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John Innes Compost
Dovefromabove
Posts: 88,139
We often get questions about John Innes composts - today's Gardener's Question Time visited the John Innes Centre near Norwich and many FAQs were answered.
If you didn't hear it you can listen again here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp2f
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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Nor me It'd get in the mince pies at this time of year
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
we have a soil guru over here who is so dogmatic and annoying that as my friend Mara said the other day- we can't shoot the messenger so we'll shoot the message-to hell with his soil.
Does John Innes compost really make a big difference in people's experience? I tend to look at the price, and go for a cheaper option like Arthur j bowers or murphys.
JI composts are (should be) made up to a fixed formula, and are soil based. Most of the others are peat or peat substitute based. Use whichever you are comfortable with. I rarely use any of them without altering them, by adding grit or sand or Perlite etc. or mixing a JI with a peat based. I remember many years ago getting some JI compost for my father who was shocked to find lots of grit in it. He sieved all out before using it.
For tomatoes etc and annual bedding in containers I find a good MPC is fine.
For potting anything else I use loam based JI composts - sometimes I add extra grit for things like bay, rosemary, figs etc and other plants that need really free-draining soil. I use JI No 2 for growing on perennials etc and No 3 for shrubs, fruit trees etc that will be in the containers long term.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.