I can't afford the compost for soft fruit / veg in containers

sb44

4 bags of 75l for £12 at Wickes.



http://www.wickes.co.uk/Multi-Purpose-Compost/invt/200246

foreign_correspondent

I am using the wickes compost above - it seems good stuff so far.

twiglet98

sb44 wrote: »

4 bags of 75l for £12 at Wickes.



http://www.wickes.co.uk/Multi-Purpose-Compost/invt/200246

Nearest Wickes is about 20 miles, but that's really good value. The garden centres near me had a make I can't remember, 3 for £10 (sold out) and Levingtons at 2 for £10. The bags I got from the nursery where I get bird food are called Evergreen, 3 for £10, I haven't used it before.

johnswife

Lidls had 70lt for £1.99

s4lvatore

I have got to say I see where you are coming from on the cost side of things.

I bought some containers, into which I emptied the contents of a growbag as I thought it would look nicer than just having the bags on the floor.

What I was wondering though was could I not re-use the grow bag contents next year, even if I added some sort of nutrient to it, as it would be a bit of waste just to use it once.

Also that Wickes stuff, could you just use that in conatiners or would you need to add something to it?

I remember year after year growing stuff on the same soil, only adding a small amount of compost to it every 5-6 years, he always had a very healthy crop. Perhaps we are all being sucked in by this, lol.

twiglet98

s4lvatore wrote: »

I remember year after year growing stuff on the same soil, only adding a small amount of compost to it every 5-6 years, he always had a very healthy crop. Perhaps we are all being sucked in by this, lol.

I think we probably are 'sucked in' to some extent. I'm not young but I'm new to food growing - herbs, salad and toms 2 yrs ago, added runner beans, purple sprouting and courgettes last year, and hoped to grow all we would eat this year but it's not going to happen. The weekend papers are full of ads for potato bags, tomato bags, strawberry bags, all saying 'just add compost', all the talk is 'container veg' and for those of us who physically cannot dig, it sounds a magic way of growing food. It just costs an absolute fortune.

When I was little my grandfather had an allotment, my mother's cottage garden is brimming with flowers, but I never remember them using anything but manure for the veg and the roses, and maybe Growmore. Also that was on nice soil, not this awful clay. No DIY superstores selling multipurpose compost then, the local nurseries sold bags of peat as the soil improver. I have two Dalek compost bins on the go but it took a year to make one barrow load of compost, we have horse and chicken manure, and I'm still buying at least three bags of multipurpose compost a week to top up the potato bags before even starting with other containers. I got two sacks of seed compost for umpteen seeds that were 90% failure, and I honestly think I've had enough of throwing so much money away just to get a few meals' worth of home grown produce. The farm shop does veg better than I can and I'm going to stick to cherry tomatoes, lettuce, courgettes and soft fruit. Heigh-ho, 20-plus packs of seeds heading for freecycle

savemoney

I dont throw compost out unless I must ie some decease that spread by compost or some pain of a weed

I always reuse it, and put it back into composter

SallyForth_2

twiglet98 wrote: »

Thanks, that makes sense but I don't have any useable (diggable) soil in my garden, I'm on revolting heavy boulder clay and under the turf seems to be tonnes of broken concrete. My garden is half an acre of grass and dandelions with two trees, hawthorn and elder hedges, and a buddleia! Digging up the turf is impossible, hence the containers and a 20 foot by 4 foot strip of raised beds. I know topsoil sometimes comes up on freecycle but I'm never lucky there, and in any case would have to pay my son to come and shovel it into bags as my back isn't up to it. I had no idea how expensive a project growing food would be. I'll explore the cost of getting a big bag of topsoil delivered next year, that's probably the best option because you're right, it doesn't sound logical to use MP compost as the main growing medium for root veg. Or I'll stick to summer fruit and salad, the easy bits!

Thanks for the tips to try Donarbon too, I had no idea they gave anything away. Waterbeach is my nearest, 18 miles. Again, I'd have to bribe my son to help but it sounds worth it. He was supposed to drill drainage holes in the strawberry bath but no such luck.

3 x 70 litres bags at B&Q £10 :eek: I got 3 x 60 litres for £10 at the local nurseries, but they're only 4.5 miles and B&Q are 12 miles away. Homebase have a double Nectar points weekend, maybe I'll trek into town tomorrow and look in both.

What kind of sand do I need for carrots? Building sand, play sand or is there a different sort? (Or could spend tomorrow on an empty Norfolk beach, much more fun, and bring some back) :rotfl:

It does sound to me like you need to find yourself a chum in your neighbourhood, who would also like to know about the free stuff and would be willing to take you along! Do you have any allotments nearby? Maybe you could strike up a friendship and get the help you need.

cooking-mama

is there an Asda near you?..ive been buying two 70L bags of multipurpose for £6.(normally £4, if bought individualy)
I agree,compost has been the biggest outlay,im definately not chucking mine away next year,this is my first year trying to grow stuff,..think ive been fairly lucky so far with lettuce/kale/potatoes etc,but next year im only gonna concentrate on stuff that is expensive to buy in the shops (bagged salad...Rocket,cherry toms etc)Good luck.

Optimisticpair

I would spend on improving some of the soil and making beds rather than buying in MP compost to grow in. As you can't dig and shovel yourself but have manure I would pay a local gardener/handyman to come in to dig over a bit of the garden to make one or more 4ft max wide strips leaving a wide grass path between, remove perennial weeds and big stones and incorporate into the top 9 -12 inches a layer of your most well-rotted manure.

A 9 inch layer of loose, fertile topsoil would give you one or more permanently useable beds for veg. After that, treat like raised beds that are edged, never walk on the bed, top up with a manure or HM compost mulch and check the pH to see if it needs any lime.

I'd say get a handyman in with a Rotavator but I'm not struck on that as it would chop such as dandelion roots into bits that would all grow.

I've got the same sort of problem with my new garden, deep but stony, heavy clay, great crop of dandelions and buttercups, I can only dig for 15 mins and need to use a pickaxe to loosen the soil first.