For many home gardeners the switch from peat to peat- free bagged compost has been an easy one, but for those of us who have been gardening with peat for years, the change hasn’t always rosy!
Why is it different?
A bag of peat compost contained, mostly peat and usually some added fertilisers but peat-free compost bags can contain up to 5 separate ingredients including:
- Wood fibre
- Composted bark
- Green compost
- Digestate
- Coir
This gives the compost a more ‘bitty ‘texture, a lighter colour and the tendency to dry out on the top whilst staying moist underneath.
Top Tips
1 Watering
Little and often is best with peat-free gardening. Rather than flooding your pots in one go, allow time for the water to be absorbed slowly. Most people have more than one pot or container so go back to the beginning and start again, this gives the compost time to soak up the moisture and stops it running straight out of the sides and bottom.
Always check before watering smaller pots as often the top can look dry but will be wet underneath. Lift your pot if you can and if its really light then it probably needs a water. really heavy? It should be fine.
2 Feeding
With all the wet weather we have had this year, lots of the nutrients in our compost has been washed away and with peat-free, it seems this may be happening more quickly. Start feeding with an fast acting all Purpose plant food as soon as you notice any yellowing on the leaves or as soon as you see flowering or fruiting. Give hungry plants in pots a boost with a tomato feed to encourage more blooms and bigger fruits.
3 Keep the ‘bits’ in!
Making a good quality peat free compost is a bit like making a fruit cake, using lots of different ingredients to make it extra special, but if you take out the fruit then it’s not special anymore. A peat free compost is a bit like this, but gardeners tend to take out all the woody bits (the fruit) in peat free without realising that they are added for optimum air circulation and to help with drainage, so keep them in, just give the compost a mix through to help spread the ingredients that may have settled during storage, a bit like muesli, all the bigger bits tend to rise to the top!
The main thing to remember is that using peat free compost is the right choice. Digging up peatlands and destroying natural habitats as well as contributing to climate change is not right in any sense. As gardeners, we aspire to nurture and encourage wildlife and diversity, so making some simple changes in the way we garden is a very small price to pay.
