[MoreWhisky]

I was working in a  private recycling plant a few weeks ago and they had a corner of the yard making compost, so i went over to have a look and speak to the operator.

Basically they had two piles of stuff, 1 was spent mushroom compost and the other was just what looked like a bad quality top soil with small branches in. This then goes into a crunching machine that produced a better looking pile, but not that much better. The operator told me some compost companys  cant buy enough of this stuff as they then add it to there own stuff before bagging for us to buy, and it makes his company a small fortune.

Now,

I went back this week and went over to have a look again, 1 pile seems more like a pile of bricks and breeze blocks! the other pile of topsoil stuff looked terrible to. The end result pile was dire ,i was going to take some but i didnt bother It seems due to demand they  are using inferior stuff.

Now i know where these twigs,bits of red bricks etc is coming from in my bought bags.

[arugula]

Oh dear!

[Bailz]

shocking

[mobilekat]

OK, note to self avoid bagged compost from York area, unless I want something with plenty of drainage.....

To be honest I think most of the compost companies are doing the same, this years bags have be very colourful- so I am guessing council recycling bin contents chopped and mixed in!

As we are lucky enough to be able to put garden waste into our green bins here, but for most of us that's the bits we don't want- sure I sent one bin off full of bindweed roots!

[Goosegirl]

Will be sending off a load of Mares' Tail in my green bin. Oh dear - my A.B. with added J.I. is a mixture this year of some soil, big bits of bark and some hairy stuff presumably coir. Not good enough.

[N.WalesIdealist]

I've an awful lot of hairy stuff (coir?) in my Arthur Bower compost this year, as well as lots of bark.  A good sieving gets rid of it before I use it though, and the bits got on my own compost heap to rot down even more.

Bagged compost is a necessary evil for me, I'd love to use my own compost for everything, but it just doesn't seem to go fine enough to use for my seedlings and young plants, so I ust dig it in to the soil in the ground instead.

[lancashiregardeninggal]

My latest bag of organic compost had the bottom part of a rubber glove in

[sion01]

I bought a bag of organic john innes no2 last week and it was terrible stuff,its so coarse my seedlings wouldn't stand a chance.I tested it's ph and it was really acidy.I reckon it was conifer bark peelings just composted down a bit.I work in forestry so i'm pretty sure what it looks like.

[mumofstig]

I think it's about time Trading Standards people looked at some of the stuff that's being sold.

Half of it is not fit for purpose IMO ........it doesn't help at all to encourage people to go peat free.

[lazydog]

try here i have not had any problems with any Violet Farm compost
http://www.sturmanscornandseed.co.uk/index.php/garden-supplies/violet-farm-compost
also available from other outlets i am sure!

[madasafish]

B&Q multipurpose compost is generally of very high quality. No rubbish included. I have used for 4 years with no problems.

[mumofstig]

try here i have not had any problems with any Violet Farm compost
http://www.sturmanscornandseed.co.uk/index.php/garden-supplies/violet-farm-compost
also available from other outlets i am sure!

[That's cos they're all peat based composts and do not contain recycled materials 

I bet they work really well

[lazydog]

still the same price as the other stuff 3 for a tenner out of season

[japagow]

Hi lazy dog.

I think Violet farm compost is great value for money but it doesn't have enough vits in it according to the back of the bag. What do you think

[lazydog]

It seems ok to me but i mix mine up abit depending what its for.This years toms will be grown in the same soil as last years 50% horse muck and 50%multi purpose but i do feed the toms after flowers have set but seems to be going well cucs will go in the same soil as well have done it this way for a few years no problems and then the soil mix goes on the veg patch usually where the runners are going.