Peat free compost?

[Serpentstooth]

Not a fan. Attached window boxes 2023 and 2025. Both dated 9th June. Plants have put on barely any growth since April. I'm upset. I think I've had it for this year, will have to buy some fully grown but any advice for next year?

You're not alone. Whenever professional growers and nurserymen get together at some point the topic of peat free compost will be raised and the moans start. It's rubbish. All of it.

O thank you, I didn't know that. I'm thinking of mixing it with am equal amount of a tomato gro bag - guessing its got a fair amount of added fertiliser in it? - to see if that grows better. I'm so cross. Bother.

You need to fill the mud up to the top of the insert and then plant. The plants don’t have much depth to develop roots and can’t access the sun halfway down the pot - the high sides will shade the plants.

Never used peat compost. Wouldn’t use any fertiliser except for seaweed or comfrey due to the negative impacts on bugs. My plants all seem happy. Everything is later this year due to the terrible cold spring. Replanting will make a world of difference.

Exactly date is irrelevant really, weather varies. Have you tried making your own compost? Leaf mould? Comfrey or nettle 'tea'?

Also, is this compost 3 years old? In which case yeah, it's run out of nutrients and you need to replace or top up. Agree with @Gribbit987 that you need to fill it up - nothing thrives in a half-filled tub. Also check your drainage/watering.

My window box of pansies in peat free is doing great.

If these boxes don’t have drain holes in them, the plants will die from overwatering and no drainage. I bought loads of baskets from a well known shop and made drain holes in them. I planted various types of flowers I bought from As da….and they have flourished. It depends on where you live how well flowers etc will grow. Check what type of soil you have because it does affect how certain plants etc grow. I have experimented over the last 8 years and found topsoil to be a great help rather than manure or compost. I have heaps of stuff growing like carrots, onions, courgettes, tomatoes, coriander, basil, chives, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries,blackberries and loads more. If you keep on top of the weeding it does help. It’s taken me years to work out what actually grows in my garden. You have to be committed. I am also growing kale…it does well if you leave it alone and grow it around chip bark. I also have onions and tatties on the go.

It is all experimental. I wish I had my mums green fingers coz her garden was amazing! .

Thank you all. I haven't got a garden so planting is restricted to window boxes and balcony pots therefore packaged compost. I think it's a combination of weather and compost. I've planted these troughs every year for 15 years so drainage etc has always been sufficient. Yes, this is new compost, not old, bought this year. These are west-facing windows and an ideal situation, until this year, for showy summer colour that cheers up neighbours and passers by and gives me immense pleasure. I'll have to change these I think and buy some ready grown to replant. If anyone has a recommendation for a suitable shop bought compost I'd be grateful. Not John Innes though, too heavy.

Pp is right, try buying a bag of topsoil instead of compost. You could mix it with what you have, I have been doing that. Also melcourt compost seems to be better than most.

Is it still possible to get compost that isn't peat free?
At the garden centre it was all peat free which isn't working for my plants, adding a tomato grow bag to mixture is a good idea, thanks.

O thank you. Topsoil. Didn't know you can buy it. I'll get some and try Melcourt.

I haven't used peat for over 20 years. Peat free composts are different to peat based ones so need treating differently. It's worth mixing in about a quarter volume of top soil and some controlled release fertiliser. The compost often looks dry on top but is wet underneath so check before watering. I use Melcourt's Sylvagrow. It's the one the trade nursery I buy from uses and they grow excellent plants.

It’s crap and the nonsense behind promoting peat free is a load of beau-locks.

I've blithely assumed that manufacturers would have compensated for the loss of peat by replacing the supplementing the missing content with fertiliser. This well-known brand I bought seems to have no nutritional value at all, I've never had such stunted plants. Very annoying and misleading. Thanks for all help and duggestions.

It really won’t matter what you plant them in if you don’t plant them properly.

It isn’t too late for those plants. There’s nothing wrong with them. It’s only June. If you planted them properly in 2 weeks they’d look like previous years.

You need to fill compost up to the top of the container. The entire body of the plant should be above the container to access sun and space.

If you buy new plants you still need to do this as you aren’t getting the most out of them if you plant from halfway down container.

Can’t see that this has anything to do with compost at all. They’re planted incorrectly and the weather has been poor. That’s it!

Folks, peat has hardly any nutrients (look it up).

Tiny bedding plants don’t need any!

Ooops… sorry 🫣 Thought you were extolling the virtues of peat. Been a long day. Apologies for misunderstanding.

After many years of gardening, inc lots of seeds and pots I think this year will be my last. I buy lots of compost and it’s all rubbish. Full of lumps of goodness knows what, twigs, fly larvae and smells horrible. And my plants are consequently rubbish.

As already said ,peat has no nutrients in it anyway.

if I have to buy any I buy growbags. They have high levels of manure in them.

There were some compost recommendations in this article
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/problem-solving/best-peat-free-compost/

Peat free needs fertiliser from pretty early on. Start using tomato feed on them now and I’m sure they will catch up. I’m a melcourt fan, they do a variant with added John innes but their tub and basket is great for annuals.

I think part of the problem is the compost hasn’t rotted down enough. The whole structure is too woody and ‘planty’ so the plants can’t get the nutrients. Maybe manufacturers will catch up and be able to let it rot down a bit more.

We’ve had very cold nights up until very recently which is why your plants haven’t grown. Top up the compost and replant them and they should be fine now the nights are getting warmer.

Peat was great.
Never realised how good we had it ….. til now.
peat-free is utter shite.

It is dire, have been mixing up different types to try and get a better product.

Peat free is getting better but all the ones I have tried needs loads more extra feeding and watering is tricky. Some brands are spongy and need grit adding. Others seem to have too much coir and water runs straight through. Cheap peat- free seems to have loads of rubbish in it - I have even found plastic and wire!