good value multi purpose compost

theGrinch

I think B&Q and Asda had offers recently.

My local inde garden centre is doing 240L for £10.

Are there any better bargains around at present?

Davesnave

Compost is only as good as you make it.

Personally, I never just put the stuff in the bag straight into pots without adding other things, which might be sharp sand, grit, topsoil, composted green waste and slow release fertilizer, according to use. I don't do this because I like spending money, though some of those materials I get for free. If plants are going to stand in the mix for maybe a year, then it's no good if the compost is knackered in two months!

There are some horrible composts out there and often little consistency between batches of some budget brands. However, B&Q compost bought in big bales is relatively cheap and seems quite fine at the moment, which is good for seed sowing. I have used it in its various incarnations for about 15 years and thus saved a few bob over brands like Levington.

theGrinch

I think I will stick with the local garden centre.

I thin compost out with my own compost, sand, grit, top soil before sieving.

Dustykitten

I only ever buy the New Horizon compost, often on offer at wyevales

savemoney

You cant beat your own make with composter, great way to use old plants/soil

However for seeds/cutting I use John Innes. For anything else my own or if I run out I get large bags from B&Q but I do add some of my own with it

littlestars

i got 4x75l bags of multi purpose compost from wickes for £12

davethorp

I just got 4 bags of 60l compost from homebase for £11.50 (actually for free as I used my nectar points)

snowball2103

As a total newbie the only compost I'd used was B&Q. I had intended to some more over the weekend. However, I bought a 40L bag in Lidl's yesterday thinking as I don't drive it would save me taxi fare.

Just my opinion but it's horrible! :mad:Lots of twigs, stones, some plastic and pieces of what appeared to be painted plaster and it has a damp feeling to it. I used it to plant my potatoes going through it by hand to remove the large bits but I've got a feeling I'm going to tip it out tommorrow and start again, not very money saving.:(

artydoll

got some "compost" from local council this afternoon ,made from recycled house and garden refuse.
Is this suitable for planting in ,? or do I have to add other compost to it please?
It was free from my local council waste depot ,so a great bargain.

Davesnave

artydoll wrote: »

got some "compost" from local council this afternoon ,made from recycled house and garden refuse.
Is this suitable for planting in ,? or do I have to add other compost to it please?
It was free from my local council waste depot ,so a great bargain.

On its own it may not be entirely satisfactory, as composted waste usually comes out quite heavy and stodgy, but maybe different councils use different processes.

When I was making compost commercially, I found a maximum of about 40% composted waste was OK for potting-up plants in 2-3 litre containers. The rest was ordinary sphagnum peat based compost and sharp sand/grit + some Osmacote.

(That was Warrior compost produced by Hills for Wiltshire Council, which was cheap, but never free.)

Dustykitten

artydoll wrote: »

got some "compost" from local council this afternoon ,made from recycled house and garden refuse.
Is this suitable for planting in ,? or do I have to add other compost to it please?
It was free from my local council waste depot ,so a great bargain.

Often that sort of compost is best as a soil conditioner. What do you want to plant? Seeds need quite fine compost, tubs on annuals, shrubs?