John Innes Ericaceous compost

In the old days

Anybody have any idea if any garden centre in Dublin or thereabouts stocks a soil based ericaceous compost? I want to replant camelias in pots and would prefer a soil based medium to slow down drying out and overall better long term results. The lighter/peat based stuff is everywhere. I know 'West' do a John Innes version but just getting puzzled looks evertime I ask, even at the bigger centres.

Sonnenblumen

In the old days wrote: »

Anybody have any idea if any garden centre in Dublin or thereabouts stocks a soil based ericaceous compost? I want to replant camelias in pots and would prefer a soil based medium to slow down drying out and overall better long term results. The lighter/peat based stuff is everywhere. I know 'West' do a John Innes version but just getting puzzled looks evertime I ask, even at the bigger centres.

Why not mix ericaceous compost with regular topsoil and adjust the soil conditions by applying some sequestrean of iron or similar to achieve desired acidity conditions?

The drying out is a big problem but Camelias are reasonably tolerant of lime soils and respond well to improvements in the ph of the soil and maintained over a longer term.

In the old days

Many thanks for suggestion. I'll do as you suggest for the Camelias. I have a few Azeleas as well that are decades old and getting potbound and I don't know how tolerent they are to a bit of lime and would not like to shock them. If I found the soil based solution I could let them off for another 10 happy carefree years or so! If I find a centre I'll post the results, might help others.