Topic: B&Q VERVE MULTIPURPOSE COMPOST - weird colour surface capping!

[Duke Ellington]

I have been using B&Q Verve and have noticed that after sowing seeds the surface becomes capped with a weird blue/green algae like substance. At the beginning of the season I thought it might be due low temperatures and low light levels. However, the same is happening with seeds sown in it over the past couple of weeks. the compost hasn't been over watered. Infact when the compost is dry it looks wet as the blue green surface is dark in colour. When I touch the surface of the compost it feels really cold...much colder than my JA Bowers seed compost which contains more sand.
Very strange. Has anyone else experienced this with Verve?
What are they adding to our compost?????!!!!!!

Duke

[grannyjanny]

There was someone who used to post on A4A who worked at JAB & at that time B&Q was good compost but he said they wanted to change the recipe as it was to expensive. That was 3 or 4 years ago. If you have any unused bags I would return them Duke. I take back & send a sample to the manufacturer with a letter of complaint.

[OllieC]

I've been using it too - had assumed it was overwatering but now that you mention it that's not something I generally do. Looks like blue green algae - from high Nitrogen perhaps? Still seems to work fine though.

[macmac]

We bought 3 x 125L bags earlier in the year, some has displayed the blue/green appearance but our complaint was it was just like dust. It dried out really quickly and the plants didn't do well. To their credit B&Q have given us a full refund on all 3 bags and assured us they will look into it (not the blue stuff)