I know I should but I'm thinking of using peat based compost

[Houseplanter]

* shouldnt*

Because the peat free stuff is so rubbish!

I'm a big houseplant fan (who'd have guessed) and I've repotted several and found it full of hard lumps, fibrous stuff that won't hold any water and worse of all I think fungus gnat larvae.

Now it's outdoor pots time I'm finding it just as horrible.

What's everyone else doing?

I posted about the horrible quality of the peat free compost I'd bought recently, and everyone seems to be finding the same. I don't have a solution I'm afraid but hate the idea of using up our precious peat bogs (though I am tempted like you!).

It's really variable. Melcourt Sylvagrow is best and most consistent. Also it behaves differently to peat (drying out on top but holding moisture underneath) so people often overwater peat free compost. It can help to mix in a bit of sand and biochar.

Please don't use Peat. If you won't consider felling the amazon rainforest to make disposable plant labels, then don't consider mining 1000 year old carbon storage to pot out a few bulbs.

I have been using a seaweed based compost for the last few years. It's excellent.

I believe most of the peat-free compost comes from Council's garden waste schemes, so as good, if not better, than any compost we could make at home.

Why not try sifting it and putting the larger bit's into your own compost to break down more?

@Ifailed I think you're right and it worries me that now our council has started charging for garden waste bins there will be even less to try and compost properly. Several people have already said they won't be paying for one and even worse have said they're considering plastic grass 😧

I have so little space a compost heap is not really an option

I totally agree with you OP.
Peat was so good.

I wish they'd invent something that has the same properties and is kind to the planet.

Even something to mix in with peat free to improve its water retention and performance.

I had really poor results the other year with peat free. I contacted the RHS who more or less said you need to put up with it. I expected that they were going to say I'd done something wrong. I do normally add miracle grow which does help.

If you have a mossy area in your garden, I've found that adding the moss into the peat free seems to work reasonably well.

Check your council tip - our council charges for green waste collection (we compost ours), but the compost they make is free at the tip. We can collect three bagfuls per day, it's lovely stuff.

This is interesting - I'd love to do this. Did a quick google of my tip and compost and it comes up with a post on facebook about how they use the compost for local farms. The comments section is full of people angry and wanting a Freedom of Information about whether they sell it! No idea if that means they don't give it to the public though but seems to be a contentious issue where I am!

I use Melcourt Sylvagrow peat-free multipurpose compost, mixed with top soil and/or grit or perlite depending on the job. I’m with Monty in thinking that any small advantage from using peat simply isn’t worth the ecological harm of extracting it.

I hear you OP.

Last year was particularly bad for peat free compost. Chopped up blue plastic coated wire, lumps of wood and what looked like melted black plastic were just a few of the ingredients 🙄

I started making leaf mould the autumn before last and I've now got a lovely top b of the stuff to add to the peat free this year.

But, oh, the fungus gnats!

It isn't though, because it could also contain all the weedkiller and other chemicals that people have used on their gardens, especially with grass clippings after lawn treatment. You don't want that in compost.

I've no idea really what's happened to it. It never used to be so fibery? Are they just not brewing it long enough?

To pot on a miniature Japanese cherry I used a mixture of peat-free and John Innes number 3. But the PF was full of large pieces of branch which I had to pick out. It's like rotted mulch through wetter than peat compost used to be. Ironic when it doesn't hold on to the water like peat.

Exactly right. They ship it out before it's had a chance to compost properly. So frustrating!

I hear you. My solution is expensive - wool-based compost - but worth it. It holds the moisture well and reduces watering. https://www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk/ It is also available through online garden shops/plant suppliers.

Gardener's World recommends Rocket Gro as the best.
https://www.gardenersworld.com/product-guides/growing/best-peat-free-composts/

I've used New Horizon without any problems.

Oh, and to add, my pots are so much more weedy and I get a lot of mushrooms/toadstools too.

I might check out 'Dalesfoot.'

Do you think we are meant to put it in our own compost bins at home to complete the maturing?

This is not a short-term solution but I have noticed that the spare compost I bought last summer is much much better for having been shoved in the shed and left over the winter, so if you can buy some and put it away for a while it does seem to help. In the meantime, like a pp I am having good results from a seaweed-enriched compost this spring. For houseplants I like the Westland potting mix, although I find that I always end up mixing in some extra vermiculite for drainage.

I had the worst display of summer plants and flowers a couple of years back with New Horizon peat free. It was like I'd tried to grow things in the contents of a hoover bag. And the toadstools ... 😱

I use a seaweed based one plus what's left of multi purpose mixed with compost already used over the past couple of years from pots and tubs. I also put garden soil in it too. I just add a bit of blood fish and bone to gee it up when I reuse it.

I'd happily buy the peat free as long as the quality has improved and I won't mind paying more for it either.

coir is a really good substitute.
needs extra fertiliser as is nurtient poor.

Coir has a carbon footprint problem though, it's shipped from where the coconuts are grown.

Our free council compost is full of little plastic bits from people dumping all sorts in their garden waste bins, my garden now has plastic (bits of bags, strimmer wire, cable ties etc) in all the borders 😡
I have a compost bin but don’t make enough to do my pots every year so I had collected loads from the council last summer, but never again.

I too am struggling with peat free. I wish there was a much better alternative but, thanks to this thread, I will give the seaweed one a go.