Best Supplier Of Compost 2020

Discussion in 'Compost, Fertilisers & Recycling' started by shiney, Feb 24, 2020.

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  1. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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  2. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    We look forward to that. :blue thumb:

    Compost from suppliers tend to vary from year to year as we have found through our yearly threads. An interesting, and annoying, situation arose in 2018. If you're interested, pages 7 and 8 in here talk about the big mix up that was made by one supplier.

    BEST SUPPLIER OF COMPOST 2018
     
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    • Cuttings

      Cuttings Super Gardener

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      Yes I am aware of what Westland and others have been doing, and that year a friend of mine who owns a large independant garden centre stopped using them mid season and changed supplier, due to the dye coming from the compost and staining peoples decking and patio slabs. And you will see the same this year, I was at a trade show last week, with Westland showing their new peat free compost, claiming it has had xx millions of pounds in development, and to me, it had that same texture and colour of the mentioned compost from 2018. But did you know, the same year as which did their test on mpc, 4 composts where rated detrimental to plants, after a laboratory test? Some due to the salt content, others because of other ingredients.
       
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      • roders

        roders Total Gardener

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        So it doesn’t matter which MPC you buy ,you still have a problem with what to do with the millions of plastic bags ,most I suggest will sit in landfill sites.

        It’s handy to have some around and can be cut for hanging basket liners and maybe weed suppressants.
         
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        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          We use ours for many purposes. When it's muddy ground and we need to keep walking across the patio we use them as cover, used to carry dug up plants when giving to other people, storing pots, putting noxious weeds, use as gro bags in etc.

          I haven't checked whether the bags are recyclable but don't think they are.
           
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          • NigelJ

            NigelJ Total Gardener

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            As well as shiney's suggestions I use them as cover for the compost heap, keeping home mixed compost in and as rubbish bags for sharp, heavy bits that would go straight through an ordinary waste bag.
             
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            • Sian in Belgium

              Sian in Belgium Total Gardener

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              The used bags are also great for transporting horse manure from the stables to your home. One bag, 2/3 full of part-rotted manure, is just about at the weight limit to lift in and out of the boot.:smile:
               
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              • Cuttings

                Cuttings Super Gardener

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                These bags are also good for growing spuds, with the roll up method.
                 
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                • pete

                  pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                  In recent years I've bought something called Jack's Magic, it is supposed to contain some JI compost, from that I assume they mean it has some soil in it.
                  Never seems to be much soil and mostly peat, so at the beginning of the season I buy a few bags, put one in the cement mixer, one of JI no 3 and a bag of sharp sand from the builders merchant.
                  Mix it all up and rebag ready for use when I want it during spring and summer.

                  I'm not bothered what the NPK turns out to be as I start feeding once a potted plant has filled the pot with roots.

                  That I use as my basic growing medium, for cacti I just add 50% grit.

                  It seems to work.:smile:
                   
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                  • JWK

                    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                    I usually get the Wickes MPC which has varied in quality year on year. Being mostly peat it's cheap and cheerful, but not good for seeding. This year I notice that Wickes have reduced the bag size again to keep the same price. They originally sold them in 75 L bags, then dropped to 60L. This year it's 50L. Not bought any yet so don't know the quality but some years it's only been any good as a mulch or soil improver. Other years I've done the same as @pete and mixed in soil and sharp sand to get something reasonable.

                    I tried Jack's magic the last couple of years for sowing and potting on and had reasonable results. This year's batch has farm yard manure as one ingredient as a couple of mushrooms have popped up amongst my seeds. Pretty annoying and another let down given it is at the expensive end. I wondered what was going on, before the mushroom appeared I thought a mouse or big worm had got into the pot as the compost started to heave up. It's growing amongst my giant kelsae onion seedlings which this year won't be giants at this rate:

                    20200124_075412.jpg
                     
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                    • ARMANDII

                      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                      [​IMG]

                      Sorry, John, just couldn't resist:heehee:
                       
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                      • ARMANDII

                        ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                        I generally use around 2500litres of B&Q peat added General Purpose Compost bought in 125litre bales over the year. Maybe I'm easy to please, but I've had no real problems over the years with it. I think, about 6 years ago, I did have mushrooms growing among my Tomato seedlings but nothing since then. Most of my use of compost is for potting on and never use compost solely. I use one third Compost, one third sand, and one third potting grit and that works for me.:dunno::cat-kittyandsmiley::coffee:
                         
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                        • shiney

                          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                          Do you dig a deep hole in your garden to get the sand? :whistle: :heehee:
                           
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                          • ARMANDII

                            ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                            As you well know, shiney:heehee:, I garden on a depth of more than 350' of pure sand and an old disused Roman Sand Quarry 25 yards from my front door so, as you know, digging down past the around now 3' of more than 40 years worth of top soil, compost, stable and cow manure will give me plenty of sand!! I prefer now to buy sacks of sand from my local small, friendly, Plant Nursery......which is, I admit, like "taking coals to Newcastle":dunno::wallbanging::heehee::cat-kittyandsmiley::coffee:
                             
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                            • shiney

                              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                              Didn't know you lived so close to Newcastle! :rolleyespink: :heehee:
                               
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