Anywhere that stocks Peat- free compost?

dardevle

muckyhands wrote: »

What year did you try them out in again?

For someone who says they want to find an alternative to peat you don' t seem to be able/ willing to post anywhere that stocks it.

Instead of going off on a tangeant about moderators and going on about other threads- you could have just answered the question re thread title. It couldnt be that hard.

2009 was the year that i actually took the effort to compare products.

i have 2 garden centres near me (25miles) and neither of them stock peat free compost....perhaps if i lived in a larger urban area i might be able to find a stockist.

where do you buy the peatfree product that you use?? and how does it perform?
........

edog

I used the mulch blend last week as well in our new vegetable patch, seems like the real deal. Was up there bringing back cuttings and picked it up, they'd a huge pile of the compost steaming away in the warehouse! www.mulch.ie/mulch-blend

muckyhands

dardevle wrote: »

2009 was the year that i actually took the effort to compare products.

i have 2 garden centres near me (25miles) and neither of them stock peat free compost....perhaps if i lived in a larger urban area i might be able to find a stockist.

where do you buy the peatfree product that you use?? and how does it perform?
........

I make my own compost, use green manures and farmyard manure and don' t buy bags of peat to use on my allotment. As I said already in post 22. I am quite happy with the results. I am trying out a few products at the moment and if you look back over the thread you will see where I found them to be stocked.

Thanks for the input, shame you can' t get peat- free locally where you live.

paddy147

I was in Tesco,Clarehall this evening,and I noticed that Tesco sell their "own brand" peat moss for 2 euro 50 cents a bag.

The bag size is 20 litre size and its 50% peat-reduced.

Ok,so its not peat-free.......but I suppose its a step in the right direction with it being 50% peat-reduction.


Maybe Tesco might market and sell peat-free compost in the near future?

Regards.

muckyhands

dardevle wrote: »

......
Hi Mucky,

it has been a few years now and i would be sketchy as to the brand names but westland was one of 3 retail bags, there was also a coir based substitute, a homemade mix of my own (leaf mold-loam-garden compost) and a control batch of peat containing medium.

none could match the control batch for success rate in germination with the coir mix coming in a close second and my own mix next.....the retail bags i found not to be great at all..... i thought the particulate size was much too large for seed starting and while the coir based medium may have been a decent substitute, the fact that it is shipped from half a world away sort of defeats the purpose:o

( i myself use klasmann-deilmann substrates and treat it like black gold, one bag will usually last me all year.)




.......

Just out of interest what control bach of peat- base compost did you use, if you can remember?

Was it multipurpose or was it a specific one for starting seeds?

I only ask because all of the peat- free compost I have come across are suited to multi- purpose and it only seems fair that they be tested against a similar product.....

If the peat- based control batch you used was not multipurpose- i.e it was a 50: 50 mix with peat/ sand such as is used for starting seedlings- I would prefer to mix them (the peat- free) as a 50: 50 mix of peat- free compost and horticultural sand as would be the peat- base seedling mix equivalent.

I think we would both agree there is a marked difference between compost compositions.

dardevle

muckyhands wrote: »

Just out of interest what control bach of peat- base compost did you use, if you can remember?

Was it multipurpose or was it a specific one for starting seeds?

I only ask because all of the peat- free compost I have come across are suited to multi- purpose and it only seems fair that they be tested against a similar product.....

If the peat- based control batch you used was not multipurpose- i.e it was a 50: 50 mix with peat/ sand such as is used for starting seedlings- I would prefer to mix them (the peat- free) as a 50: 50 mix of peat- free compost and horticultural sand as would be the peat- base seedling mix equivalent.

I think we would both agree there is a marked difference between compost compositions.

what makes you think i would not use like for like when conducting trials?


i think we would both agree that your post sounds fairly condescending.:)


.......
......

muckyhands

dardevle wrote: »

what makes you think i would not use like for like when conducting trials?


i think we would both agree that your post sounds fairly condescending.:)


.......
......

How do you figure that?

All I have done is post- re: thread title- where I can get peat- free compost and posted some pics of said products.

The only one who seems to have an agenda is you- from the start of this thread.

muckyhands

Dardevle,

If you look back at post 16, you are clearly unsure, in your own words ' are sketchy' as to what you used in your trials so I asked what I think is a very valid question- not in any condescending way or otherwise.

dardevle

muckyhands wrote: »

Dardevle,

If you look back at post 16, you are clearly unsure, in your own words ' are sketchy' as to what you used in your trials so I asked what I think is a very valid question- not in any condescending way or otherwise.

if you look back at post 16 you will see that it says sketchy as to the brand names used.....not the medium used.

(tag team partner will now enter thread and post reply- which will then at some time later be deleted or edited as after thoughts come into head.)
.......

paddy147

dardevle wrote: »

if you look back at post 16 you will see that it says sketchy as to the brand names used.....not the medium used.


.......

So 1 specific brand name out of 3 brands (with a sketchy memory)?

And you cant give any more information on the peat control batch/medium??



This could/can then be compared with actual brands of peat free composts,which Muckyhands has gone and tracked down and bought for the purposes of trial.

A fair comparison of evenly specced/matched growing products is what she is asking for.

muckyhands wrote: »

Just out of interest what control bach of peat- base compost did you use, if you can remember?

Was it multipurpose or was it a specific one for starting seeds?

I only ask because all of the peat- free compost I have come across are suited to multi- purpose and it only seems fair that they be tested against a similar product....

^^^^^^^^^^^
I mean her question to you (post 36) is very clear and simple question to read and understand.

You have since meandered on with deflective posts,but you dont seem to be very forthcomming with any specific information.

muckyhands

dardevle wrote: »

if you look back at post 16 you will see that it says sketchy as to the brand names used.....not the medium used.

(tag team partner will now enter thread and post reply- which will then at some time later be deleted or edited as after thoughts come into head.)
.......

It went more like this:

Dardevle returned sometime later and added this, rather than post a new reply-

(tag team partner will now enter thread and post reply- which will then at some time later be deleted or edited as after thoughts come into head.)
.......[/QUOTE]

If I didn' t know any better I might have even thought you were somehow psychic. :rolleyes:

dardevle

......


the answer to post 36 is contained in post 37......again why would someone conduct a comparison trial with different spec products?? i hope your tag team partner is at least going to use same spec products:o


the proper way to have gone about this would for the op to have actually conducted some sort of trials first and then furnished with results- give people useful advice about the performance of the products rather than firstly telling people peatfree products were 'widely available' - then scrambling to start another thread to try and find where they are available!

secondly, armed with these results the op could then inform people exactly how gardeners can do without peat based products.

hypocritical to say that home gardeners can do without peatmoss and tell them where to buy alternatives without any experience at all of the performance (or lack thereof) of the alternatives...all the while continuing to use peat based products.


you kids should'nt take things so personally.....remember as the guy with seahorses says - you will learn from your mistakes.:D
.......

paddy147

dardevle wrote: »

......


you kids should'nt take things so personally.....remember as the guy with seahorses says - you will learn from your mistakes.:D
.......

Jeez,you cant even get that right.:rolleyes:

Its actualy..."Theres no such thing as a stupid question,only stupid answers"......(and that last part rather suits your postings here)

The "guy" you refer to...His name is Kealan Doyle,hes a leading marine biologist and conservationist,and he also owns SeaHorse Aquariams.



Kids??.......Im in my mid 30s.

Maybe I might be older than you??




Dardevle...

What have you contributed to this thread with regards the "thread title"???....."Anywhere that stocks Peat- free compost"

Absolutely nothing.

You seem to have a sketchy memory too,and dont seem to be able to answer a very simple question.So you dabbled with this 3 years ago,,,great,good for you.But that doesnt give you the right to take up a different agenda with another person because they ask you a simple question about it.

All you are doing is posting pointless,meandering posts and trying to create/make up other agendas,because you seem to be clearly lacking on actual up to date knowladge and seem incapable of posting brands of peat free compost.

So you desperatley try to create other pointless agendas with your meandering posts.

And you are the only one here doing it too.

Everyone else has posted good information on product names and where to buy them.




So what exactly is your issue or problem here??

Whats your gripe/issue here with me aswell??

muckyhands

dardevle wrote: »

......


the answer to post 36 is contained in post 37......again why would someone conduct a comparison trial with different spec products?? i hope your tag team partner is at least going to use same spec products:o


the proper way to have gone about this would for the op to have actually conducted some sort of trials first and then furnished with results- give people useful advice about the performance of the products rather than firstly telling people peatfree products were 'widely available' - then scrambling to start another thread to try and find where they are available!

secondly, armed with these results the op could then inform people exactly how gardeners can do without peat based products.

hypocritical to say that home gardeners can do without peatmoss and tell them where to buy alternatives without any experience at all of the performance (or lack thereof) of the alternatives...all the while continuing to use peat based products.


you kids should'nt take things so personally.....remember as the guy with seahorses says - you will learn from your mistakes.:D
.......

So as far as you are concerned- it is not possible for people to do without buying bags of peat for their gardens, seriously, thats your stance on it? :eek:

dardevle

......


not at all mucky...... what i don't see as possible is to germinate seeds in peatfree compost with the same success as peat based....this is the reason peat based composts have not been banned outright yet and the ban date keeps getting moved forward.....maybe you will see better results with your trials... but that remains to be seen.


apologies if it seems that this was a personal attack on yourself its not intentional....it was an attack more on the lack of information regarding peatfree composts in general, unless people know beforehand of the performance of a product then it does'nt matter where its available.


thats my last on the subject.
goodnite.

muckyhands

dardevle wrote: »

......


not at all mucky...... what i don't see as possible is to germinate seeds in peatfree compost with the same success as peat based....this is the reason peat based composts have not been banned outright yet and the ban date keeps getting moved forward.....maybe you will see better results with your trials... but that remains to be seen.


apologies if it seems that this was a personal attack on yourself its not intentional....it was an attack more on the lack of information regarding peatfree composts in general, unless people know beforehand of the performance of a product then it does'nt matter where its available.


thats my last on the subject.
goodnite.

And all that based on trials three years ago.

We should all just give up so and not even talk about it. :rolleyes:

Imagine- the horror. :eek:

maryxyz

Does anyone know where I can get regular size organic grow-bags ? I did find some very large heavy ones for tomatoes but just want the lighter sort for lettuce. I've tried everywhere & may have to make up my own by putting organic compost into bin-bags !

I notice there is very little available nowadays in the organic compost range - back in the Nineties there was a MUCH wider choice & every garden centre/DIY, even Dunnes sold organic grow-bags - you could get organic compost made from coir and even from teabags. I wonder why this is - it doesn't seem like progress - and yet it seems more people are growing their own veg.

Thanks

Maryxyz

paddy147

maryxyz wrote: »

Does anyone know where I can get regular size organic grow-bags ? I did find some very large heavy ones for tomatoes but just want the lighter sort for lettuce. I've tried everywhere & may have to make up my own by putting organic compost into bin-bags !

I notice there is very little available nowadays in the organic compost range - back in the Nineties there was a MUCH wider choice & every garden centre/DIY, even Dunnes sold organic grow-bags - you could get organic compost made from coir and even from teabags. I wonder why this is - it doesn't seem like progress - and yet it seems more people are growing their own veg.

Thanks

Maryxyz

Tesco in Clarehall are currently selling small organic growbags.Hope this helps.:)

maryxyz

Thanks a million for that info, Paddy - unfortunately local Tescos in my area don't have it - maybe I'll get over to Clarehall sometime (do you know, when you phone Tesco stores to ask if they stock something, your query is answered from a call centre in Cardiff !)

Maryxyz

whelzer

You guys that used Mulch.ie, what size bags do they sell. Tried ringing a few times but no one picking up?

Thanks

muckyhands

whelzer wrote: »

You guys that used Mulch.ie, what size bags do they sell. Tried ringing a few times but no one picking up?

Thanks

The bags I got were 30 litre bags 3euro each. They also deliver bigger quantities like tonne bags or you can collect with a trailer. They were talking about renting out trailers soon too for anyone that may need one last time I was there.

whelzer

muckyhands wrote: »

The bags I got were 30 litre bags 3euro each. They also deliver bigger quantities like tonne bags or you can collect with a trailer. They were talking about renting out trailers soon too for anyone that may need one last time I was there.

Good stuff Mucky. Thanks. How have you found their product in real world usage? Reckon I'll head over that way at the weekend. 5-6 bags is all I need.

Takestan

why dose one use peat free compost new to gardening Excuse my lack of knowledge

edog

whelzer wrote: »

You guys that used Mulch.ie, what size bags do they sell. Tried ringing a few times but no one picking up?

Thanks

Hey I used the 30l bags as well but they have a pile of the compost and top soil loose as well so I reckon you buy what ever load you need. One other thing is that they're not open all day Saturday, think it's 10 til 2.

paddy147

edog wrote: »

Hey I used the 30l bags as well but they have a pile of the compost and top soil loose as well so I reckon you buy what ever load you need. One other thing is that they're not open all day Saturday, think it's 10 til 2.

Opening times..........

Mon - Fri 08:00-17:00
Sat 10:00 - 14:00

muckyhands

whelzer wrote: »

Good stuff Mucky. Thanks. How have you found their product in real world usage? Reckon I'll head over that way at the weekend. 5-6 bags is all I need.

Suffice to say I have been caught out in the past by using screened but not sterilised topsoil in jobs and suffered the consequences- can end up with all manner of stuff in it like glass, even though its meant to be screened at least, and an otherwise excellent job will quickly go south when all manner of weed seeds start germinating.

My experience so far has been that Mulches stuff is properly screened and sterilised so no weed seeds. I asked about seed sowing- re the pro gro compost (for this thread) they dont recommend it for seed sowing (I expected that would be the case because its topsoil but asked anyway) but do recommend it for containers/ hanging baskets and whatever your topsoil needs may be. The soil enricher is used in the same way as you would use manure etc.

I have planted up a few containers with various organic/ peatfree composts and will update- but so far so good.

Think I will actually try it out for seed sowing- out of curiousity.

muckyhands

Takestan wrote: »

why dose one use peat free compost new to gardening Excuse my lack of knowledge

Long story short- peat- based composts have a hugely negative impact on our environment.

Peat comes from our bogs and the use of peat from these bogs, for the purpose of horticulture, means it is responsible for the destruction of rare habitats- i.e our bogs. :mad:

Not renewable and not sustainable.

Peat- free composts have taken a lot of bad press- because of a few products that were found to perform badly in the past.

But there are good ones out there, peat- free/ organic/ renewable and good for our environment.

muckyhands

Just to update this thread-

There is a really good article that I read today in the Kitchen Garden magazine (May 2012 issue) about peat- free composts that is worth a read if anyone is interested.

whelzer

muckyhands wrote: »

Just to update this thread-

There is a really good article that I read today in the Kitchen Garden magazine (May 2012 issue) about peat- free composts that is worth a read if anyone is interested.

Quick update. I went to mulch place 2 weekends ago and came away with 15 bags of topsoil and the enricher. Great place, staff and stuff - I will top my beds up in the autumn with their enricher from now on!

muckyhands

Thats great whelzer.

Have to say I was happy to see an article that rubbishes the claims of ' peat- free compost is rubbish'.