Commercial Compost for Gardens

Commercial compost is a range of products sold in plastic wrapping in garden centres, DIY shops and sundry retailers. This is not to be confused with your own garden compost made from decomposed plant matter.
The contents of these types of commercial compost vary and can affect the growing result considerably. All have a base which has no or negligible nutritional value plus additives that make it useful for a specific purpose.

Typical Compost Constituents – Base

Peat base of small fibers of bog peat is excellent for many purposes but now seen as none ecofriendly due to the over extraction of peat and lack of replenishment of the resource which isn’t sustainable.
Coir as a peat substitute for the base. Coir is made from the hairs & fibers of coconuts and such compost are widely available. There are special organic compost products approved by the vegan society .
Wood pulp based composts and partially composted bark are other bases the industry is trying to develop into retail products but mixes and formulas keep changing
Steralised loam based composts, generically called John Innes after the guy who first formulated them, tend to be heavier.
Composted green waste is becoming popular if you can find a reliable supplier who uses undiseased raw materials

Typical Commercial Compost Constituents – Additives

Most composts are mixes of some of the base ingredients and possibly sand or vermiculite to open up the compost and improve drainage
Fertilisers are added that are appropriate to the end use. seed compost needs less fertiliser than a container planting compost where a plant has to live for at least a season
A wetting agent is often added as peat is very difficult to get wet and you need an even moisture in a pot or seed tray.
Water retaining gels may be added for hanging basket compost.

Typical Compost for Special Uses

Rooting and cutting compost is usually just a mix of sand loam and peat
Seed compost has crushed limestone and phosphates added to help drainage an promote root growth
John Innes No1, 2 & 3 has varying quantities of fertilisers; hoof and horn, superphosphate and potassium sulphate . No 1 Potting Compost is for pricking out young plants, No 2 Potting Compost is for potting on and No 3 Potting Compost is for established plants and shrubs.
Ericacious compost is for acid loving plants like Rhododendrons and lime hating plants like Mahonia and has flowers of sulphur added to the peat based mix.
Cactus compost, Bonsia compost, Orchid compost, Citrus plant compost even African Violet compost are all available from a range of suppliers. One brand with a range available in many outlets is Westland http://www.gardenhealth.com/latest-news.php
Bulb compost used to be called bulb fibre and has no fertiliser . It is used for bulbs like Hyacinths that have already got a store of energy to produce a flower.

Tips On Compost

As it is an organic product the quality can be variable but there will be a brand you like so try some out – currently I am using Arthur Bowers and B&Q own label.
Mix in a bit of grit, sand, vermiculite or water preserving gel depending on how you plan to use the compost
Try keep it uniformly moist.
Add a drop of liquid soap to the water to restrict the growth of moss on seed compost used for slow germinating seeds.
Grow bags contain compost and are a cheaper way of buying compost than small bags.
Compost deteriorates with age so buy fresh compost from a commercial supplier with a fast turnover.

Link to Garden Compost from Amazon

Plant Health Chemicals

Some plants suffer if they can’t take up the right mix of chemicals from your soil. Some soils do not have enough of the right chemicals to sustain certain plants. These situations call for the judicious use of plant health chemicals that either free up the plants ability to draw sustenance from the soil or add the chemical to the soil to improve the plants health.

Many useful plant heath additives are available as ‘mix them your self’chemicals like those sold under the brand Chempak.

Key Plant Health Chemicals

• Magnesium is a trace element that helps the uptake of nutrients. Useful for improving the colour and vigour of Chrysanthemums and greening up yellow leaves. Try it on your tomatoes to correct magnesium deficiency. Epsom salts are a useful way of improving the magnesium content to soil.
• Sulphur has a couple of garden uses including reducing the soils ph for the health of ericaceous plants. It can also stop some bacterial rots.
• Sequestered Iron or Chelated Iron is used as a tonic for ericaceous plants.
• Calcium is a basic building block and helps prevent many disorders. Lime is often used to add calcium to the veg garden or to prevent other soils becoming sour and too acidic.

Soil Health Chemicals

• The health of plants and the health of soil go hand in hand. It is very hard to have one without the other.
• Chemical assitance for soil health comes in improving the constituents of the soil by fertilisers or correcting deficiencies (as above) and by improving the structure of the soil (below).
• Clay breaker is designed to stop the very fine particles of soil sticking together in wet weather and baking rock hard in the sun. The addition of grit and humus will do a similar job.
• Humus in the form of spent mushroom compost, peat or manure are basic garden chemical additions to improve soil condition.
• Potting base is not added to your soil but to peat to make your own seed or potting compost. It usually contains a wetting agent, chalk and trace elements and the resulting mixture is fine for growing your own seedlings or cuttings.
• Soil improvers like Forti8 or seaweed extract claim to add minerals and trace elements to your soil. They do not do anything for the soil consistency or structure.

Here’s to Good Health

Plant Specific Fertlisers

Manufacturers have increased the variety of genus specific fertilisers.
At one time variations on the proportion of NPK was enough with Fish, blood, hoof, horn and bone and Growmore amongst the staples. Rose food, ericaceous plant fertiliser and seaweed extracts were then made available with the allegedly all too necessary ‘trace elements’. Good husbandry will replace most Plant specific fertilisers if you follow the basics.

Orchid feed and cactus food were amongst the next batch of prepacked products. Then Citrus plant special fertiliser became a ‘necessity for the millions who grow Oranges and Lemons (although special packs for winter and summer fertiliser seems another step too far.’

Now the choice is wider still with Fuchsia fertiliser, Clematis food, Onion fertliser, Potato fertiliser all prepacked for the ‘gullible gardener.’

Bonsai food and Palm fertiliser are available from Chempak which is now owned by Thompson & Morgan as are Orchid growth and Orchid bloom food. Baby-bio Orchid feed is identical to baby-bio normal except it is watered down by 50% and packaged in a different colour.

Peonies and a special Peony fertilizer from Thompson & Morgan.

The only specialty feeds I use are African Violet and Tomato fertiliser

Calcified Seaweed Treatment and Benefits

What is Calcified Seaweed

• Calcified seaweed is dried seaweed and lime or other calcium based salts
• Calcified seaweed is an organic substance without any nasty chemicals. There is concern that it is no longer approved by the Soil Association for use in organic growing, due to concerns that the harvesting of this material is not sustainable and has adverse effects on the marine environment.
• Seaweed is rich in minerals, encourages beneficial soil bacteria, helps improve heavy soil structure and neutralises acid soils.

Uses of Calcified Seaweed

• As a soil improver and clay breaker it breaks up the heaviest clay without damaging soil pH.
• As a compost accelerator it speeds up the breakdown of organic garden waste.
• Seaweed adds trace elements and minerals to the soil.
• Calcified seaweed neutralises acid soil
• Adding seaweed is beneficial to bacteria and is used in lawn treatment.

Maxicrop Organic Cal-Sea-Feed Calcified Seaweed 6kg tub from Amazon

Organic Hoof and Horn Fertilizer

Hoof and Horn or ‘Hoof and Horn Meal’ is a valuable organic fertilizer.
Ground in to a powder the hooves and horns of animals from slaughter houses makes this nitrogen rich granular fertilizer. The cooked, ground, dehydrated cattle hooves and horns also contains phosphates for root growth.

Using Hoof and Horn

• Fine ground the Hoof and Horn will provide a quick hit of nitrogen and some phosphates.
• A coarser ground product will be slower to release the goodness.
• Hoof and Horn is usually worked into the top of the soil at about 2oz per square yard.
• Take care as fine roots can be burnt if applied to thickly.

Uses of Hoof and Horn

• Hoof and Horn is a useful top-up or stop-gap organic fertilizer for nitrogen hungry plants and on poor soil.
• Used to increase green leaf growth and on vegetable when they have overwintered.
• Hoof and Horn increases root growth
• Organically improves soil structure
• Top dressing of Hoof and Horn as a stop-gap measure when growing hungry vegetables including brassicas, tomatoes and lettuce.
• Can be used instead of manure on rhubarb plants and around large fruit trees such as Nectarine and Peaches
• Hoof and Horn is sometimes used as a compost activator to speed decomposition

Compare Hoof and Horn to Other Fertilizers

• Hoof and Horn Meal is is equivalent to Blood Meal in Nitrogen content. The nutrient availability is slower, which is better for organic crops causing less leaf burn.
• It nutrient availability starts at around 4-6 weeks and can lasts 12 months.
• It contains Phosphorus for stem and root growth.
• Hoof and Horn nitrogen content is comparible with Blood Meal. The slower release rate of the former is better timed with plant uptake rates.
• At normal application rates it will not be damaging or wasteful.
• Hoof and Horn has a strong smell that may attract animals but it dissipates more rapidly than that created with Bone Meal.
• Not seen packaged up as frequently as it was at one time Hoof and Horn is worth looking out for

The nearest substitute we have found is Chempak 2 a product range supplied by Thompson & Morgan

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Cuttings in a Tray or Open Ground

Tips For Cuttings

• I mix compost with Perlite and fill a 24 cell tray for small cuttings.
• This green plastic tray is supported by a rigid plastic seedtray. This cuts down sterilisation but I use the green trays several times until they crack or need throwing away.
• Bottom heat can help cuttings root more rapidly.
• On some Rock Roses (Helianthemum), I have just used hormone rooting powder from amazon.
• I keep the atmosphere humid with a clear lid and or a regular spray of clean water.
• The cuttings do not need any fertilizer until roots show at the bottom of the cell.
• When roots start to show, pot-up into individual pots or plant out in the garden.

Larger Cuttings

• 3″ pots or 12 cell trays can be used for larger cuttings like pelargoniums.
• Pelargoniums do not need any hormone rooting powder.
• For hardwood cuttings I would take a longer piece of material 4-8″ in many cases. For this size you need a deeper and more stable pot to hold the cutting
• Last autumn I took some Rose cuttings and put them in a trench filled with soil and sharp sand. Several have rooted nicely and are now ready to be set out in the garden.
• I do not get despondent if cuttings fail. If cuttings succeed I am hapy to get true clones of the original plant at no cost

Fuchsia cutting tips
Root Cutting Tips
Delphinium cutting tips
Carnation cutting tips
Autumn cutting tips
Dahlia cutting tips

Clay or Plastic Plant Pots

Some plants thrive best in plant pots. Others need pots to help them through their juvenile life until they can be planted out into a permanent position in the garden.

Uses of Plant Pots

• Pots are a good medium for containing, selling and transporting plants. Garden centers couldn’t function without them and nurseries nowadays only sell a small number of bare rooted plants.
• Pots protect and enable plants to develop good root system.
• Pots can be the final home for some plants and be used in a decorative manner.
• Houseplants are invariably housed in a pot of some description.

Clay Pots

• Terracotta pots made from fired clay are the pots old gardeners had to use.
• Clay pots are porous and allow water and air to move within the compost.
• Water evaporation from the sides is slow but helps keep the pot and soil cool.
• Clay pots can be heavy and well balanced so shouldn’t be blown over.
• Clay pots tend to dry out quicker than other pots and watering needs must be considered.
• Some plants such as Auriculas, love the conditions of clay pots.
• Glazed pots are usually earthen ware or some form of clay pot.

Plastic Pots

• These are cheap to manufacture, available in many sizes and light to carry.
• Black flexible plastic is used for larger pots. Brittle plastic seems to be used for small 3″ and similar pots.
• Plastic pots are easy to clean with a disinfectant. Pots can be reused many time and last several seasons.
• Plastic pots tend to breed and if you end up with a surplus they are not  recyclable.
• Plastic pots rely on the compost to control the watering and moisture level.
• Roots do not adhere to the sides of the pot as they may do with clay pots.

Related article Tips for Planting Summer Pots

My Fat Tomatoes are Well Fed

Well the tomatoes are not yet as fat as I hope they will be. I have now started feeding with ‘Tomorite’ a high potash feed made up in a watering can from a concentrated liquid.

I also use other liquid feeds from cheaper sources in between Tomoriting the Toms. I am not sure this does them any good but variety is the spice of life as a good tomato will tell you. As you may see from the label Tomirite now contains Seaweed extracts and that saves me adding the seaweed concentrate that I have been using for several season (the bottle seems bottomless).

Consistency is the key to Tomato growing and I water daily in hot weather feeding alternate days. I also damp down the greenhouse in the morning if we are in for a hot day.

Tomato feed is fine for giving flowers a boost. You probably don’t want any more leafy growth on your annuals so deadheading and a booster feed will increase the flowering capacity of your plants.

Drip feed seems to be a new fad that I find a bit cumbersome. It may work well for a small number of plants. A variety of Tomato feeds are available from Amazon including some of these new fangled drip feeders.

Tomorite is supplied by Levingtons and is widely available. They claim it is a ‘Liquid plant food for tomatoes, also ideal for flowering pot plants that appreciate a high potash feed. Contains seaweed extract that supplies many micro-nutrients essential for maximum growth and better crops. Ideal for feeding growing bags, giant planters and tomatoes growing in open soil’.
‘When to use: April to August’ according to Levingtons but I find that too early to start and feed June to September in my greenhouse and stop in August outdoors.

For more on seaweed

Nutrients and Fertiliser for Plants

You might not think your plants need 5 a day but they do need nutritious food to survive and thrive. In many situations they can get all they need from natural sources, just look how weeds thrive without the help of gardeners.

Essential Nutrients and Chemicology

• Hydrogen and Oxygen in the form of water or H2O.
• Nitrogen N – more than the gas in the air
• Potassium or Potash K
• Phosphorous P
• Magnesium, Sulphur and Calcium.
• Carbon -  in naturally occurring gas or solid form.

Trace Elements Needed By Some Plants

• Iron Fe
• Zinc Zn
• Copper Cu
• Boron B
• Chlorine Cl
• Manganese Mn
• Molybdenum Mo

Sources of Nutrients & Fertilisers

• Good hearty soil will contain most or all the plants needs for a while. If cropped heavily then soil needs some help to recover. Every flower you cut or vegetable you eat has taken some nutrient from the soil.
• Organic compost are natural and have a good balance of nutrients without being too potent. Garden compost or well rotted  animal manure are the tops.
• Man made chemical compounds are offered as fertilisers in liquid or solid forms. The balance of chemical content is recorded as the proportion on NPK eg 22:11:5 is high in nitrogen whilst 8:8:8 is a balanced fertiliser.
• Seaweed is a good tonic often rich in the trace elements.

Three Key Critical Fertilisers

• Nitrogen,  Phosphorous and Potassium often referred to as N.P.K are the essential three.
• Nitrogen is key for leaf and stem growth and all round vigour of your plant. Ammonium Sulphate is a quick acting inorganic nitrogen producing fertiliser, Hoof & Horn is  organic or a compound fertiliser with potash will convert to plant friendly nitrogen.
• Phosporous helps the growth of strong roots and seedlings. Bone meal or fish meal contains phosphates or a compound with ‘superphosphate can be purchased.
• Potassium needs to work with nitrogen but is particularly influential on flowers and fruit. Compound fertilisers are the best way of providing potash along with some nitrogen (tomato feed is rich in potash). Wood ash can be used but the amount of potash being added is uncertain.

Fertiliser Products

A range of special fertilisers bespoke for each species of plant is available from available from Thompson & Morgan

A widely available and favourite fertiliser with all elements bound together in a granule is Growmore

MiracleGro and other proprietary fertilisers from Amazon

Organic Liquid Seaweed

Read more on Calcified seaweed

Sphagnum Moss for Gardeners

Features of Sphagnum Moss

• Sphagnum moss is a great liner for hanging baskets.
• It holds a large quantity of water and is easy to wet
• The moss is very slow to rot down.
• Sphagnum moss is light and easy to work with.
• In bogs, sphagnum moss compacts down over the years to create peat.
• Florists use sphagnum moss to make wreaths.

Other uses of Sphagnum Moss

• As a mild antiseptic that inhibits bacteria growth, Sphagnum moss has some medicinal uses.
• It was used in massive quantities for dressing wounds during World Wars I and II.
• Sphagnum has traditionally been used for bedding, to pack wall cavities and it has been used to caulk boats.
• Sphagnum was once used as an ingredient in bread and provides the peaty flavour of whisky.

Sphagnum moss products from amazon