B&Q M.Purpose Compost Issues. - Page 5

Not content with just polluting our ground and containers. Guess what the end of my finger found in a bag of J arthur Bowers aquatic compost, less than a hour ago. A rusty length of wire............whey aye, tetanus anyone...

It's beyond humorous now.

I am wondering why there haven't been any lawsuits yet ( or are they ) keeping it quiet?

hmmmm...

Having seen the piece from Marshmello about the wire and other bits and pieces found in the MPC only proves what I have been saying.Councils now have to recycle their green waste.They can only dispose of it to garden waste composting contractors who also take waste from garden contractors etc.On arrival the waste is shredded and then placed in windrows ,it is occasionly turned and at the end of three months it has been composted.It has to reach a temperature of 80 degrees C.The composting takes place mainly in the open so does it always reach this temperature Bacteria etc are killed hopefully

the heat.The compost is then screened.The whole problem is that the councils can only have the waste recycled,they have no other option,there is not one.Who wants this compost,only the MPC suppliers because now there is the restriction on the use of peat .they have no other choice because at the moment there is not one.What is their profit margin bearing in mind that the Councils etc have to pay to get rid of their waste.No doubt for these suppliers this so called compost was their saviour. Have you noticed that it does not say on the bags what the

contents are.I feel very sorry for elderly ladies when I see them in Garden Centres buying this stuff.I hope they wear gloves!!!!Would they buy it if they knew where it came from.It is important to point out thet the majority of this green waste is shrub and tree waste, what goodness is in that.Look in your council recycling centre and you can see for yourself.

I had bad results 2 years ago with B&Qs  M PCompost  I found greyish mold on the inside and it was very hard nothing like normal compost .

Since this particular compost was in the 'Which ' magazine have you contacted  the magazine ?.

Allso on reading the first 2 pages of this thread I am wonering if this compost or the majority of composts  companies have joined links with the recycle firms ?

2 miles away from us a neighbour got a grant from the council. He has all the garden waste taken to him for recycle. On his fields are not only waste garden rubish but paper / wood  etc.

as it is classed as recycle it makes you wonder what other rubbish is added to bulk it out.

The compost has nothing in the way of food for the plants etc and after applying it to the garden and waterin g it , it hardens up as is described on this forumn- it is hard dry andl lumpy  any week roots would snap in contact with this .

I now use arthur bowers but even this has changed over the last year it has what looks like wood shvings added .

I also bought arthur bowers compost i had 6 bags delivered thinking it would be good stuff and to my horror i found in the first bag i opened white plastic coating what looks like it has been stripped off copper wire...The compost itself looks no good for planting seeds in its rough thick crap with loads of shredded up twigs ....So at the moment it looks like even some of the well known brands are getting rubbish

ive got 2 bags of miracle grow compost coming later let you know what that is like when i get it just hope its not the same crap in different packaging

I used 2 large bags of Durstons MPC yesterday.Only found about a dozen small bits of root/ twig. I think this company may actually know what they are doing and may even have some form of quality control.

Here is a link to their website http://www.durstongardenproducts.co.uk/products.html

My B&Q compost has done the same. I planted my early seeds in a bag of last years compost and they grew fine but the seeds that I planted in this years compost have mostly not germinated or the few that have have been very poor. The compost went green ontop very quickly and had a strange smell. My B&Q did not want to know when I asked them about it, they said that they could not guarentee compost as it depended on my care in growing plants!!!

following on from my entry I have used the normal B&Q compost and the peat free version. Both were the 3 for £10 offer.. Both totally rubbish

I get the feeling that we're buying back our own recycled rubbish and as always someones having a ruddy good laugh and making heaps of cash. 

Compost seems to get worse every year.   Having had trouble with Levingtons MPC (I complained to them but was told their compost was good and only contained permitted recycled material) I tried J.Arthur Bowers last year.   It was terrible!  Useless.   Had the worst crop of tomatoes I have ever had.

This year tried Levingtons again (all I could get locally).   Says on bag "Levingtons MPC with added John Innes.  Enriched with recycled material"  Besides the usual old roots (some still growing) it contained bits of plastic and wood and lots of small gravel.  I have already lost two lots of tomato plants in it this year.

I make my own compost but have to use bought as well as my soil is heavy clay.  I am 77 and have been gardening since a child so I do not think I am a novice.

Yes, I think we need a champion to take up our cause - someone like Alan Titchmarsh.

First I would like to apologise for my spelling , it was as you can see 10 mins past midnight , I was shattered but when I found this on the forum I just had to join in . How can we do something about it ? Should we all email Alan T. ? 

I am pleased to find I am not the only one with this gripe - I always blamed myself thinking my green fingers were changing colour!  But more down to earth I was   doing something wrong or that it was old seed . Or that I had watered it too much with it going green quickly.

But.....................

Oddly enough whilst out walking today I got talking to a fello walker.We talked about gardening ,I naturally brought this subject up.He told me he used to work at  such a  place and that the recycle company could,nt sell it  so they dug massive pits .They were reported for burying it and were summonsed.  He also said it smelt realy bad .What can we do? suggestions needed  me thinks.

There was even a comment about the quality of MPC's on Peter Seabrook's gardening page of a popular newspaper on May 12th, under the heading 'SICK OF CON-POST'

"Sales of compost in April were around 38% down on last year and, as usual, the producers are simply blaming the rain.But shouldn't they also look at whether people are getting fed up with poor results from the growing media they buy? Recently we have had compost containing glass, Formica and wood. As material such as wood breaks down it takes in nitrogen-a substance vital to plant growth. Without it the plant dies. Losing plants in this way is a waste of time and money. Maybe if compost performed like it used to, sales figures would look better."

I doubt if this comment was from the man himself, but we need someone with some clout to start doing something about it.

 To  Rita 4 who texted in on 23/05/2012 at 19  :53.

About farmyard menure, When horses are bedded down on woodshavings instead of the more expensive bedding  I find the menure is complete rubbish too , it causes me problems as you have found, it also encourages woodlice and ants to nest amongst it .

Unlike farmyard menure that has the straw which has been used for animals - this is good for the garden after a year of keeping. Used new it is too strong with urine.

Cow menure is better for some things too (as cows eat mainly young grass i was told not so many seed to growfrom it - the farmer gave me this information ).

I keep trying diffent options to highlight this compost issue. Yesterday I found a bbc email address 'gardeningdilemmas@bbc.co.uk' and sent the message below. Maybe if you guys send messages to this same bbc email address someone will actually open one of them, look at this forum and possibly take some action ! (I did include my personal contact details in the original email to the bbc).

<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"Please see the link below to your BBC gardeners world website which explains problems and frustrations being voiced by genuine, experienced and honest gardeners in the UK.

<a href="http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/problem-solving/bandq-mpurpose-compost-issues/2516.html"><span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/problem-solving/bandq-mpurpose-compost-issues/2516.html</a>

<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;">Neither trading standards or the suppliers are willing to help us (Believe me I’ve tried!).     We are constantly being told it is not the compost that is a problem, but our ability as gardeners. 

<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;">We need someone to champion this cause. This issue really needs to be exposed by one of your high profile gardeners. All of their good work promoting gardening, falls at the first hurdle if we can`t get the compost that is fit for purpose !

<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Many gardeners are experiencing plants being totally destroyed by this nasty stuff being sold as compost, and is simply not fit for use in the garden.

<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Please, Please ,Please help expose this scandal.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> GC

I copied and pasted the above from my email to the bbc. Non of the rubbish about fonts was apparent when I sent the message. Below is a cleaned up version:

I keep trying diffent options to highlight this compost issue. Yesterday I found a bbc email address <a href="mailto:" target="_blank"><span style="color: #172d02;">'gardeningdilemmas@bbc.co.uk'</a> and sent the message below. Maybe if you guys send messages to this same bbc email address someone will actually open one of them, look at this forum and possibly take some action ! (I did include my personal contact details in the original email to the bbc).

 Please see the link below to your BBC gardeners world website which explains problems and frustrations being voiced by genuine, experienced and honest gardeners in the UK.

http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/problem-solving/bandq-mpurpose-compost-issues/2516.html

 Neither trading standards or the suppliers are willing to help us (Believe me I’ve tried!). We are constantly being told it is not the compost that is a problem, but our ability as gardeners.

We need someone to champion this cause. This issue really needs to be exposed by one of your high profile gardeners. All of their good work promoting gardening, falls at the first hurdle if we can`t get the compost that is fit for purpose !

Many gardeners are experiencing plants being totally destroyed by this nasty stuff being sold as compost, and is simply not fit for use in the garden.

Please, Please ,Please help expose this scandal.

Well it was almost a cleaned up version !

the bbc email should read 'gardeningdilemmas@bbc.co.uk'

lucky3 wrote (see)

After being part of the thread  of Bad composts I have found this email address on this site , if anyone needs it  :

 gwletters@bbc.co.uk

Maybe if we sent them an email ?

I have now sent emails to both  gwletters@bbc.co.uk and gardeningdilemmas@bbc.co.uk

 I would encourage you all to do the same.

GC

Thwaites3 wrote (see)

Compost seems to get worse every year.   Having had trouble with Levingtons MPC (I complained to them but was told their compost was good and only contained permitted recycled material) I tried J.Arthur Bowers last year.   It was terrible!  Useless.   Had the worst crop of tomatoes I have ever had.

This year tried Levingtons again (all I could get locally).   Says on bag "Levingtons MPC with added John Innes.  Enriched with recycled material"  Besides the usual old roots (some still growing) it contained bits of plastic and wood and lots of small gravel.  I have already lost two lots of tomato plants in it this year.

I make my own compost but have to use bought as well as my soil is heavy clay.  I am 77 and have been gardening since a child so I do not think I am a novice.

Yes, I think we need a champion to take up our cause - someone like Alan Titchmarsh.

I'm a Thwaites too!   Hello .   Not that many of us about.