| Best | Which Score /100 |
| B&Q Multipurpose Compost | (88) |
| B&Q Sowing and Cutting Compost | (71) |
| New Horizon Growbag | (71) |
| Worst | Which Score /100 |
| Homebase Multi Purpose Peat Free Compost | (33) |
| Vital Earth Seed & Cutting Compost | (38) |
| Vital Earth Multi Purpose Compost | (42) |
| Best | Which Score /100 |
| B&Q Multipurpose Compost | (88) |
| B&Q John Innes No2 Compost | (83) |
| Westland West + Multi-Purpose Compost | (83) |
| Worst | Which Score /100 |
| Homebase Multi Purpose Peat Free Compost | (13) |
| Vital Earth Multi Purpose Compost | (50) |
| Murphy Multi Purpose Compost | (50) |
Which of these is peat free?
Just dont get hung up on price here. You get what you pay for in compost, which is what professional growing medium is more expensive than retail composts.
Just dont get hung up on price here. You get what you pay for in compost, which is what professional growing medium is more expensive than retail composts.
I'm too cynical to buy that - in compost or anything else...
Lots of really expensive stuff is rubbish, most expensive stuff doesn't justify itself against the laws of diminishing returns, and nearly all really cheap stuff is rubbish, but some of the middling stuff is worth the extra.
So the logic doesn't hold - but it's simple to correct:
You don't get what you don't pay for.
In it's corrected form above this is an unbeatable law of nature.
The only time you can beat it is when you find something everybody thinks is rubbish and use it for a purpose nobody else thought of... ;)
Cheers.
lincsyokel2 - what would you say was 'professional' compost?
So far I'm mightily unimpressed by New Horizons, Vital Earth, Homebase and B&Q. I've tried peat free. I've tried cheap. Maybe next I'll go pro'
much slower. After a year or so you can't tell the difference between the two lots, but most of the stuff we grow are annuals which need to be a plantable size within about three months so it's back to the peat.
I buy just any multipurpose/peat and adjust it for my purposes. Some of the "better" =expensive are sometimes sieved too fine almost powdery and if they get dry are not fun to get properly moist again..
Before I started using capillary watering I used to put 20-25% John Innes mix into soilless composts - the clay works as a wetting agent (and the extra weight made the pots less likely to blow over).
It never washes out.
Any friable clay will work too but I used to be more worried about soil contamination than I am now.
Cheers.
Have you tried the clay granules sold by Klassman ?
Have you tried the clay granules sold by Klassman ?
I'm not sure what that is. Do the granules support capillary watering or do they disintegrate to act as a wetting agent?
I've looked it up and I'm still not sure.
Since I have clay soil the idea of buying clay goes against the grain!
I know, I know, I'm being inconsistent since I used to buy John Innes, but I convinced myself I was getting a sterile, fertilised and pH balanced product that wouldn't downgrade the soil-less compost I was adulterating.
I would be tempted to use burnt and pulverised subsoil if I was doing it now - the only good use for a bonfire in my opinion (apart from making charcoal/'terra preta' - but that's another story).
Cheers.