compost

hi all has anyone tried asda compost 3x 70 litre bags for £10

It depends what you want it for. I only buy the cheap stuff to bulk out pots and potato planters.

Also. 3 allotments. An important detail that no one appears to have picked up on is that the 125 lit verve stuff is packed really tightly. Other brands I have seen may well be shown as 75 lit or whatever but if it is loosely packed then you are paying for air as well as compost. Just thought I would say.

Also. 3 allotments. An important detail that no one appears to have picked up on is that the 125 lit verve stuff is packed really tightly. Other brands I have seen may well be shown as 75 lit or whatever but if it is loosely packed then you are paying for air as well as compost. Just thought I would say.

No, sorry, this is incorrect.  You will be getting 75L of compost. 

I had the Asda stuff last year. I found it ideal and therefore I bought it this year. No problems.

Quote from: Steveharford on April 04, 2014, 20:06

Also. 3 allotments. An important detail that no one appears to have picked up on is that the 125 lit verve stuff is packed really tightly. Other brands I have seen may well be shown as 75 lit or whatever but if it is loosely packed then you are paying for air as well as compost. Just thought I would say.

No, sorry, this is incorrect.  You will be getting 75L of compost.

Compost bags always give volume "when packed" so it does matter how tightly the stuff is compressed. They have no way of measuring the actual volume of compost minus the air spaces, so all they can give is the total volume of compost plus air. If they sold it by weight, that would be a different matter.

Compost bags always give volume "when packed" so it does matter how tightly the stuff is compressed. They have no way of measuring the actual volume of compost minus the air spaces, so all they can give is the total volume of compost plus air. If they sold it by weight, that would be a different matter.

If they sold it by weight, they'd also have to state the moisture content, which obviously can vary enormously, as well as giving the manufacturers a big headache with packaging, as a standard weight could vary a lot in volume depending on the ingredients that went into the mix (they'd either have trouble getting it into the bag or would have people complaining that the bags were half empty!)

Although MP compost is quite compressible, and the degree of compression no doubt varies between manufacturers, I think you need to look closely at the stated volume (what looks like a standard bag can vary from 50 litres to 75 litres), the price, and hopefully the quality, if only based on appearance, before choosing.

Thanks Newsteve. I'm glad someone else can see it as I do. Just because the bag is 75 lit it doesn't mean that the compost filling it will amount to the same volume if it is loosely packed. As an example: a cubic meter of soil in the ground, when dug out becomes approx 2 cubic meters in volume as it is loosened up and air is added. That's why it does matter how tightly compost is packed into the bag. Verve is packed tightly and you therefore do get more compost than a loosely packed bag.