Compost, Fertilisers & Recycling

But these aren't ordinary slugs - they are huge .... chickens ???? not in our little estate -

I had young blueberry bushes which died within 3 weeks. They went all brown and died.I now have 4 blueberry bushes, 2 that are 1yr old, 2 that are younger. They were left outside, unprotected. Our temps here reach -15oC. They are close to the walls of our house, but in a sunny spot in the...

Thanks Kristen That has spoken volumes to me Its my first time for growing in bags so this information will help no end my seeds are chitting along lovely so I am pretty much ready for the off I am meeting up with a wise old person tomorrow evening and I shall be asking him if he thinks we are...

I mix old multi-purpose compost (i.e. "once used" e.g. for Spuds in Bags) 50:50 with sharp horticultural sand and sow Carrots in large-ish pots (12" diameter say)I also use the old compost to fill "pots" made from rolling a newspaper around a spray can - they are then planted out as soon as...

Alright, I give in - you are a tightwad!

Depends what the weeds were, some will not germinate if the light is excluded, others will.Probably best to use the compost as a mulch, then scrape aside & dig up those that do, dandelions, docks, bindweed etc.I use whatever I can as a mulch, it does help to keep ahead of weeding in the...

Thank you all for your advice.I have not ventured into HB that much but I always look on in envy at some that I see.You just cannot see the basket anywhere for flowers, especially the ones that hang and cover the sides.Mine look puny by comparison and I am determined to at least try to do...

Nothing to be ashamed of John. You killed it outright, you didn't torture it. Thing is mate, rats are vermin and disgusting, vile creatures. I hate the things. I still wouldn't torture one, but any that I see when I have the gun out, I have no problem shooting them.When I spoke to the rat...

Thanks for your replies.I think you're probably all right, I just need to keep doing small bits at a time, from 'home compost' and bags. I'll give the coir a miss then, just wondered if anybody knew about it and it doesn't seem like it will be of much use.Cheers.

Weldmesh (or expanded metal mesh) would be more bite-resistant, take longer to degrade and be less susceptible to damage when shovelling the compost out. Old heater guards can be a cheaper source of mesh than a DIY store. Concrete bases don't have to be 100% concrete and can have lumps of brick,...

Going off on a tangent (Blimey Zig, you've never done that before )I used about 20 block feet left over from hieras fencing to build an enclosure to pile all the leaves that hadn't rotted down due to the fridge conditions of the last few months.I have placed a mushroom on top so it drops...

What Ziggy says makes good sense. But I still see this as a problem in physics. Its very similar to an atom bomb. Neutrons are created in proportion to the mass involved, but are lost (like heat) via the surface area. Very small atom bombs don't work. Only when you get above a critical mass...

Ahhh right, thanks Ziggy

Thanks MM, yes that cleared it up nicely. I agree with your comments about the green issues with coir and I'm beginning to be less inclined even to experiment with it. Getting advice from people with the experience really is a great help, thanks again.

I bought some cutting compost once and only once. It seemed to me to be grittier and more finely sieved than multi purpose and a good deal more expensive.Never bought any since, i always use multi purpose these days and it seems to work fine for me.

I've just bought this weeks Amateur Gardening magazine and there's an article in it by Marc Rosenburg regarding peat-free compost. It seems, according to him, that the government is to try to "press" gardeners to abandon compost with peat added by 2020. I have no qualms in using peat-free...

Just had a bonus . Been up the allotment and there's a big pile of free to take horse manure .. Out with the barrow so I now have a good quantity of manure . good start to the New Year.Dave

I must admit that for most things I just use general purpose compost, but I mix it with one third sharp sand. For seeds I usually sieve it to give a finer material.Really seeds will grow anywhere - even out in the garden in the soil. But a major reason for using some sort of compost is that...

Would be interesting to compare all/most/most of the other composts. But thanks Dave, though I have to say if you why not make your own, otherwise it's only going to go to waste anyways.

That video seemed to take an overly complicated method of working with worms Ziggy. If you are thinking of putting a few in bear in mind that the worms need pretty regular feeding to keep their numbers up.