[AndyRVTR]

Brand: Miracle Grow Peat Free Multipurpose.
Price: £4.99 per 50ltr @ Homebargains.
Score: 6/10

My first time using PF compost and I'm quite disappointed with this brand, texture wise, it's very, bitty and not totally composted with twigs, stones and bits of plastic in it. Most of my sowings have grown but I've found this dries out very quickly and can form a 'crust' if not watered regular as clockwork!
Would I buy it again..... No!

[New shoot]

I’ve invested in some Westland seed sowing compost. It was on a deal at my local Tesco a while back, so got 4.  You will have to shop around to get the best current deal as I think it is back up to £4.99 a bag.

So far just peppers, chillies, toms and a couple of floral bits sown in it, but I think a worthwhile investment for expensive or picky seeds.

For everyday I have come to the conclusion that all the peat frees are pretty awful unless you pay a premium, so have found my own mix. I know not everyone wants to pre-mix, but it’s affordable for me and so far working well. I got a couple of B&Q own brand 100l bags, which look’s exactly the same as Andy’s Miracle Grow, some cheap small coir blocks from EBay, some John Innes no 2 and just basic Growmore. 50/50 peat-free and re-hydrated coir, a few good handfuls of JI no 2 until it feels like it has a bit of body but not too heavy and a handful of fertiliser if I am potting on and want to get plants growing well.

First toms sown were a mini variety designed to grow indoors if need be. They are now in larger pots in my mix and I have a couple of fruits forming  If they are any good to eat they are on my list to save for the seed circle 

Piccies also of seed sowing compost and texture.

[rowlandwells]

we have been growing seeds and potting on side by side using peat free and peat based we found although the peat free was growing alongside the peat based basically the same we noticed the pest free was drying out quicker than the peat based and the pants potted on in the peat compost where more stronger

we bought our peat compost that had been standing in the garden centre all winter so it was a bit of a hit and miss if the compost would be any good but its proven to make no effect on growing whatsoever and it was half the price of the peat free we have used around 10  bags of this brand Clover M/P  for spring sowings and potting on with no problems and no added nutrients

[Potty Plotty Lotty]

I’ve invested in some Westland seed sowing compost. It was on a deal at my local Tesco a while back, so got 4.  You will have to shop around to get the best current deal as I think it is back up to £4.99 a bag.

For everyday I have come to the conclusion that all the peat frees are pretty awful unless you pay a premium, so have found my own mix. I know not everyone wants to pre-mix, but it’s affordable for me and so far working well. I got a couple of B&Q own brand 100l bags, which look’s exactly the same as Andy’s Miracle Grow, some cheap small coir blocks from EBay, some John Innes no 2 and just basic Growmore. 50/50 peat-free and re-hydrated coir, a few good handfuls of JI no 2 until it feels like it has a bit of body but not too heavy and a handful of fertiliser if I am potting on and want to get plants growing well.

I have taken note of this for next year-v helpful. I'm using Jack's magic peat compost for sowing which I bought at the end of last year (I love it!) and very sad to see the end of it as I know it. 

[Aidy]

This year I have used the John Innis seed compost for sowing and that has worked well for me.
Local GC was around £3 a bag.
I also bought some New Horizon and I can hand on heart say this is the worst compost I have used, the seedlings went yellow within a couple of days.

I have gone back to one I have used before with good results...
Jack's Magic which is a reduced peat compost. Plants healthy an d strong.

[Snow]

Bought red bag Levington and it's rubbish. Far too course for any seed starting

I got new horizon last year from morrisons when they sold them off cheap at £2.50 a bag and it was really good but I've used it all

I think the consistency even in the same brand is still terrible. I suspect a lot of brands are just contracted out in lots, so no one knows what you actually get

[AndyRVTR]

After buying Miracle Grow a few weeks ago, I vowed never to buy it again so I've been looking for an alternative. A friend suggested I try Clover Irish peat mpc instead, so after a bit of googling I found a local allotment society near me and picked up half a dozen bags at the princely sum of a fiver a bag (60l)!
Wow!! what a difference!! it's so fine with no 'bits' in it and I could quite easily use it for seed sowing without even sieving it. As peat free compost is being banned by the end of the year, I'm now looking for a company that can supply & deliver me a pallet load that I can store for future use!

[Nobbie]

Just picked up four 75L bags of Clover peat based compost for £28. Not repeating my mistake of using the Lidl peat free this year which was awful stuff, full of rubbish, dirty and many plants just didn’t grow in it and had to be repotted. Everything is more than happy with this stuff. Might have to stockpile some for future years until the peat free stuff becomes reliable.

[rowlandwells]

obviously you've got yourself a good brand there Nobbie we've been using clover peat based for a number of years now you cant beat it you can keep all your peat free tosh its clover for me

[rowlandwells]

hello all you compost users we are going to try new peat based compost Godwins peat based produced in Somerset will update you how it performs later

[JayG]

I also bought some New Horizon and I can hand on heart say this is the worst compost I have used, the seedlings went yellow within a couple of days

Totally agree - looks like assorted organic rubbish thrown together in a hurry, and has performed like it despite trying to enhance it with various additives. 

Hope companies like this in the peat-free industry realise that gardening newbies could be put off forever.   

[Aunt Sally]

We’ve had good results from “Grow-Sure seed and cutting” compost, and “Westland John Innes No 1” for potting on.

It was worth paying a little extra for good results.

[Odders]

The bag of peat-free I got to try was only useable if it had a good few handfuls of vermiculite mixed in, which helped with the water retention problem that peat-free has.
I think this will probably be the way forward, for going peat-free. It does make it all more expensive than we are used to, though 

Thing is, the production of vermiculite is extremely energy intensive, it's a finite resource (unlike peat, which is constantly renewing) & it can contain asbestos.

Oh & I may have found a partial answer (depending on how long I live, as I've only 40, 80l bags of peat based compost put away...).

I grow my spuds in 30l containers, using 50/50 commercial peat based compost & my own made from whatever goes in the bays.
The latter is around 9 months old when the spuds go in & I add a good handful of Growmore or BF&B.
When the spuds are harvested, I've been putting the 'spent' compost through a ¼" riddle & using the result for seed sowing & subsequent potting on, with better results than the two 'premium' peat free varieties tried so far.
The coarser stuff & spud roots go back in the compost bays mixed with grass clippings.

[rowlandwells]

we have been using peat based compost all through the growing season [clover multi purpose ] with no problems using on both  seed and potting on I've given up on that peat free rubbish because   none of it works for me I need results not failures and the peat based is much much cheaper to buy than  than the peat free stuff and all the spent compost has been added to a mixture of spent compost and horse manure for the raised beds at the end of the season
 

[mrboxpiff]

Hi I'm new to allotment-gardeng.org and this forum. I'm 65 and been a keen vegetable and greenhouse gardener all my life. I came to this particular thread because I was hoping to find some tips on the best places to buy compost in bulk. I have to say I'm very disappointed to hear peoples views on the use of peat based compost. There is so much evidence available about the very serious damage being done to the fragile peat eco systems and the broader damage to our environment. I find people's determination to continue the use of peat  both irresponsible and selfish. Granted, peat free composts behave slightly differently and you need to shop around for good quality and value, but this was equally and I mean equally true for peat based compost for which I have a lot of experience. For myself, I grow an extensive variety and quantity of vegetables both outdoor and in the greenhouse. All these have been raised from seed and at every stage been grown in peat free compost without any issues at all (excluding of course those down direct into the ground). Both I and every other grower I know supports a total ban on the use of peat in compost.