artichoke]

Back to compost.

Borlotti, I agree with what you say here:

"I think the good bits are where the man before had his compost heap that he moved about.  I have found that the big heap where I just dump everything seems to be doing better than my compost box or plastic one."

I've already mentioned my big messy heap, and it does seem to do better than the daleks. Also I move it about over the years because once it has composted down and I have dug it out, the soil underneath is rich and weedfree - even nettles and couch and buttercups seem to be stifled, or their remains are easy to pick out. I do prop some old bits of trellis round it to make it look neater, and stop it spreading too far.

I knew an old lady who was a fanatical gardener, and she had a gigantic heap sprawled over several square yards. When she needed compost, she raked the top off and underneath it was black gold. Everything she grew was amazing. She dumped garden and kitchen waste anywhere on it (possibly she kept new stuff to a particular end and I didn't notice) and I cannot imagine her going out and actually spending money on a bag of compost.

[STEVEB]

Id just like to say a big Well said to debp this site is for sharing tips not for WHOS PARSNIP IS THE BIGGEST stuff...hope i dont restart it  :P :P

[PurpleHeather]

Having had 'multipurpose compost' which resembled wood chippings, which burnt my seedlings. I changed to another supermarket chain and got some wonderful stuff last year. In Autumn they were selling what was left off at half price and I got 10 bags, kept them in the garage and they have given me a great start since January in my seed sowing.

I discovered the original supplier buys from the firm who takes our local council's 'green waste'. Knowing as I do what people put in their green waste (let's face it, who checks?) Dog poo, litter tray contents, caged animal waste, all sorts, all mixed with grass cuttings and trimmings from hedges (some being pine which is known to be full of resin which burns plants). Also the weed and feed and the residue of all sorts of herbicides and pesticides.  Road sweepings which can contain motor oil and gutter rubbish, it can all be in this stuff.

We should be allowed to know the source of the material in the compost we buy. Assuming that it is all made with wholesome green organic waste is as naive as believing in Santa Claus.