Does anyone know of any cheap organic compost, something that'd be sold down at b&q?
I have a 20l bag of biobizz all-mix but I think it's a bit over-priced and was thinking of mixing it in with a cheap alternative instead of shelling out for another bag.
thanks

I have used a non organic and organic grow bags this year and cut them width ways to give me about 16ltr in each bag/pot.

And im organic as much as possible but the j arthir bowers grow bag pisses all over the new horizon organic grow bag by miles. I added a bit of west + to it as well and my girls are fuckin huge so huge im scared shitless about the siz eof em!!

They sell this,about £6 a bag.Click to view attachment

non organic,
you'll find it hard to beat westlands multi purpose with added john innes! Very good structure to it and a great water holder. Cheep to only £5.99 for a 60l bag. wyvale gc do 3 bags for a tenner!
Organic,
really dont think you can beat plagron batmix, pisses all ova allmix!
Hantshaze

Isn't allmix full of mined peat anyway so isn't organic by any UK definition of the word. JAB is probably as organic as allmix......

has anyone tried the wormcast and coir compost from thenaturalgardener? I think I got the link from this board somewhere. it's £10.80 for 60 to 65 litres, quite tempted to try it.
Otherwise I might just have a look in b&q get a bag of West+ / JI.

Also I dunno if my bag of allmix is just a bad batch but it's full of bits of wood and small stones, it's pretty shit tbh. I've used it before a few years ago though and it was great. Altho my plants are doing fine in it so far.

I was having a look at that plagron batmix, looks really nice but it's even more expensive than the allmix

Im using haskins compost, coco coir and worm casts at the mo, coco coir was £20 dehydrated blocks makes about 160 litres, worm casts are free as I make them myslef, and think the compost (garden centre own brand) was £10 for 3 bags x 60 litres. 340 litres for £30 works out something like 8p a litre.

Is that all that's in it?

If so, it's funny, because that's all I used on my last pot up (about 80/20 or 70/30 coir/wormcasts) with a bit of rockdust and it worked brilliantly. Better than any store bought compost I've ever had, and I've tried a few, westlands included. I'd say get it, definitely.

As things go at the minute, I won't be using store bought compost ever again.

Az, I'm currently using The natural Gardners Coir/WC mix

Some of the casts are very dry and there's are a couple of people onsite that have not rated this well, however my plants certainly seemed to thrive quite nicely on it - which I was hoping for considering what they're reportedly fed.

I added 30% loam to it originally as per an OT1 suggestion for a microbe friendly environment and about 20% used allmix as a filler and to use it up, plus certain fungi like bark.

I won't be using any BnQ Loam in my mixes again it seems to encourages caking / cracking when dry. I think this is a reflection of the loams constituents not the idea of loam - homemade humus laden stuffs what's needed. The rest of the allmix is mulchin the garden.

It was my first time using coir and I really liked its hydrophilic effect/airation though it was at only 25% so I'm uping the ratio next grow. It also slowly degrades as food for microbes and reuses well.

I'd reccommend using it on its own with a bit of amendment or purchasing coir blocks and WC separately which may be cheaper.

Its actually £16 inc delivery, but once you've squished a handful of it wet and felt the spongy bounce back you'll have a grin on yer face.
I'm also interested in their Neem fert which is receiving positive feedback onsite.

I've reused it again this grow just amending with rockdust, but next grows getting more coir, fresh ewc probably from a different source as I'd like to experience a different ewc.

I didn't find any problems using loam, but my mix was different to yours. I used mostly coco, some loam, wormcasts, a bit of new horizon, rockdust and seaweed. I can imagine if you use too much loam it will make for a bad mix though, it is very heavy stuff, like sand. But like I said, I reckon it's easy to knock together a better mix for your plants yourself than you can buy out of the shop.

I reckon you should use coco as the base for your mix, it should make up at least half, if not more I reckon. Especially if you're in big pots. It's such good stuff to use, I doubt many people who do use it will ever go back to regular compost without it. I think once you're used to the pain in the arse that is watering dry compost, the first time you water coco you're sold on it immediately... Like watering a sponge. Makes the process so much more efficient.

When you think about it, watering/feeding is maybe the single most important aspect of your grow. I wonder how many people, especially novice growers who've never even seen a pot before, mess up because of dry compost, thinking the water pissing out the bottom means the plants have had a good feed/drink.

I'd say it's the thing I've been most impressed by that I've introduced into my grow, and that includes nutrients, additives and everything else. Although Wormcasts are excellent too.

I reckon about 60-70% coco, 20% wormcasts, 10-20% loam is good, with a good bit of rockdust and seaweed mixed in.

Also, if you use rockdust, or if you've got some already, mix it with your loam and wormcasts at least a few weeks prior to mixing it in with your coco, to let it begin to break down. The benefits of using rockdust are not fully realised on such a short term crop, apparently.

Yeah, too many fine particles (clay) in the BnQ loam which wasn't at first obvious, now in reuse its decomposed so not as much of a problem.

Having saved some Natural Gardner's 50/50 coir/ewc mix my cuttings were yesterday potted into fresh 45% ewc 45% coir 10% Loam and rockdust which I'm already happier with.

As Papaduc says, spongy is good

I'll be experimenting with charcoal for the next grow. Possibly charging it with an essence tea first. Upto a 30% ratio looks good. More research on Bio-char required, but the benefits keep mounting.

Whatever you buy in medium / amendments should be thought of as an investment since you should be re-using yr mix for lots of reasons not just the financial / environmental, satisfaction, cannabis friendly bacteria inoculated etc but also as Papaduc says not all amendments you supply are initially available or even available to that crop.

Everything you put in that pot -loam, Coir, EWC, rock dust, seaweed, anything organic, will be decomposed by fungi, bacteria, protoza etc and their exudate will feed your babies...maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but....

Straight from the Humphrey Bogart school of gardening.

The scientific analysis (if you're into that sort of thing) on the benefits of using wormcasts, state that 20% is the optimum amount to be used to gain the most benefits. There was a study which compared various grows in controlled conditions, one fed chemically, one in compost with no casts, one in compost with casts, one in compost with more, and so on. The mix with 20% casts was only matched by the chemically fed plant. It outstripped the others by a good bit.

I would say the amount of loam etc, is dependent on how much of the mix the worm castings make up. One of the benefits of using coco is the oxygenation of the roots, plus the ease with which they are allowed to grow. It holds plenty of oxygen even when fully saturated. Like I say, I think it should make up the bulk of your mix, although a mix with less in will require less frequent watering.

Never looked into the charcoal thing much, other than I know it has a large surface area which good bacteria can inhabit and feed and that it's used for this reason in wormeries. Maybe you could post some info here?

Yeah, various studies out there prove no benefits above 30-40% ewc depending on plant grown and even adverse effects over 50%.

I think that the reason people are so attracted to thenaturalgardner stuff initially, me included, is their method of ewc production ( EWC being only as good as the shit you put in it to quote OT1) which makes it a shame they only sell it 50/50 with their coir and not separately, apparently, so it needs further amendment - quite possibly with more of their coir

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta - link to get anyone interested in charcoal started, I'm sure a link to wiki isn't spam? - I'll post some more info somewhere after i've bookmarked specifics.

I tried some plants in 100% castings before, they did ok, but didnt seem to do aswell as the coco and castings, kinda odd as coco is inert, but guess its far too rich for the plants. Guess its like making coffee, too much sugar is nasty, but just the right amount is great.

i recently started using sheeps wool and bracken compost, i've added around 20% worm castings, waiting to see the result.

Sheeps wool and bracken - your not welsh are you?

Not partaken of anything for hours, and an image of you holding handfuls of wool and covered in bracken after the poor things escaped your grip, and then thinking 'Hmm, I'm sure I could grow weed in this' had me in a small fit of giggles.

sorry.

Sort of heard about sheep's wool before... thanks for inspiring more googleing there I was planning to read more of a pdf copy of 'Teaming with microbes - A gardeners guide to the soil food web' - well recommended.

, i was surprised when it arrived, i dont know what i expected, but its just compost.