Isn't any peat in compost an environmental no-no?

Westland make the compost for Wickes and also make Jack's Magic.

 

I've just looked up the price of it. Compared to what I paid this last season, for the large quantity I buy it would have cost me about £400 more. They need to bring the price down a lot before I would consider it.

 

I've just found it a lot cheaper . The first place was selling it at £16.98 for 2 x 40 litres. The second place (Homebase) is selling it, in a clearance sale, 60 litres for £4. The trouble is that I don't want to buy any this time of year and have nowhere suitable to store it.

 

I found it for sale at Homebase too for £4. I don't want to store it overwinter as last year around this same time I bought cheap Jack's Magic in the Homebase sale and stored it outside. It deteriorated outdoors and gave me bad results in the spring. In hindsight I could have covered it with a waterproof tarpaulin but I will hold off till the new year and buy it fresh then.

 

Which, by then, the price will have shot up again and it will be back to being unaffordable in bulk.
If it's normally selling at around £17 for 80 litres, but they can clear it for £4 at some profit, then that's a lot of normal price mark up. I don't think it will be at £4 in the Spring.

 

Normal recommendations are not to store compost for the next year - not really sure why. That's why I check before I buy. I always ask the store whether they have kept it since last season and, if so, where. I understand that it should be OK if stored away from damp conditions. Store means in a good dry place and, in theory, not in a garden shed.

I use any remaining compost, stored in my shed , for plants that just need starting off. That works OK and then they get transplanted into new compost. We use anything up to 6,000 litres per year and only have two 50 litre bags left now.

 

I must admit I used around 3500 litres of compost this year, which is an increase of around 1000 litres more than usual, but that is probably due to being in the garden more due to COVID 19 lockdowns.
I keep the Compost in two places, the compost I want for near immediate use is stacked against the Garage wall in the side passage and the bulk is stored in the cool of the Garage itself. To be honest, I've never had any problems with compost that's been left over when bought one year and used the next, but that might be the fact that I don't rely, and never have, relied on the stated nutrients within the Compost itself, but have always added either just Bone meal alone or Blood, Fish and Bone meal to my usual mix of sand and potting grit.

I agree with pete on this, as we've no idea when the compost was made, bagged, how long it was stored waiting for orders, or how it was stored. I buy mine from the local B&Q Store which is stacked in the bales in their outside garden centre and I've taken that into consideration and never treated it as "fresh". So, whatever personal brand we prefer and believe to be superior, we really can't put our trust in the marketing blurb or that opinion that it must be of a higher quality because it is more expensive.

 

I do ask them but also make a small hole in one of the bags and check whether it's damp. Not much more that I can do . I have no trouble rejecting it, even if I've made the hole, if it's damp.

Verve has been quite good this year and it's not used for permanent use in our pots, unless it's for tomatoes or other plants that will be fed and only kept for one season.