The other year we started some seeds off in some peat-free compost bought from a local supermarket which we thought was a right old bargain at the time. The seeds germinated and then stalled at the seed leaf stage, hung around for a couple of weeks and just withered away. We mentioned this here the other week and got some good replies about the same problem and also some great advice from Alan who mentioned he started mixing garden compost in with the peat-free compost and it seemed to work a lot better.
We mentioned the problem of peat-free compost to Thompson & Morgan’s blog who replied with some great info from their resident horticultural expert. She said…
“Well, what can I say? Not all composts are the same!
There is no problem with using peat-free compost for seedlings – I do it all the time. The National Trust has banned peat-based composts and successfully raises all its plants in peat-free mediums. Similarly, the RHS promotes the use of peat-free. The only thing with peat-free compost is that it requires slightly different management particularly as regards to watering. The surface of peat-free compost dries out quickly but it is often still moist underneath. Consequently, many gardeners fall into the trap of over watering plants growing in peat free composts, and this is especially a problem with seedlings which can quickly succumb to ‘damping off’ in over-wet conditions. From the description, this does sound like a case of damping off – affected seedlings quickly keel over and wither.
When working with peat-free, it’s important to poke the top few inches of compost in the pot and check how damp it is underneath as surface dryness is not a true indicator. Cheap peat-free composts are full of cheap fillers and do not have the right texture balance to distribute water evenly. For the best results, use a peat-free compost that is specifically for seeds and cuttings. A limited number of plants need raising in compost with a low pH and so will do better in peat (e.g Meconopsis) but for the vast majority of seeds it is absolutely fine. Plants raised in peat-free may require a bit more fertiliser as peat-free compost has a tendency to ‘lock-up’ some nutrients.”
Brilliant stuff! Thanks a lot to Thompson & Morgan for letting us know more about peat-free compost. From now on we’ll be spending that little bit more on seed compost as someone once told us “there’s no such thing as a bargain” and they may be right!
Weeds up to me knees 
This is interesting.
It makes sense to me that much peat-free compost is not like the former product. You only have to look at a lot of it, particularly the lidl stuff (which I have used in the past) and see that it contains a high proportion of woody material which clearly will not absorb moisture and is there to provide bulk for the plant to support itself. So the quality of the compost is determined by whatever the rest of the content is. I found last year that plants dried out rapidly in my Westland compost and I now have a different variety again. I used the lidl compost 2 years ago and that really wasn’t good for plants in small pots.
I need to ‘fess up that the idea of adding compost wasn’t entirely mine – I listened to an edition of Gardeners Question Time last year and someone said that they had this problem and was mixing in garden soil. The expert response was that peat free was a new, different product and we needed to re-learn how we used it but that adding soil was one option in doing so. So I decided to use garden compost rather than soil.
By the way, love your music tastes as well. I lived close to Clapham Jct in the 80’s and frequently passed the Dub Vendor shop there, thinking of buying the latest Peel supported obscurity (didn’t though, taped it instead). Nothing like that here in Dorset afaik.
Hi Alan, good to hear from you again!
It’s interesting what she said wasn’t it? That was a good tip about not going by how dry it is on the top.
Yes you’re right. I have used a few different supermarket and cheap brands and you’re spot on, sometimes you get all sorts in amongst the bags to bulk it out.
Doesn’t matter as it’s a good idea anyway especially using garden compost instead of soil. It’s all about relearning as you say. I will start added my own compost too thanks to your tip.
Thanks for the musical compliments. John Peel and Reggae are very close to our hearts here and good to know you taped the show as well.
Got a box of home-made Peel cassette compilations in the loft. Used to try and tape all his shows in the week and over the weekend used to compile “best of”s onto a C90.
Keep in touch and if you ever want to send pics of your garden do drop us an email. Onedeckpete (at symbol) gmail (dot com).
All the best
Pete