[BostonInbred]

I use JI seed, because its made to a peat free recipe and therefore consistent and the same year after year. You can buy a bag of JI and another bag from someone else next year and they will be identical.

Also you dont have to screen it like multipupose to get it fine enough for small seeds, although i do use M/P + JI for broad beans and big seeds like that sometimes.

[solway cropper]

I've seen a huge variation in compost this year. One bag I bought looked and felt like a mixture of clumps of hair and wood chips. Is it the recession forcing manufacturers to use whatever comes available?

Last year I made my own seed compost but OH got a bit cross when she found me sterilising sand in the oven while the Sunday roast was cooking.

[andtiggertoo]

I use half and half leafmold and coir ( without nutirents added). The coir isn't eco friendly from the point of view of miles transported but is a waste product. The leafmold does take several years to rot down but if you have a spare corner of garden that's maybe unsuitable for anything else and have paths full of leaves in autumn it's well worth doing.

[Shedenvy]

I brought some reduced peat compost from tesco(2 small bags for £3) as id run out and was having a panic at not having sown anything yet but boy did i get a shock when i opened the bag it looked more like a bag of sawdust mixed with a little bit of peat i was kicking myself but as it was all i had i thought id give it a go anyway after about 5 days it went mouldy on top but a day later they have all germinated look good and healthy at moment but am expecting them to damp off maybe im being pesamistic i just cant get over how rubbish it looked will keep you posted as to progress

[PennyS]

I couldn't get any JI at Homebase on my emergency trip there this weekend, so got a Homebase growbag.  I've never seen compost quite like this - it looks like it has lots of wood or paper fibre.

I'll see how it goes, it might be terrible, it might be useless!

Is it me or do varieties seem to have more variation this year?  I've bought this same (supposedly) compost several times before but it used to look completely different!

[barbarella]

I couldn't get any JI at Homebase on my emergency trip there this weekend, so got a Homebase growbag. 

Why is that stores like Homebase and B&Q always run out of John Innes No.1 and 3" pots and the like at this time of year?  Are none of the staff gardeners - don't they realise there will be a run on things like that in spring?  The garden centres are more savvy but they are usually more expensive. Last year I couldn't get a bag of farmyard manure anywhere - everyone said they had run out but were expecting a delivery 'any moment' - just when you've got a perfect day for planting or digging your bean trench!

[Rampant_Weasel]

best to borrow a trailer and go to a farm with a few empty compost bags and dig it yourself for free 
most farmers are just happy to get rid of it

[Christine]

I've seen a huge variation in compost this year.

I made the same complaint somewhere on here last year too and remarked on the rises in price down the local garden centre this year. It's a combination of things talking to the two gardeners at the local garden centre (yeah, real old time trained gardeners who can grow things and sell them too).

They say that with the suppliers having to use less peat, they are scrapping the barrel to find stuff to put into the bags. This runs alongside the fact that grow your own is all the rage now so there's more demand for the stuff. Throw into the mix that more composts now includes 20% green waste - stuff that is composted for/by the councils and you have an interesting brew.

We had a long and interesting conversation on contaminated manure and grass cuttings treated with Verdone + along the way.

But there you go. Just a few comments from the coal face.

[thecakebaker]

I have been using multi purpose compost form Humax for a few years now.  This year I have had a  lot of problems with it. As this years supply is now full of bits of wood and other bits and pieces.    
So I now have 40 bags of compost that is no good for seed sowing as it is too bitty to go into plug trays without riddling it first.

I now need new compost that has a nice smooth texture that dose not need to be riddled first.

Any one got any ideas for new compost that will be suitable for seed sowing in plug trays.

Thank you  

[blackbob]

I have been using multi purpose compost form Humax for a few years now.  This year I have had a  lot of problems with it. As this years supply is now full of bits of wood and other bits and pieces.    
So I now have 40 bags of compost that is no good for seed sowing as it is too bitty to go into plug trays without riddling it first.

I now need new compost that has a nice smooth texture that dose not need to be riddled first.

Any one got any ideas for new compost that will be suitable for seed sowing in plug trays.

Thank you  

LEVINGTONS

[blackbob]

You could try Munty's trick (sorry new people, he is a living legend on this site). Old grow bag compost with some horticultural sand and a little bit of blood, fish and bone.
This is not necessarily peat free but you are using it twice, so it's slightly better, and cheap.

Theres no reason you cant keep reusing compost, as long as you replenish the nutrients and rotate crops in it so it doesnt get diseases. I use old compost as a bulker in the compost heap.

ARE YOU SURE :blink:salts build up will be a major problem to start with.
i'll stick with the old use it once and scatter it on the beds tradition.

[paintedlady]

They say that with the suppliers having to use less peat, they are scrapping the barrel to find stuff to put into the bags. This runs alongside the fact that grow your own is all the rage now so there's more demand for the stuff. Throw into the mix that more composts now includes 20% green waste - stuff that is composted for/by the councils and you have an interesting brew.

This has been my experience too - the quality of compost this past 2 years has been simply awful.  Scraping the barrel sounds about right - half of the stuff is woody, fibrous with stones thrown in.  The addition of council composting waste is worrying 

[mumofstig]

LEVINGTONS

their multi purpose last year was the worst I've had in years and it wasn't cheap either

[Slowgrind]

I had some good stuff from B&Q that soon ran out!
Got second batch from Morrisons it needs to be riddled to get out woody bits but it seems to work OK. I'll check out B&Q again today but I think it's take it when we've got it with them.

[boosh]

Last year most of my seeds were sown in a seed bed. a lot less hassle and there was no differance between them and the ones i raised early in the kitchen.
no hardening off required, thin as required and only one transplant required.
squashes, peas and beans can be sown in final postion with the aid of plastic bottle clotches or small poly tunnels.( coat hangers and plastic sheet )
my seed beds are 4 small raised beds 4ft x 2ft, easy to cover just in case weather dose take a freakish turn. or the birds and mice get hungary.
I think the most people including myself start seeds of in the green house or indoors just so they can see stuff growing early in the season, a bit of a boost to get rid of the winter blues.
The point im trying to make is, if compost is going to vary so much especaily the peat free stuff perhaps more of us will have to go down the above road, and how more organic can you get by not using any compost.