Which compost

xyz123

Hi, I need some help please.

I am a bit late starting my gardening this year. I mostly do flowers in pots, some chilli and tomato plant. Total I have abt 20 pots of various size.

Any recommendations on which compost to get? I normally have which membership so get their best buy but I don't have that now. So looking for recommendations. Last year I tried lidl multipurpose compost and had mixed results. Flowers did well but compost was drying out quite quickly...

Many Thabks.

-taff

I use Levingtons in the red bag.

Davesnave

I don't use any straight from the bag; I add grit, sterilized loam and extra fertilizer, but not always all three, accordiing to the type of plant or if I'm seed sowing.


Currently using B&Q stuff + some Westland 'Jack's Magic'as a base.The Magic stuff is finer, but not producing any fairies at the bottom of my garden.


B&Q has been OK for me so far in '19, but last year some bags were beyond carp and I lost plants because it was so bad.

sheramber

Beechgrove Garden ( BBC TV) tested various composts with the result that Levington gave them the best results.

Commy_Trooper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil

Eco friendly!

Davesnave

Commy_Trooper wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil

Eco friendly!

Well... nothing human I'm glad to say, but I usually have plenty of urine-soaked horse bedding and poo on the premises; in fact we took delivery of about 6 tonnes last week when her across the way ran out of space.


It rots down into something close to compost after a few years, but we use most of it as soil conditioner or mulch.

Farway

xyz123 wrote: »

. Last year I tried lidl multipurpose compost and had mixed results.
.

I've used Lidl's before but this year's batch is useless.

Can't remember brands but one brand from Home Bargains & Morrison's is OK this year, and not much difference in price from L's


I second Levington but it is more expensive

Primrose

A lot of composts dry out quickly. I find investing in a packet of water retention crystals and mixing some in with the compost in every pot helps to reduce the amount of watering needed.

A._Badger

For a few years I've used Wyevale's own brand multipurpose which was the best I could find. Like Davesnave, however, I rarely use it straight, but add various other things depending on what I am growing. For tomatoes and peppers, for example, I don't use multipurpose at all, preferring a decent John Innes and the best of those that I have found has been either Wyevale or Westland.

Sadly, my local Wyevale was sold off last year to a fairly clueless local chain which stocks Levington, so this year I decided to try Levington seed and John Innes. The former was complete rubbish - filled with chunks and lumps bad enough to inhibit germination of small seeds. Levington's John Innes was tolerable, but only just.

Looking round for a usable alternative, I fond several local GCs selling a multipurpose (which is good enough for annuals) from a company called Durston's. This seems pretty good for a single season's use with undemanding short-lived subjects.

My advice would be to steer clear of Levington, try Wyevale if you have one near you, perhaps Westland or, if you can find it, Durston's.

-taff

I've been using Levingtons multi purpose with John Innes for about 12 years [ have dabbled with peat free, found it rubbish, but that was when it was first coming out] and never had a problem with seeds not growing. I do get lumps and bits of rope in there but I chuck them back in for potting on seedlings.
I only grow vegetable seeds though, the normal selection, brassicas, curcurbit. sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers etc. I've never grown flowers except the odd tagetes and sunflowers.
I don't add anything to it, mostly because a] I'm tight because I've already forked out for the compost and b] haven't needed to yet...
Maybe the seed one is just rubbish

xyz123

Thabks for all replies. I ended up getting Levington with John innes. It seems OK. Let's see....