[domw001]

This has not been a good year for me on the seed-growing front – my shop-bought compost let me down.

I won’t name names, it’s not important,  but it was an established brand and I thought it would be reliable. However I have got no tomatoes, no brassicas, growth-checked leeks and just about everything else is sad-looking (although some things are picking up now they have been planted out).

I used the compost for germinating (which was generally successful) but it was the potting on that failed me. Lack of growth and die-back were the main culprits.

Too late in the day I switched to B&Q Verve MPC and that seems to be performing better . . . unfortunately too little too late.

Now I don’t know if the original compost had low nutrient levels, was last years leftover stock or what, but I really don’t want to go through this again next year.

It’s fine reading through the ‘What Compost?’ thread but that only seems to give a valued opinion after a few months into the growing season, when really I need to have decent performing compost from Jan/Feb onwards.

Now I know that we are in the ‘hands of the gods’ every year when it comes to compost quality, but can someone advise me when to recognise that what I have isn’t working and the best moment when I should cut my losses and choose another brand. I'm sure many of you have been in the same boat over the years.

Thanks.

[Totty]

I have mentioned on here before that in my opinion, THE most important aspect in growing your own is the medium in which it grows in. Skimping on compost in the sowing and potting on stage will rarely work out well long term. Of coarse some people are happy with a couple of cheap grow bags to throw a couple of toms in, and that's fine.
When it comes to sowing many different seeds, and potting on lots of plants then the better quality you use the better results you will have.
I would see this year as a lesson learned and change brands to something proven.
I use Levingtons FS2 for small seed sowing. And mixtures of Levington M2 and M3 for all potting on.
These though are proffessional grade and therefore more expensive, but if you have germination problems or failing growth rates when using them, it's not the composts fault. The texture of the stuff is perfect and the same year on year. A lot of the cheaper stuff, even miracle grow I have noticed, can vary hugely every year.
Others will also have recommendations on composts to have total faith in, but the Levingtons I have mentioned are mine. Humax also excellent.

Totty

[BabbyAnn]

I suspect last year's weather had an impact on most brands of compost TBH (unless they've been fortified) - I have had a similar problem this year with my usual supermarket brand one.  It hasn't been as devastating and once I realised things were not coming on as they should (weather and temperature permitting), I started liquid feeding earlier than usual.  For the hungry plants (squash and sweetcorn for example), I always put a small handful of chicken manure in the bottom of the plant pot when potting on anyway - this gives the seedlings time to grow roots and by the time the compost is exhausted but before they get pot bound, the roots hit the chicken manure layer and get a boost just as I'm ready to plant out 

Now I know that we are in the ‘hands of the gods’ every year when it comes to compost quality, but can someone advise me when to recognise that what I have isn’t working and the best moment when I should cut my losses and choose another brand. I'm sure many of you have been in the same boat over the years.

Thanks.

Typical signs to watch out for are poor growth than usual, leaves in particular don't have that healthy dark green colour and look a bit veiny with yellowing patches - all signs of lack of nutrients.  Not necessarily nitrogen but micro-nutrients such as iron, manganese, calcium etc.  I was having problems getting the toms in the greenhouse to set fruit - it truly had me baffled as I've never had this problem before.  That along with the leaves looking a bit off, I surmised it must be due to lack of magnesium in the compost/growbags so I've been adding Epsom salts and ta-da ... a fresh glut of fruitlets this week 

[pdblake]

Save for the amount of rubbish found in some of it I've had no problems with my usual cheapo brand.

[Fairy Plotmother]

  I have had no problem with verve from B&Q. I didn't like the one I bought from Wyevale (4 for £12) the texture was completely wrong  Try and give what's left some TLC you may get more than you first thought.

[mumofstig]

It seems that where most of the compost bags used to say they had enough feed for 6 weeks, some of them actually say that it's only enough for 4 weeks now 

I was wondering the other day whether to mix up my own compost to the JI formula next year - I'd use cheap compost instead of peat in the mix (as that's quite hard to get hold of nowadays) 

[seaside]

Totty is right, the potting compost is so important. A friend of mine has consistently well performing plants and I will be following his formula next year.
A few years back I tried an expensive peat free compost, and it was a disaster. Never again.

The trouble is it takes at least a couple of weeks for the penny to drop that the year's compost is not up to scratch. Certain things like texture can be ascertained before buying, but sometimes one is unlucky. Dark green growth is what we want. I think the answer is to pot on an early test with a consistent resilient early plant. At least then there is time to change the medium for the bulk of one's following crops.

[Beetroot queen]

Next year i am going to buy three various bags, sow the same in each bag and compare resuts the winner will get my business for the rest of the season. We really struggled as we wet for cheap lidl stuff and it failed on everything except for strawberry runners ( not sure they are fussy though)

I changed to verve and everything has been fine since.

[karen.linda]

We really struggled as we wet for cheap lidl stuff and it failed on everything except for strawberry runners ( not sure they are fussy though)

My partner had some disastrous sewings with Lidl sewing compost this year     I cant recall what I used (packet gone) but always mix with vermiculite for seeds and everything germinated tout suite.     For potting on I bought some Durstons Multi-purpose from a local Garden Centre (3 for £12) which seems good.  Last year we bought some comparable priced compost from In-Excess but results weren't so good. 

[surbie100]

Sometimes it seems like luck of the draw. I had AWFUL results with one bag of Verve - stunted, yellowing plants that germinated after a long wait and then refused to grow. The other bags have been fine. I tried a £land bag for our office beansprouts (we have a salad and chilli window) and it was revolting stuff, smelled bad and full of twigs.

[seaside]

Next year i am going to buy three various bags, sow the same in each bag and compare resuts the winner will get my business for the rest of the season.

That's the gist of what I was trying to say, but you put it much clearer.

These days, you just can't trust any cheap mass produced product to function at all. As for the Lidl stuff, just a feel of it was enough to put me off. My brother used it and had awful results.
And yes, vermiculite is indeed a good idea.  I have a tendency to overwater seeds and many early ones suffer from damping off. That's going to stop.
Also, a sprinkle of lime into the mix for all brassica potting.

[ConfusedGardener]

Have you considered making your own? That way you can make sure it's up to scratch, and even tailor it to whatever you want to grow. I had to buy compost this year since we just moved in to a new home, but I've just made my own compost bin and nearly finished filling one half of it in the last couple of days, so I should have quality compost for next year.

If you can't make your own, as mum suggested, buy cheap stuff this year and add goodies too it so it's got the right balance of nutrients by the time you need it next year.

[Sandpit]

Just as an extra something to think about:
Next years compost is likely to be 'different' as compost producers have had a difficult start to the year in terms of material supply. Basically due to the weather green waste didn't pick up to its usual levels for some weeks. Some have had real problems.

Late start, shorter production time... They might catch up, they might not. Could be good, could be bad!

I know that doesn't help much but thought I should let you know so you are prepared.

[Baldy]

Don't know if I've just been lucky but... for the last few years I've bought whatever cheap grow bags are offered from the local GC (Value House). I then empty it out into pots or trays depending on what I'm trying to grow. Add a bit of chicken manure/darlik compost if needed.
Bob has very much been the uncle.
Heat and hours of sunshine seem to have been the major determinate but in general I've been very happy with the results.
I seem to remember someone in another thread mentioning hydroponics - in essence the compost is a growing medium for me and success or failure is likely due to what I add (assuming the plants/seeds get going). If I could run a hydropincs system for little money on the plot I'd be thinking of it...
Anyhow, I'm a cheapskate so take no notice. 

Cheers,
Balders

[JayG]

As I've already mentioned in the "everyone's tomatoes" thread I have my doubts about the nutrient content of Verve MP compost (not the peat-free version.) Excellent texture, and no problems with seed germination, but poor subsequent plant growth in most cases.

More worrying is the appearance of tomato seedlings which I certainly did not sow myself - this suggests that the compost is not sterile, and therefore might be harbouring pests or diseases depending on the original source of the material, which of course you can only guess at, and may well not be consistent between different batches.

I had similar problems last year with a previously reliable brand of compost - it's probably not being too cynical to suspect that in a very price-sensitive market quality control and the expensive added nutrients are not always given top priority. 

As others have said there is no easy way of assessing the nutrient content of your compost before use - the best thing to do is to watch for signs of weak and/or pale growth and be ready with a liquid feed to kick-start them into action. Add a little Epsom salts to the mix for tomatoes in case they are also suffering from magnesium deficiency.