Not so impressed with B&Q multi purpose compost!

Hello Wren,

I am very novice, so I wouldnt go on my advice, but I use B&Q Multipurpose Compost for most things, and most things have turned out ok (which isnt much! And also I dont really have anything else to compare them to!).

I have been sowing all my seeds in B&Q Sowing and Cutting Compost and, of those that have come up already, there is about a 90% success rate. But as I say this is very minimal and very early days for me.

Helen

Novice here to

So far ive planted

peppere
cabbage
psb
sprouts
toms (various)
sweetcorn
onions
leeks
shallots

all have germinated no probs

I bought a couple of bags of MPC from there, one of them had mould all the way through.

Where I have run out of seed & potting compost, I have used B&Q's own but put it through a sieve with some perlite. No problems so far.

I used quite a lot last year and it was fab.

This year it is nowhere near as good, luckily it was 3 x 70lt bags for £10, but still not worth it.

Bought a 120 litre bag last December.(approx £7..) So far used 3/4 of it. No problems at all. It is stored in the greenhouse now, when outside I covered it with an old plastic sack from other potting compost.

Focus compost is not very good- lots of lumps/strands etc. B&Q appears much better.

Try New Horizon peat-free it appears to have been made to a new 'recipe', its very good, haven't had to seive it at all.

I just like playing with my new toys / impulse buys........

Have used B&Q multi-purpose for years with no problems at all - although, depending on what i'm sowing/planting, I do often add some John Innes on about a 1 in 4 volume. Damping-off can often be caused by high humidy around the seedlings, not just the actual compost they are in, perhaps caused by a sealed plastic bag or badly ventilated propagator.

I buy whatever compost from the store I am closest to at the time, but when using for sowing I add vermiculite always.

Their MPC this year seems very much like their vegetable compost that I was buying last year, which was more expensive than the MPC but much better quality. I haven't been able to get hold of any of their vegetable compost this year so tried the MPC compost and it's soooooooo much better than in previous years. I'm wondering if their vegetable compost is now MPC and their MPC is now their garden compost...

Mrs J

I would't use B&Q MPC even if they paid me! Bought it last year as it was cheapest but it was rubbish, full of large bits of hard stuff which didn't break down. The bits I was able to use didn't hold moisture at all. Another allotmenteer on the same site had similar problems with his. We reckoned it must have been a duff lot at the local B&Q. Changed to Westlands and had no problems whatsoever.

I used Focus 3 for around 10 quid a year or so back. it was rubbish ,as you say bits and strands of all sorts . never again.

Well I bought B&Q "multi-purpose" peat free. It is awful. Large clumps, large pieces of bark, twigs, stones, and plastic were in it. All three bags are the same. A friend of mine bought three bags last month from a different batch and it was exactly the same. If he had opened them when he bought them I wouldn't have bought mine but a family situation arose so they weren't put to use until after I had opened mine.

Now as a soils improver it would be okay, though I wouldn't use it for root crops, and for large planters possibly. As they were not selling it as a soil improver but as multi-purpose compost it is not fit for purpose.

It is labeled peat free this could also affect those who are trying to go peat free for the first time. They will use this and possibly be put off as it is not exactly a good advert for peat free.

I wanted to complain to B&Q in writing sending sample to show hem what I meant so they realised I was not exaggerating, but I can't as I can't afford the postage. I phoned and explained the problem and asked if there was a freepost I could use and was told no, I would have to cover the cost myself.

Last year I used B&Q multi-purpose and it wasn't anywhere near as bad, I could even sieve it for seeds now my sieve has a nervous breakdown if I just go for the bag.

This is one person who won't touch B&Q compost again. Which is a shame as I have a lot of plants to repot as I will be getting rid off all the existing compost and it is the easiest for a friend to drive me to the local B&Q.

If I had a digital camera I would take some pics and post them. I must see if I can borrow one.