[Sparkyweb]

Hi all,

Still trying to find my feet at the moment. I had read online about many different options of home made potting on compost and thought I’d come here for some advice. I had followed a recipe that was 2 parts compost, 2 parts coir and 1 part perlite which i have been using up to now.
I had got some coir from Wilko which was a great price, however this has now run out and wilko have stopped selling that one. Anything i can find online seems really expensive.

What do you guys do?
I often see recipes including leaf mould, but i have hardly any leaves in my garden so i can’t do that (besides i need to use it now).
Thanks

[coldandwindy]

Hello 
Everyone has their favourites, stand by to get three dozen completely different answers from people who say theirs is the only way to do it!
I use different mixes for different uses.
For seed sowing I buy the cheapest supermarket bagged compost I can find (Lidl usually) & then sieve it. (Main thing for seeds is this should be sterile. Low nutrients so you need to transplant fairly soon but cheap and easy.)
For most other uses I use equal amounts of soil, coir and home made compost from the compost heap. My soil is quite gritty. You might need some sharp sand if yours isn't.
For heavy feeders or things that will be in pots a long time & put a layer of composted straw and cow manure in the bottom of the container for the roots to grow down into.
Its astonishing how leafmould disappears however much you think you're starting with. I never have enough leaves to make more than a dirty bottom in the container I collect them in by the time they rot down!
I buy solid coir blocks from Amazon.

Looking on with interest to see what everyone else does...

Windy 

[Grubbypaws]

Like sparkyweb I am wanting to make my own potting compost but am unsure where to start.

 I am lucky to have have lots of homemade compost, leaf mould and wood chips. Can I use these ingredients alone or do I need to buy some other components?

Looking on line many recipes ask for loam, coir, course sand and permiculite but I am confused as to which are necessary and why.

I would love some help!

[Yorkie]

Sand and permiculite will open up drainage.

Loam (soil) gives the mix some substance and micronutrients.

Coir is the replcement for peat

[Sparkyweb]

Thanks for the replies - any suggestions for Coir blocks? There seems to be a large choice out there and they seem to be so much more expensive that the ones i got from Wilko originally

[rowlandwells]

we have been mixing our own compost this year using  a bale of peat and other mixtures including sand and loam and some mixes with mixing bag compost

we went to our local garden centre to get a couple of grow bags yesterday the last time we bought some compost to add to our mix two weeks ago and they where 3 bags for £12.00 60ltr bags now there 3 bags 20ltr for £12.00 I told um where they could put them and it wasn't in our car

I'm going to shop around before we start buying any compost next year to sort out a new supplier  at a more realistic price even if we have to buy a full pallet talk about rip of its  getting sillier by the day

[Yorkie]

There have been significant supply issues this year for compost - don't expect to get previous prices

[Subversive_plot]

I posted a recipe for potting compost here: https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=133988.msg1553200#msg1553200

In that post, I call it a mix for ornamentals, but in reality, I use it for vegetables too.  When you are reading it, part of the recipe may seem odd (plaster of Paris).  Plaster of Paris is nothing more than gypsum (calcium sulfate) with the water driven off and finely pulverized.  It is easy to mix thoroughly in a soil mix, provides soluble calcium and sulfur.  It does not change the soil pH by much (a difference from pulverized limestone).

[Jaybees]

Hi

Regarding coir blocks, I normally buy from Fertile Fibre.  Buying in bulk quantities comes out cheaper. See if it works out for you as well

Cheers
Jay

[Sparkyweb]

I buy solid coir blocks from Amazon.

Looking on with interest to see what everyone else does...

Windy 

Any suggestions on which ones to get?

Thanks also to Jaybees I’ll have a look at that website

[rowlandwells]

following on from my previous comments on this topic I found another one of our local garden centre's that although  compost prices has risen slightly from 3 x 60 LTR  bags for £12.00 to £15 for 3x60LTR bags but still good value in my opinion  as for the others they can go and sell there compost's to some other's

and still on the topic of compost's I have been doing a little survey on these so called peat free compost's talking  other gardeners who have been growing  and potting  on plants for years and they don't rate peat free at all some told me they compared peat free to peat based and the peat based came out on top all the time for both seeding and potting on but the general conception was they would go over to peat free if the compost  manufacturers got a good peat free mix

  the [cockney] Adam frost was telling us to buy  different sorts of compost's to mix up on last nights gardeners world for seeding and potting  the way he was going we would need to take out a second mortgage to pay for all these compost's we need and that's not including  sand and top soil to buy but then again i suppose its good advertising for the garden centres and compost manufactures

the mind boggles where some of this people are coming from so yes lets all go over to peat free compost's when they get a good multi-purpose alternative at the rite price

[coldandwindy]

I buy solid coir blocks from Amazon.

Looking on with interest to see what everyone else does...

Windy 

Any suggestions on which ones to get?

To be honest I just look which is cheapest at the time. The last ones I got were called "Coco&Coir". They are six for £16 atm. The big advantage of Amazon for me, is their delivery is the same price wherever you are. A lot of smaller companies add £20-£30 for delivering to here.

[coldandwindy]

Got to admit I find Coir-based mixes difficult to get the watering right. They're either too wet or so dry that its difficult to re-wet them. Sometimes I even manage both at once - looks dry on the surface so I water it again until the bottom is sodden!!    
Think that was why my courgettes and cucumbers did very poorly from this year's first sowing. A second go in just garden soil germinated fine & continued ok in the coir mix once bigger. (I was "locked down" at the time so choice was very limited.)