Melcourt Seed & Cutting Compost

[plantmark]

Charles, I have been using Melcourt Seed & Cutting Compost since the Which? report gave it a best buy but I have some doubts about it.

The Rocket in the attached image is 24 days old and looks to me as though the compost must have run out of nutrients several days before, if indeed there were any?

What do you think?

[charles]

That looks a poor result Mark.
If there is email on the bag, why not let them know.
A shortage of nitrogen is what it looks like and many wood-based composts have this to a varying degree, in my experience.
I would plant out asap i.e. tomorrow, so the plants can feed.
With the benefit of hindsight, planting them a week ago would have been better!

[plantmark]

Thanks Charles. I have emailed Melcourt. I often have poor results with this compost. Dissapointing after the glowing Which? report. Time to try something else I think.
I know you get great results from West Riding compost but they have very poor distribution and it’s very expensive by mail order. I will certainly give it a try.
I am now trialling B & Q Verve with Melcourt so that will be interesting.
Are there any other readily available seed composts that are worth trying?

[charles]

Yes the W Riding is annoyingly difficult to buy.
Klassmann organic compost is good, I am unsure how available it is.

[Ron]

I tried comparisons with beetroot seeds in modules some weeks ago, one batch with Bulrush a peat based pro compost and the other with Melcourt Sylvia compost. If anything the peat compost gave stronger results. But both have gone on to produce strong plants. Since this I have used the Bulrush as a base in seed trays or modules, topped up with Melcourt Sylvia which seeds are sown into and covered with.

[Rhys]

Charles

Klassmann is available from Quickcrop in 75 litre bags, but is very expensive for the domestic gardener: 250% more expensive per bag than when buying a pallet from JC Monro.

I have used it this season and results have been perfect, but it makes you focus on how many modules, what size of module you actually need.

I have used 3 bags through the whole season which cost a whopping £75 inc VAT and shipping.

But you can pretty much guarantee having no failures at all.

[charles]

Thanks Rhys and wow, that is expensive. Glad the results are so good.
It needs enough people to get together and share a pallet but I appreciate that is not straightforward.

[plantmark]

Update.
I have contacted Melcourt and given them the packing code on the bag and they have told me that the compost I purchased was processed in May 2016 (purchased in May this year) The technical director is going to deliver 2 bags FOC to me and collect my purchase for testing so they clearly take it seriously.

So we all have to swot up on packing codes as retailers are obviously not going to dispose of stock at the end of the season.

[charles]

Mark that is revealing.
Also interesting that the compost seems to have lost it’s nutrients to the wood, I guess, during a year in the bag.
With the West Riding and Klassmann, I have great results from using year old compost. The K. is peat based and W Riding 50-50.

[Author]

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