Is there something wrong with this compost?

[BellesAndGraces]

I bought 2 40ltr bags of this compost from The Range yesterday and it looks so grey, shrivelled and anaemic. Is something wrong with it? I really hope not as I’ve used all two bags for new planters and pots.

Looks like it's the 'new' wood fibre compost. Peat is being phased out due to being non-renewable. I personally hate it, it drains like crazy and doesn't hold anywhere near the nutrients, but oh well.

Yes I think a lot of the peat free is like this now.
It can be a bit crap and grey like this, some I bought recently is weirdly spongey. feed the plants more regularly than I would have with peat.
It is what it is - it's important to buy peat free and get used to it before it's phased out.

Not all peat-free composts are created equal, that one looks like it’s not broken down quite enough yet. Have you watered it thoroughly? Very dry compost can take a while to wet through properly.

I bought some recently, it was woeful. I ended up digging it out, and mixing it in with my own compost heap, in the hope that by next year, it will be useful. I now order garden compost from our local council. They sell the composted contents of all the green bins that they collect. It has been fantastic.

Oooh good idea Errol

It’s looks lovely and soft! It’s just a bit dry

I went to a talk by the owner of a commercial plant nursery recently, and he told us that these new composts are dreadful and the industry has been tearing its collective hair out trying to find anything decent. He also said that you have to fertilise your plants considerably more than previously because the compost contains far fewer nutrients.

I have heard of a magic ingredient you can add to this rubbish compost which should help. It's called biochar and is made of activated carbon. It improves soil condition.

Melcourt's Sylvagrow is much better. I mix in bagged topsoil for ling term plants in pots.

Another vote for Melcourt.

Having lost 12 seed trays to cheap sour compost, I buy a bag of Melcourt every few weeks (do not stockpile it) from a place that stores it properly.

It usually then holds more water when you think so it's important to test by sticking in a finger or feeling weight of pot. It does usually need additional feed compared to peat, yes.
@BellesAndGraces Peat free can be very variable but to get any that's actually decent, you need to be asking nurseries or bigger garden centres what they use. I use Sylvagrow multipurpose or with John Innes. I've worked in horticulture for a number of years now, local nurseries use it and it's really the only thing that's predictable and consistent and worth paying for.

Useful information thank you - what would you feed with, do you rate seaweed concentrate?

Thanks all. I’ll give the Sylvagrow a try and sprinkle some on top of the beds and pots to at least hide the awful greyness of the compost I already have!

I can't get Melcourt anywhere round here, there's nowhere that stocks it.

Try running chicken manure pellets through it and some topsoil. I actually bought seaweed compost and mixed it with topsoil last year because of this exact problem. It dries out so quick!

I make biochar regularly as part of my job and it is great for improving soil texture/ water holding but probably more for potting bigger plants than tiny seedlings, the nutrients are well retained but not as accessible for younger roots. It is great though although the science is still lacking in why it works so well beyond great microbe accommodation.

Would also recommend Melcourt/ sylvagrow if you can find it. It's what all of the professional growers I know use as standard.

A lot of people use biochar in their substrate for growing bonsai trees, which is how I know of it.

@Yamadori ah that's interesting thanks! Makes perfect sense as it would keep the oxygen around the roots.

Yes we tend to use inorganic free-draining substrate for that reason also. There's a whole science around bonsai soil, so I won't bore you with it (and ask 100 bonsai enthusiasts and you will get 100 different answers anyway!).

I have it on good authority that one of the best peat free composts for moisture retention is Levington Advance. From a trade nursery who have been trialling peat free growing media on their own stock. Haven't tried it myself yet, but I will be.

I've found mixing John Innes no 3 with the compost until you get a heavier but
not dense mixture seems to work. JInnes does weigh a ton though on its own so careful how you lift it!