Absolute best compost please. Lots of complaint last year on gardeners world forum about poor compost

[Summerwhereareyou]

As above can anyone recommend amazing compost please.

I cannot believe that my Lantana plug plants haven’t grown at all in the 6 weeks I’ve had them, they’re still 2” high 🤬
Bl…. compost.

And not the weather?

Unlike peat based composts, you need to fertilise from the start instead of waiting 6 weeks

I'm using Aldi's seaweed enriched for the second year and it's been better than anything else I've used in the past i.e New Horizon, that was terrible.

Plants have suffered more with the weather this year but it has been disheartening that my pots and tubs haven't looked anything like they used to when using just multi purpose compost that wasn't peat free.

Might give up container gardening next year and just do veg and no flowering plants. 🙁

West of Scotland. Our local nursery sells Mother Earth compost. It’s excellent. 👍🏻

Do you have space in your garden for a compost heap where you can put all your fruit and veg peel, shredded up cardboard and paper, lawn mowings and dead leaves etc? After a few months you end up with the most beautiful crumbly compost, which you can mix with shop bought compost to add further bulk. It really improves the soil structure and goes a long way.

It shares some of the problems as non-peat compost - you have to water little and often, and add fertiliser. But it’s far better than the horrors pictured here. Dark, crumbly, no visible straw or wood chips, can be sieved to a fine seed compost. I always used it as a mulch and soil improver. Then during Covid lockdown I found I’d run out of compost, and it didn’t seem fair to ask a delivery person to bring bags of compost, so I started using it for seeds and pots,and haven’t found a need to go back. Particularly as I haven’t found a local source of Melcourt Sylvan, and the wool-and-bracken one is so expensive.

only problem is my compost isn’t hot enough to kill all weed seeds, so I do have to weed seed trays and pots (though only at the start - pots are soon crowded enough to prevent weeds from growing) which is OK for me as I’m quite good at recognising seedlings but might be difficult for some.

only problem is my compost isn’t hot enough to kill all weed seeds, so I do have to weed seed trays and pots (though only at the start - pots are soon crowded enough to prevent weeds from growing) which is OK for me as I’m quite good at recognising seedlings but might be difficult for some.

I shovel homemade compost into my wheelbarrow and go through it to remove any signs of white bindweed roots which are easy to pick out, and the occasional taproot bits that snap off from dandelions. This year I have been blessed with little seedlings popping up and they're actually tomato plantlets they smell beautiful!

Overall I've used far less shop bought compost bags (I stick with Jack's Magic) and everything seems to be taking well, unlike last year when the bought compost was absolutely awful, so I got into my compost making this year.

Here's a fab YouTube tutorial for compost making in a small garden.

love this guy, he's very down to earth and doesn't witter on, he gets right to the point!

If you leave bindweed roots, dandelion roots and any other troublemakers on a path for a couple f weeks, they should dry out and die off, and will rot down on the compost heap.

or drown weeds in a bucket of water.
turns really smelly and you can use it as liquid fertiliser on your veg patch

I spent a fortune on local stuff only to find it really clumpy, doesn’t really hold moisture. Back to Jack's Magic for me.

I've been really impressed with our local garden centre chain own label peat free variety. Not sure what they use but it hold moisture well so good for pots. Possibly some coconut in there.

Trouble is, I've got a big compost heap (sorry, not doing a stealth-boast about my compost ) and yes in theory those tiny fragments should wither when out of contact with water and warmth, but they dang well survive pretty much anything. They're like cockroaches, especially this year.

I cover the heap over with a large piece of tarpaulin to help retain and build up the heat in there, but I don't think this (or last) year's weather and temps not reaching over 20C on average has been helpful. I guess the benefits of the beautiful crumbly sweet smelling mix will always outweigh the annoyance of having to pick out the bits that find their way in.

My mum is obsessed with John ines says shouldn't get anything else. I use lidl which my nan who has an amazing garden says I'd good.def manure there's loads of stables in kent for free

yes in theory those tiny fragments should wither when out of contact with water and warmth, but they dang well survive pretty much anything. They're like cockroaches, especially this year.. That’s why I suggested leaving them out on the path. In even a big heap, they will simply grow.

My mum is obsessed with John ines says shouldn't get anything else John Innes is a formula not a make.

That’s why I suggested leaving them out on the path. In even a big heap, they will simply grow.

yes that's the best solution, but time isn't my friend and I do find myself having to make shortcuts but I do take your suggestion. Probably it's about prevention being better than cure, and being disciplined in not dumping any old stuff on there in the hope it will all die in situ on the heap. Nay, nay and thrice nay . That was where my problems started.

My plan going forward is when I've done some weeding, to lay it out, let it die off as you've suggested and then onto the compost as brown matter. Instead of which I'm rushing to clear away all my mess from the weeding, and trying to take shortcuts that create a totally self-inflicted world of pain!

I use John Innes formulae for various jobs eg potting on, starting seed germination and a handful in my baskets, but I blend them because I find on its own and depending on the JI number, it can be quite heavy and difficult to work with.

I just came on this thread to recommend the Aldi seaweed enriched! Annoyingly it’s rarely available at our local branch (they tend to just stock the bog standard stuff) but it really is good if you can get hold of it.

I've cleared some really good stuff out of the wormery this month. I've mixed it up with left over sylvagrow and am going to use it for my biennial and autumn veg seeds. Fingers crossed!

Probably it's about prevention being better than cure, and being disciplined in not dumping any old stuff on there in the hope it will all die in situ on the heap. That’s what council garden waste collections are for

There are different makes of Black Gold compost - which one are people recommending