Allotments 4 All

I've been using various makes of peat free compost for the last few years and have found the quality variable but on the whole not too bad.  But this year I've hit on a problem that I've never come across before and it seems to be confined to plants I've grown from seed and potted on in the last couple of months.  The product I'm using is Miracle Gro Organic Choice All Purpose Peat Free which I bought this year.  The consistency is good, there is no unpleasant smell nor any obvious pests but every plant has failed to grow.  It's bizarre: the plants just sit there, neither growing nor withering and have been like this for between four and six weeks.  It's almost as though the product contains some sort of growth restraint!  Everything else in the garden is growing pretty much as normal so I think it has to be down to the compost.  Can anyone offer an explanation?

G x

The only thing I can suggest G is pot them up in something different and wait to see what happens.

You will know then if it is the product at fault and not the plant.

Have a good look at the roots and if you can see any sign of pest or disease.

Best bet is to get onto Scotts., who make Miracle Gro products. What you need  is a sample putting though the lab, and testing for NPK, pH, and bulk density.  That woudl give a lot more idea whats going on.

Thank you Den and Lincsyokel for your replies.  Changing the compost of all the affect plants isn't really practical and whilst I'm quite happy to contact the manufacturer as suggested that isn't going to help the problem in the short term.   :'(

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

G x

Well could you experiment with a few?

Let them dry out a bit and knock off as much of the compost as you can.

I am intrigued .

Quote from: betula on June 30, 2011, 21:22:43
Well could you experiment with a few?

Let them dry out a bit and knock off as much of the compost as you can.

I am intrigued .

So am I, but without a lab analysis, its p*ssing in the dark.

I have had a similar problem this year and found my problem was a wrong pH.

In my case it was my fault as I forgot to put lime into my home made compost along with JI base fertiliser.

Like your plants my plants remained in limbo until I changed the compost.

As you may know if the pH is not correct plants can' t take up the nutrients so I would agree with lincs and contact Scotts and have them test a sample of the compost you bought.

On a personal note; I often think what with all the changes that are being made to composts the manufacturers have not got a recipe that is as stable as peat based composts.

Could the substitute ingredients be conflicting with the fertilisers?

The mind boggles!

Hello all got back from holiday ,and my son looking after everything this was a few weeks back anyway opened a new bag of compost there was everything in it  wire (A load of rubbish) phoned  got told out of every load of organic mater they buy the only check one load oin six well the supplyers have cottoned on to this she offerd me a like for like exchange at my expence which she new would be turned  down we on Allotments for all have bought a lot of grow bags in a season there must be a way  to put  preasure on these firms to have better quality control, at the moment its all profit  at our expence >:(

Quote from: rugbypost on June 30, 2011, 22:33:01
Hello all got back from holiday ,and my son looking after everything this was a few weeks back anyway opened a new bag of compost there was everything in it  wire (A load of rubbish) phoned  got told out of every load of organic mater they buy the only check one load oin six well the supplyers have cottoned on to this she offerd me a like for like exchange at my expence which she new would be turned  down we on Allotments for all have bought a lot of grow bags in a season there must be a way  to put  preasure on these firms to have better quality control, at the moment its all profit  at our expence >:(

The problem is the green brigade is pressuring the government to stop compost manufacturers from using peat, which easily makes the best compost. As a result, after lots of experiments, the manufacturers are putting huge amounts of green waste into compost instead, also as a result from the government needed to get rid of it. (They pressured people into recycling, and then there's no demand for the recycled materials). They will never make a decent compost as long as they are putting 65% green waste into it. You might as well plant up in a pile a grass clippings

This is why multipurpose compost has become utter rubbish, coarse and full of big lumps and woolly bits. I've started mixing my own, as i have a source of raw peat.

It's not only green waste they are putting in.

I bought some recently that had pulverised timber in it.

In fact I was lucky not to get splinters in my hand when handling it.

I found one splinter about the size of two matchsticks  and it was painted White.

So I guess they are using old window and door frames as a bulking agent.

Now if these were old building products they were probably painted with oil or lead based paint!

So much for banning what were useful chemicals to the amateur gardener and  then replacing them with potentially toxic products that I have no control over.

Quote from: Tee Gee on June 30, 2011, 23:06:01
It's not only green waste they are putting in.

I bought some recently that had pulverised timber in it.

In fact I was lucky not to get splinters in my hand when handling it.

I found one splinter about the size of two matchsticks  and it was painted White.

So I guess they are using old window and door frames as a bulking agent.

Now if these were old building products they were probably painted with oil or lead based paint!

So much for banning what were useful chemicals to the amateur gardener and  then replacing them with potentially toxic products that I have no control over.

yes thats where the timber collected by the recycling centres goes. Its pulverized up, and mixed in with green waste to compost, or a lot is mixed in with bark to make cheap 'contract' quality bark mulch for landscaping

Have you not considered that the compost might have run out of nutrients so your plants are not getting fed.
There is only so much feed in compost and if you are lucky you may get six weeks of growth from it.
Try giving them a nitrogen feed or some Epsom Salts

Its still all groping round in the dark without knowing the total EC and the pH of the compost. If you have a lot of it, you need to get Scotts to do a lab test.

For what its worth, my money is on its too acidic.

Unpot two plants. shake the compost off them. Mix in some lime. Repot one with the old compost+lime, repot the other in someone elses new fresh compost. Watch what happens.

Wow, this has started a good debate.  ;D  Thanks for all the constructive advice. 

I had 200 litres of the offending compost and have about 20 litres left. So I think I will contact Scotts and see what they say. 

In the meantime I'll see if I can find an alternative organic peat free compost and try transplanting a few plants as suggested.

G x

Last year I bought some homebase's peat free..that wasn't bad at all..don't know what theirs compost is this year.
This year I had Wickes peat free...it was horrid..put some beans to grown in container..they just sulk and didn't grow until I replaced some of the stuff with their multipurpose peat base compost..that did the trick and plants started grow, but as well as same bean variety in peat base compost only.
So no vote for wickes peat free from me.

A number of people have told me they think the peat free composts need feed earlier than peat based- maybe they cannot hold the nutrients for as long.

I bought Vital Earth Peat free this year and it seemed better than others I have used.

IMHO the composts seem to vary more these days batch to batch I wonder if that is due to the amount of re-cycled waste going in and it varies :-\

I would like to be peat free but I am finding the quality of compost so iffy at the moment, and the cost has also gone up a  lot.

Quote from: pumpkinlover on July 01, 2011, 21:06:16

IMHO the composts seem to vary more these days batch to batch I wonder if that is due to the amount of re-cycled waste going in and it varies :-\

yes, absolutely correct. That is exactly the case, there is no consistency in recycled materials.

Ah compost problems....does anyone remember the trouble I (and others) had with JA Bowers composts?Ii found the old thread and have just spent 10 minutes rereading it, unbelievable where it meandered to! Worth a look for a laugh... ;D

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,50449.0.html

I was one who complained Deb. You gave me the details so I was able to. Two years I gave them the benefit of the doubt. This year I got some B & Q Which best buy. What a load of RUBBISH. I bought Erin this year too. They asked far an empty bag & I sent them the rubbish I'd sieved out. They want to compensate me as they can understand my frustrations. Perhaps if more people complained they would do something about it.

I was given some bags of B&Q peat free compost this year - I took it back as it was awful. I found coal, plastic, chunks if wood with paint /varnish and and when you watered the plants horrible black dust came through....and then the compost hardened on the top. I made a collection of the junk I found and returned the lot to B&Q who immediately gave me a voucher for the full value of the three bags even though I hadn't bought them and did not have a receipt.