[missmoneypenny]

I can’t find peat containing compost anywhere. If I could, I confess I’d snap it up. I’m mixing my own kitchen compost with the rough old peat free stuff I can buy ( at Wicks) the trick is to get the seedlings into ground asap or they run out of nutrients/ get etiolated/ have such poor root development they are not viable. And now it’s a bit warmer, sow direct.

[KalisDad]

I just got 8 clover giant salad bags and 4 clover MP compost delivered, really happy as next year is sorted, only ordered them last night and paid for a 9 - 10 day delivery, just need to find somewhere to store it now

[mumofstig]

I can’t find peat containing compost anywhere. If I could, I confess I’d snap it up.

You can buy Clover multi purpose compost, in quite a few places on-line, including Amazon.
but it is more expensive than the coir based mixes. You can also still buy 100l bales of Clover peat. I bought mine on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403735566715?itmmeta=01HZPXM39S1J90TXSER2SJT2KC&hash=item5e0083d97b:g:xk0AAOSwCXditXMx

[wolveryeti]

I lament the loss of peat MPC but wrecking peat bogs for a hobby is not ethical. I just wish the peat free manufacturers would stop taking the p. Apart from the premium stuff it is barely good enough for mulch let alone potting compost. Huge uncomposted twigs and glass/plastic are a common finding. I do wonder how much has actually been composted in the truest sense of the word...

[Growster...]

There are unlimited supplies of Jack's Magic in our local GC!

Like others here, I'll be stocking up for several years' use! The good thing about such good quality compost, is that you can use it time and time again, just by adding a few nutrients and a bit of the stuff from the compost heap!

I have some big pots with Jack's Magic or other good peat-based composts which were filled several years ago, and, by doing the above, have never have a problem! Growing toms, peppers, etc., in big pots and trays does mean that at the end of the season, there are quite a few tangled roots to deal with, so all I do is chuck them together in a dedicated home compost heap, and they'll rot down normally!

Recycling compost - the good stuff, with plenty of peat - is dead easy, and saves a fortune in the long run!

[AndyRVTR]

An allotment shop local to me sell both the 50ltr Clover (£5) and 75ltr Clover Pro (£7.50) bags of peat compost. The lads on the site tend to mix 50/50 as the pro has a lot more feed in it apparently!
I bought another 8 bags last week and have them stored in my shed ready for next year, but going forward, I think I'll start doing what Growster does and just freshen it up every year!

[mumofstig]

Growster: There are unlimited supplies of Jack's Magic in our local GC!

Be careful though, most of the Jack's Magic I can find online now seems to be the peat-free stuff, so good job I still have a pile of the old stuff 

[Growster...]

I'll check, Mum, good point, but knowing them, they don't muck about...

[New shoot]

I always have bags of used compost for recycling stacked behind the greenhouse. Other than for seeds where you want a sterile mix to start them off, it can be reused without any problem.

My greenhouse tomatoes this year (and my big pot of sweet peas) are in reused compost, some fresh with my mix of peat-free, coir and John Innes, plus a big dollop of compost from my hot bin as they are heavy feeders.   The hot bin stuff is very rich and quite heavy in texture.  They are all romping away 

[rowlandwells]

we have tried several peat free brands and what a waist of time that was I'm glad we are still sticking with peat based you can stick your peat free somewhere that I cant mention on this site its just dodo only fit for the compost heap

[AnneB]

What follows may not be popular, but it is my experience.
I think there are good composts and bad composts and middling composts.
This applies to both peat based and peat free composts.
I have had one poor experience with a quite expensive tomato peat free compost, but in the last 3 years I have used Melcourt Sylvagrow, Happy Compost (no longer in production) and this year both Sylvagrow and Miracle Gro.
I have used them both for seed sowing and potting on and in potato barrels.  I have had no problems with germination or growth whatsoever.  I will continue with peat free as I have had no issues with the last few I have used and it is better for our planet.

[snowdrops]

What follows may not be popular, but it is my experience.
I think there are good composts and bad composts and middling composts.
This applies to both peat based and peat free composts.
I have had one poor experience with a quite expensive tomato peat free compost, but in the last 3 years I have used Melcourt Sylvagrow, Happy Compost (no longer in production) and this year both Sylvagrow and Miracle Gro.
I have used them both for seed sowing and potting on and in potato barrels.  I have had no problems with germination or growth whatsoever.  I will continue with peat free as I have had no issues with the last few I have used and it is better for our planet.

Pretty much what I said to hubby this morning about peat based composts. People seem to have forgotten that some of peat based composts have been dire over the years. I’m happy with the Melcourt Sylvagrow that I’m using. I’ve also used the New Horizon peat free last year/early this year for my strawberry hanging baskets and they have been fine too. As I’ve said before Melcourt is a nice company to deal with (I'm store manager for gardening club). They also print date of manufacture on the bags which can be a factor in all composts. I do find you need to pot on or feed a bit sooner but and it’s a big but, I’m using smaller modules this year for nearly everything from seed so that might be a factor in that.
I like to feel I’m doing my bit for the planet. Things change and we need to. We used to live in caves and run around in animal skins and forage…I don’t want to go back to that, I’ve moved on.
The Melcourt rep is coming back to give a talk to us in November which should be interesting, Westland never got back to me when we had issues with their growbags, even when I sought them out at Glee the trade horticultural show last year, they assured me someone would be in touch but never did!

[New shoot]

I think a lot of the complaints about peat free are justified and it depends what you can get hold of locally and for what price.  I have a lady on our allotments who swears by Sylvagrow, but she has to buy it on-line and for me, it would be just too expensive to do that at the price she pays.

I did plant up all my bulbs and winter containers last year in my mix of affordable peat-fee (B&Q bulk bag), coir, John Innes and fertiliser and have just emptied out the last few.  The peat free has broken down into very nice fine compost.  It made me wonder if most of the issues are due to manufacturers rushing the process and not actually waiting until the stuff was ready 

[Alank]

The peat free I've used is appalling and not suitable for sowing or potting on.
I will be making more of my own in future.
The peat free went into potato bags with additional fertiliser.
This  is what it was like once it had been watered.
I'm sorry but this is not a suitable multi purpose compost usable from the bag.

[Growster...]

" It made me wonder if most of the issues are due to manufacturers rushing the process and not actually waiting until the stuff was ready"

You may have hit on something  there, News...

The panic from the 'authorities' about peat being 'unsustainable' - which apparently isn't true in Canada, would have quite rightly caused the manufacturers a bit of undercracker-wetting, and you can see why they would rush to find an alternative!

If coir and similar stuff is so good, then maybe a few years being consolidated in its place of manufacture, (India, etc.), to make it at least work like peat, could be carried out before all the extreme cost of washing it out and carting it half-way round the world before it's ready to use.

I wish the advisers of the various political lobbies would understand this, as I don't see the subject very high on the 'green' agenda from the main parties in the GE!

Just as an aside, I'd be interested in what the John Innes Institute is doing with all this, apart from selling its own 'formula' stuff - maybe I should try and find out...