Page 27 - ALG Issue 1 2025

COMMUNITY
become so dry that it won’t absorb added water – it happens to the best of us. Here, the water will run through very easily, hardly hitting the sides. One remedy is to add
a few drops of washing up liquid to the watering can.This detergent is very similar in nature to the wetting agents that most manufacturers add to their composts at the outset, but these don’t last forever. Many will be familiar with the way that composts wet up very easily at first but get harder
as they age.This can be true of either peat-free or peat-based media.
So, it is possible that those media that appear to need more feeding are those that are easily over-watered.
The materials used in peat-free media
are typically composted as part of their preparation.This leaves them with an active microbial population, which is mostly a good thing.There is much research showing how microbes in a medium can confer benefits such as protection against both root and aerial diseases. But when a compost is bagged and left on a garden centre shelf
for a few months, the metabolism of the microbes can deplete the available nutrients. It is for this reason that our advice is that fresh compost is always best.At Melcourt,
we put the date of manufacture on our packs so that consumers can check that they are not being sold old stock. Growing media manufacturers are trying to educate garden centres that unlike peat-based media, which if kept dry and cool, will largely stay the same over long periods, peat-free composts have a shelf life and shouldn’t be over-ordered. We do mitigate for the effects of shelf life with careful use of both immediately available and slower release fertilisers. But the compost also has to function for the consumer who uses it the week after it is made, as well as the one who may be using it a year later.
So do always check the age of your compost by either asking the stockist or checking on the pack if you are using SylvaGrow.
We would encourage gardeners to embrace the new era beyond peat. It
is internationally acknowledged that
its continued use in horticulture is not sustainable and the UK has led the way in developing effective alternatives. As with any change it can take time to adapt – most regular users of peat-free composts find no difficulty and many now say that they would never go back to using peat-based media.
Allotment and Leisure Gardener | Issue 1 2025 | 27