Messed up the compost

mariauk

alanobrien wrote: »

If your looking for bigger bags and have a Wickes close they are doing 4 for £10 which is the best value i have seen anywhere so far.

Thanks Alan :A I have just looked on the website and they have 80L for £3.98 so even if it isn`t 4 of those they are still cheaper than most. Thanks again.

Maria

Lord_Gardener

Well rotted or composted horse manure works well and is often found for free!

We just pile up a mound and plant a range of varieties from the Curcurbitaceae family (cucumber, marrow, squash) and let them go mad! The children are always fascinated by all the different sizes, colours and shapes and will often eat them as well!

miss_bargainmad

I've just bought a camellia plant from Woolworths and I want to grow it in a pot - it says it requires peaty acidic soil - I've got a big bag of peat in the garage - could I just add some of this to normal compost.

As it will be in the pot for years should I use something else other than compost? I have read in the past to use John Innes No. 3 for long term plants.

nodwah

YOu have to be absolutely certain the whatever you're growing it in is lime-free, so normal compost would probably be no use, just the peat on it's own might be better. Someone more knowledgeable might be able to help, but if it starts going yellow water in "sequestrine" which I think helps the plant take up iron and poss other nutrients.

Can't help much with this as we live in an acid area and have no prob with any acid lovers!

LindseyM

Hi,

I'm a total newbie gardener as I've just started sorting my garden out. I bought some multi-purpose compost to put in a raised bed i've made and i noticed it contains peat. I also bought a cherry tree which says its to be planted in peat free compost - so whats the difference......?

Many thanks in advance

Linds

Jayar

Peat free compost is mainly made up of soil, bark and coir. Apparently we are using up all the peat bogs at an alarming rate and we should all be looking to reduce the use of peat in the garden. I have to say that I tried peat free compost a few years ago and I wasn't too happy with it.
I think your cherry tree will need something a bit more substantial that just peat compost. I would get a bag of topsoil and mix it in with your peat to give it a bit of "oomph"

JoeyEmma

I bought a lovely standard azalea and planted it in a pot in some ericaceous compost. Anyway, it looks a bit too dull and I wondered if I could put some bedding plants around the base of it, or would the acidic soil kill them off?

I thought that some busy lizzies or something like that would look nice (although I'd wait a few weeks as its still a bit too chilly for them!)

Jayar

Hmmm, I have to admit I'm not too sure which annuals like acidic soil. Why don't you think of some nice little heathers. They grow happily in ericaceous compost and would give you colour all year.

razra

Thought Id share this

Went to Focus for compost yesterday their 120ltr bags were £5.99
but I cant lift them so I looked at their 60 ltr bags £3.99

Also needed growbags so grabbed 2 of them 33ltrs at £1.29

Thought hang on a minute

4 * 33ltr growbags = 132ltr

at a cost of

4 * £1.29 = £5.16:j

So promptly put back the bag of compost and bought 4 growbags which meant I had more compost for less money and the bags are much easier to lift

Thought Id share as I was surprised always expected smaller bags to work out more expensive than the larger bags

Pays to do the maths :rotfl:

Hope it helps someone else

Best wishes

Plum_Pie

I did a similar calculation this weekend with my local independent garden/DIY shop and Homebase. Chuffed!