Now I may have my criticisms of Gardeners' World but when you see this kind of pressure on the programme you start to realise why they present things in a certain way.
http://www.hortweek.com/News/EmailThisArticle/791357//
"Compost manufacturers have suggested a potting compost mix formulated by BBC Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don would not allow plants to survive."
What a load of garden manure.
I want more ideas about how to mix up my own seed and potting compost that does not rely on compost manufacturers. Their use of peat and inorganic fertiliser means that I would like to avoid them if I can.
I want methods of producing seed and potting composts that are very cheap and cheerful. So I might not get the germination that a sterilised compost might achieve but maybe the plants would be healthier due to their immune system experiencing some of the pathogens that they will encounter in the allotment. They might also form mychorrhizal associations in unsterilised compost that enables them to fair much better when they are put out in the soil.
The compost manufacturers' representative said that he could not see where the plants were getting their nutrients from. Well, if Monty is getting the soil from his compost heap maybe there is a source. If he is using fertile loam from the top soil of his garden then maybe there is another source.
I know that leaf mould does not have a great deal of nutrient in it like peat, however it still does contain some nutrients. Oak leaves for instance have an NPK of 0.8:0.35:0.2 and apple having 1.0:0.15:0.4. Even pine needles have an NPK of 0.5:0.12:0.03 – not much but still better than a sharpened stick stuck in your eye.
Why do I know this and the "experts" don't? I think that they do but would rather bend the truth to fit their own "truth". This is not science - which is the careful and reasonable interpretation of data, this is confusion, bamboozlement, spin, and not conducive to clear understanding. This is why science has a very poor name.
No, if the Victorians could garden without manufactured compost so can I.
Now we have to contend with a garden herbicide that has a similar effect to aminopyralid.
There is one for domestic lawns called clopyralid. So if you are using lawn mowings and you don't know where they came from best avoid or compost for at least three years.
Of course, compost manufacturers want you to buy their compost so I would recommend doing a trial - plant half your seeds in your home made stuff and half in B&Q multipurpose and report back your results.
Beechgrove did a similar trial last year to test the peat frees vs the peat based composts and the results were quite interesting.
It would have been nice to see the Compost Tea that was featured in the last edition of GW tested in a similar way, showing plants that got the tea compared plants that didn't but still got the rest of Wisley's mollycoddling.
Incidentally, plants don't have immune systems like humans. Obviously, some plants manufacture chemicals that put off predators but it's an ability in their genetic makeup, they don't make anything to fight off specific infections for instance.
Manufactures.. ::)..do they think we are stupid...if anybody want's to make their own compost and are worried there not being enough nutrients..how difficult is it just mix little about BFB into compost..generally to make MP compost..you sieve home made compost..mix some sand and/or grit for drainage and for weight and structure. Some BFB and maybe touch of lime for balance acidity and encourage nutrient uptake..even wormery 'compost' would do miracles in your own mixes.
On seed mixes where you want the compost being lighter, I would not put grit but vermiculate instead.
With ericaceous compost you would leave the lime out.
Once you've 'played' with your mixes for while you soon find out what works best with what plants.. ;)
Tony..if you are going to make your own..I would recommend you to add some seaweed meal into your compost when making the heap up..by the time it is ready for use all the micronutrients from seaweed meal would be readily available for the plants.. ;)
Of course for commercial purposes it is always easiest and most cost effective to use commercial stuff..but any home gardener who is not looking to make profit from each individual plant, home made is perfectly viable option.
I do bit both..I use commercial compost as base and mixing other stuff in depending what I'm using it for..or with shrubs and other woody things I stick just to my own stuff ;)
I use B&Q multipurpose or similar for seeds and cuttings, for convenience as well as performance.
Everything else gets a mix of county compost (I bought tonnes of it), pre-used stuff out of hanging baskets, stuff out of the worms home and various plant foods out of boxes. Plants seems to do just as well as in fresh shop bought compost but they are already healthy and established when they first see it. And I don't mix in soil off the ground.
I started making my own potting mix with a mixture of my compost out of my compost bin (which is rich black stuff, a little ordinary garden soil and a good percentage of sharp sand. It seems all right to me, and after all the plants are only in it a few weeks ??? surely there is enough nutrients to get them off to a good start?