Fibre pots

RHYSDAD

Zazen999 wrote: »

If you sow into bigger pots then you water out all the goodness from the compost before the plant can use it. Don't forget seed compost should be nutrient free and the next potting on should have nutrients to use as it grows.

I use small and medium modules and sow into those. Then pot on as I go as soon as the roots start to show through the bottom. I only sow into trays for my OH who for some reason likes them.

Okay so if i sow into this (which i've bought)



and then pot on into this:




i'll be heading along the right tracks?......I'll sow into trays, prik out and then pot on into the multi purpose compost and not sow directly into 3 inch pots. Thanks for the tip re washing out the nutrients, i'd have just sown into the bigger pots not knowing what you've now told me!

Zazen999

Well, I don't use Arthur Bowers, but yes. I would recommend modules though - you get a better little root ball when you pot up and it isn't so fiddy. wilkos do 3 for 99p at the moment. Very good value.

RHYSDAD

Zazen999 wrote: »

Well, I don't use Arthur Bowers, but yes. I would recommend modules though - you get a better little root ball when you pot up and it isn't so fiddy. wilkos do 3 for 99p at the moment. Very good value.

Why don't you use Arthur Bowers? Price (i hope you say that) or quality (i hope you don't say that!) I've now got a shed load of the multi purpose......

A._Badger

As you may have seen from the various compost threads here, the multipurpose market is in a mess, as manufacturers try to find a reliable formula that takes account of Government demands to reduce the use of peat.

Last year, a lot of gardening forums reported indifferent quality and, personally, I had serious problems with J. Arthur Bowers. Two bags I bought had a white mould growing in it. A sample analysis suggested the mould probably wouldn't be harmful to established plants, but it was not advisable to use it for sowing seeds. It seemed likely it was there due to the use of wood products being used as a peat substitute.

Because the market is so volatile, what was a good compost last year may not be this year, which so why Gardening Which? conducts annual tests. It is also why I have started a separate thread (which compost for 2010?) hoping that users will post their experiences of this year's compost varieties, as a guide for others.

To answer your specific question, JI seed is ideal for almost all seeds. In a perfect world you would !!!!!-out into JI Number 1 (*), but a good multipurpose should do pretty well. In the past I would gave included Bowers in that league, but this year, especially in the light of last year's problems, who knows?

* Nannying software seems to object to the good, old gardening word that rhymes with 'click'. Genius abounds.

RHYSDAD

A._Badger wrote: »

As you may have seen from the various compost threads here, the multipurpose market is in a mess, as manufacturers try to find a reliable formula that takes account of Government demands to reduce the use of peat.

Last year, a lot of gardening forums reported indifferent quality and, personally, I had serious problems with J. Arthur Bowers. Two bags I bought had a white mould growing in it. A sample analysis suggested the mould probably wouldn't be harmful to established plants, but it was not advisable to use it for sowing seeds. It seemed likely it was there due to the use of wood products being used as a peat substitute.

Because the market is so volatile, what was a good compost last year may not be this year, which so why Gardening Which? conducts annual tests. It is also why I have started a separate thread (which compost for 2010?) hoping that users will post their experiences of this year's compost varieties, as a guide for others.

To answer your specific question, JI seed is ideal for almost all seeds. In a perfect world you would !!!!!-out into JI Number 1 (*), but a good multipurpose should do pretty well. In the past I would gave included Bowers in that league, but this year, especially in the light of last year's problems, who knows?

* Nannying software seems to object to the good, old gardening word that rhymes with 'click'. Genius abounds.

Thanks Badger, i remember posting on your thread about this. I've used a bag already for planting garlic and i didn't notice any white mould in the bag i'd opened. I loosened the compost away from my garlic bulbs and it seems they are thriving well enough (although i think i planted my cloves a bit deep, about 3 inches down, hope that was okay). It was reasonably fine and nice and black so, fingers crossed, i hope i haven't wasted good money on a duff load of compost. Time will tell. So you reckon i should pot on into John Innes no1? It's just keeping costs down i suppose which would stop me....:think:

A._Badger

RHYSDAD wrote: »

Thanks Badger, i remember posting on your thread about this. I've used a bag already for planting garlic and i didn't notice any white mould in the bag i'd opened. I loosened the compost away from my garlic bulbs and it seems they are thriving well enough (although i think i planted my cloves a bit deep, about 3 inches down, hope that was okay). It was reasonably fine and nice and black so, fingers crossed, i hope i haven't wasted good money on a duff load of compost. Time will tell. So you reckon i should pot on into John Innes no1? It's just keeping costs down i suppose which would stop me....:think:

I very much doubt you'll have a problem using what you already have and as you already have a large quantity, I'd say use it. The mould I found was probably an isolated incident but it is indicative of the way things are going.

My policy for this year is to sow expensive or tricky seeds in John Innes seed and run-of-the-mill ones into Humax multipurpose. I then move on into either JI Number 1 or more Humax, depending on how valuable the plants are.

Hope that's some help.

RHYSDAD

A._Badger wrote: »

I very much doubt you'll have a problem using what you already have and as you already have a large quantity, I'd say use it. The mould I found was probably an isolated incident but it is indicative of the way things are going.

My policy for this year is to sow expensive or tricky seeds in John Innes seed and run-of-the-mill ones into Humax multipurpose. I then move on into either JI Number 1 or more Humax, depending on how valuable the plants are.

Hope that's some help.

Yes it is Badger and i'll probably be bending your ear a lot over the coming months if you don't mind! I grew runners, toms and cucumbers in grobags with fairly limited input last year and now, with a greenhouse, 3 raised beds with a total of 96 ft square plus 8 potato bags, 3 builders trugs, 10 large pots plus extra grobags and troughs, i feel i need to ask a bit more with regards to what i'm doing! My wife is keen to get involved as are my two young boys, so time spent out tending it all won't be at the expense of missing out on time with them so here's hoping!! I wonder whether i've taken on too much...... :rotfl:

valk_scot

I quite often find that a white thready mould develops on the surface of multi-purpose compost if I've had the bag open for a while. I've always regarded it as fairly harmless and used the compost as normal. Soil and outdoor pots are full of all sorts of bacteria and mould spores anyway. The one place I wouldn't use it though is for seeds/very young plants in a propagator, where seedlings are already vunerable to the dreaded damping off.

You can of course sterilize small quantities of potting compost in a steam bath or microwave, if you're feeling particularly precise. Otherwise, go for proper seed compost when sowing seeds, where the lack of nutrients discourages fungal growth a bit.

Zazen999

RHYSDAD wrote: »

Why don't you use Arthur Bowers? Price (i hope you say that) or quality (i hope you don't say that!) I've now got a shed load of the multi purpose......

I personally find it too heavy. I do alot of modding on a gardening forum and so many people were having problems and one factor over a period was the compost mentioned was the above......and then I believe a study was done and seedlings in the above didn't come up.

I use a mix of the stuff from my local nursery [bulrush] and mix that with home made compost for potting on. If I find any offers I'll get that and mix it with home made stuff. Mainly because I'm tight!

RHYSDAD

Zazen999 wrote: »

I personally find it too heavy. I do alot of modding on a gardening forum and so many people were having problems and one factor over a period was the compost mentioned was the above......and then I believe a study was done and seedlings in the above didn't come up.

I use a mix of the stuff from my local nursery [bulrush] and mix that with home made compost for potting on. If I find any offers I'll get that and mix it with home made stuff. Mainly because I'm tight!

Oh dear, i thought buying it from Wyevale meant it would be good stuff to use......Damn!