Wickes compost

[The Large One]

Me too, but I shall be complaining about the quality of it ~ the bags I bought this time are full of lumps of wood & quite a few stone chips too, some plastic and one piece of glass

Mmm, maybe batch / area differences as the first 3 bags iv'e used have had a couple larger twigs but no manmade foreign items in it

[Bigmallly]

I don't fully understand the debate on good or bad compost. Yes, if it had plastic or glass in it then I would complain but shredded bits of fibre can only add to airation and get less compacted. I may be wrong but to be honest it would not worry me too much.

[Alison]

I've used New Horizon as normal and it's been the same as every year. A few twiggy bits but nothing you can't use for sowing larger seeds with and if you pick those bits out it's fine for smaller seeds too. However if it had large bits in then I wouldn't be too happy, I only use potting compost in smallish pots and I want it well mixed and broken down.

[Florence Fennel]

shredded bits of fibre can only add to airation and get less compacted

The bags my son brought for me were so compacted they were only about 3" thick, but as this is usually the case with B & Q compost and the way they store it, I wasn't too concerned. I broke it up and put some in a bucket, I have never seen anything dry out so quickly, full of strawy bits and it just looks, well, wrong!

[Bigmallly]

I have never seen anything dry out so quickly, full of strawy bits and it just looks, well, wrong!

That'll be the airation Flo & to stop them getting waterlogged. We are often told to have compost on the dry side of damp. I have lost so many plants because of compaction & overwatering on my part.

[Florence Fennel]

Me too BM, I do know what you mean, so perhaps the tomatoes I've potted into this medium will be ok. I certainly hope so. I'm still not buying any more.

[Bigmallly]

Me too BM, I do know what you mean, so perhaps the tomatoes I've potted into this medium will be ok. I certainly hope so. I'm still not buying any more.

If you are really unhappy with it Flo, leave one Tom in it & re-plant the others........a bit of an experiment & then you'll know for next year..........The old kid next to me has put his seeds in something very similar and they are going berzerk. He even admits that it looks too dry but it's working.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I hate to mention this but I gave the heads up a couple of months ago when a friend bought some Wickes. We have both used it for years but this year it is carp. And if you notice its 70ltrs a bag not 75.

Colin

[Florence Fennel]

Now you mention it Colin, I do vaguely remember you saying that. Doh, I should have taken notice. I hope that Mally's right and it might surprise me, but I'm not holding my breath. I didn't notice the 70 litres, I'll have a look tomorrow.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Auntie Flo my mate ended up riddling his before use. He had an awful lot of waste but at least he managed to use some. He had a good moan at Wickes but I don't know if he got anywhere.

Colin

[Florence Fennel]

It's not worth the effort as far as I'm concerned Colin. I've shoved it in the bean bed and on top of other beds to dig in. There's one bag left and I'm going to use it to earth up spuds.

[Hilary B]

We use vast amounts of compost, because it's what all our pots etc are filled with, we normally buy New Horizon mp, but when the garden centre has a good offer we buy other types (most of which turn out to be intended as soil conditioners, but they seem to be OK for our purposes).
All my seeds are started indoors in the hopes of getting them to a size the slugs won't polish off too quickly, and in fact that is usually the most successful part of my gardening!
Must get the carrots and parsnips out (currently growing in modules, made of loo-roll etc).

[Bigmallly]

It's not worth the effort as far as I'm concerned Colin. I've shoved it in the bean bed and on top of other beds to dig in. There's one bag left and I'm going to use it to earth up spuds.

I hope you have the best beans in Sheffield Flo.