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find a lot if it very poor these days i suppose peat is banned now so seems to be made from partially rotted shredded material sometimes mouldy and plenty of stones and bits of plastic which dries out very quickly and questionable level of nutrients etc
I find the Wickes stuff pretty good.............. you can also get a trade card which gives you 10% off everything which comes in handy.
I had been meaning to ask around what other members preferred multi purpose compost was as recently I had been wondering what other people used and found good results when growing.
For years I used to buy the Erin multi purpose compost (not peat free), then found good results in the Jacks Magic compost (not peat free but usually a good offer at Mole or B&M), until this year decided to keep buying in bulk the New Horizon peat free compost. The New Horizon compost has featured in many magazine adverts about how it boosts and states peat free etc etc This year I planted some identical containers, with indentical plants at exactly the same time, one container with some leftover Jacks Magic (not peat free) and the other container with fresh New Horizon (peat free), well within a week it was clear the New Horizon was not helping the plants but I left it to remain as an ongoing experiment. To this day the containers of New Horizon do not look as good or productive. Several people have also mentioned to me how bad they thought the New Horizon compost was when they had been using in their own gardens.
Only this morning did I buy some Topsoil and Multipupose at Wickes and although it was a bit dry and woody the compost appeared ok so time will tell.
Different composts for different scenarios - we are lucky we have a wholesaler in the next village that stock everything from grow bags, bales of peat, bales of bark chips, big sacks of Growmore, basket compost, multipurpose compost, rose compost, john innes, container compost etc, many of these in the 80 litre bags as well as tools and horticultural sundries.
Whilst they struggled for deliveries during COVID 19, I purchased equivalent to a pallet worth of 60 litre bagged Bulrush multipurpose with Forest Gold. Seem to be fine also - although I always mix osmocote in when planting unless using tub and basket specific compost.
Certainly wouldn't entertain some of the rubbish sold by garden centres and supermarkets.
Melcourt's Sylvagrow is the best peat free compost in my opinion. It is the one mostly used by sustainable nurseries. A little more pricey but worth it. I looked into it in some detail whilst studying for an assignment last year.
Always had good results with Jacks Magic, I had a little bit left in a bag earlier this year at home and chucked it on top of one of my Buxus that had caterpillar damage from last year and the new growth is fantastic...
I get mine from LBS Horticulture. Their prices are Domestic if items are bought in singles, but closer to wholesale if bought in bulk. That is per product, not based on total order value, unfortunately.
I buy Sinclair All Purpose Compost - 75ltr for general potting (and tubs mostly) which is quite fine with some sand in it and Sinclair Nursery Stock Compost - 75ltr for stuff I am potting on into large pots for growing on before planting out; that is a rougher mix, with quite a bit of grit in it. I find plants do very well.
I've had several consignments over the years and they have all been perfectly consistent, whereas the products from the Sheds seem to be variable year-to-year. I buy it by the pallet to get a decent price. LBS are a bit chaotic - information on their website (such as obvious things like number-of-bags on a pallet) is often completely absent, and beware if paying by Paypal that if the Paypal transaction doesn't go through you still get order confirmation email, and the order shows as "in progress" on their rubbish website ... but never makes it to their backend systems. If you pay via that route I suggest checking the transaction is showing on your PayPal account
No help if you need a peat-free solution
https://www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk/sinclair-all-purpose-compost-75ltr
https://www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk/sinclair-nursery-stock-compost-75ltr
my reply disappeared
There where a lot of cases of contaminated compost back in 2008/2009 which lead to a cleaning up of the supply chain.
Very worryingly this year has seen a flood of compost on the market containing Aminopyralid and clopyralid which are very persistant in the soil and cause damage to a wide group of plants including completely wiping out much veg and lot of perenial plants.
This year there are endless reported cases of some of the biggest brands of compost being sold through the largest chains containing high levels of these pesticides. Chains refusing to accept any responsibilty or liablity for passing on products that are killing peoples plants or allotments.
In a time that the public have embrassed 'grow your own' or gardening its shocking to have such toxicity in the supply chain - really worrying !!
https://nodighome.com/2019/06/13/aminopyralid-we-need-to-stop-this/
I have used Clover multipurpose (not peat free) available in 40, 60 and 75 litre bags, they do John Innes too. Clover also make a professional range of composts for specific purpose seed, potting, nursery stock etc, these come in 75/80 litre bags, I have used these as well with good results. I tend to stick to what the trade use on the nurseries, cheap compost sold at the garden centres and DIY stores is cheap for a reason, often produced down to the price they want to pay for it.
I normally always use Melcourt composts. I've always found them to be very clean and beneficial to plants. My potted tomatoes are about 6' tall this year with dozens of fruits! It's not the cheapest, but it's peat-free and you get what you pay for.
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