Compost, Jacks Magic.

[digmore]

Hi everybody,

Just a quickie, I have been using Lexington's M3 compost topped off with John Innes soil based potting compost to set the seeds. Yesterday I was helping out in my in laws g/house. I got caught in transit, can you bring some potting compost, swift divert to the allotment shop, Jacks Magic £4.00 a bag, two bags plz.

Came to use it, it looks and feels superb. It did not need sieving at all. It has got sea weed fertilizer mixed in as standard which from past experience of mixing my own compost, is a Brucie bonus.

Anyone else had any experience of Jacks Magic.

Digmore. 

[digmore]

[steve76]

I did see this at homebase today, now sad to say i didn't buy some as had never heard of it before,
(Avoid their own brand stuff its rubbish) so i brought westland it was 3 for £10 as of yet i never got to open it due to running around for the kids but mrs is around tomorrow so will get to use it then doing some pricking out.

[squeezyjohn]

I did see some of this new Jack's Magic at our local garden centre and thought "funny, never seen that before!"

It didn't seem so much more expensive than any of the others so it might be worth a punt!

Cheers

Squeezy

[lezelle]

Hi Ya, glad to hear that about Jack's Magic. I saw it advertised somewhere else and yesterday purchased 2 bags. I paid £6.99 for each 60lt bag. I see you only paid £4. What size bag may I ask? Happy gardening

[digmore]

Hi lezelle,

I got same size as you, try shopping round but even at your price its not bad for the quality.

Not wanting to sound up myself, but the M3 commercial potting medium I have started using this season, costs me £6.99 a bag.

Digmore. 

[springs]

just got two 60lt bags from homebase for £12.

[caroline7758]

Just googled for prices. If anyone has a Mole Valley store nearby (not me, sadly!) they're selling 3x 60l bags for £12, while someone on ebay is selling 1 bag for £13.99, and appears to have sold 7!

BTW, it's 90% peat. :(

[titus a duxas]

Jacks Magic feels good looks good but dries out too fast for me

[squeezyjohn]

I got some last year and it is brilliant.

However I realised what the peat content was and for me that's a no-no - no point in growing your own fruit and veg if you're eating up non-renewable sources as far as I'm concerned.

The first company to come up with a peat-free alternative commercially available that is as good as Jack's Magic ... then I'm a customer for life!

[kGarden]

However I realised what the peat content was and for me that's a no-no - no point in growing your own fruit and veg if you're eating up non-renewable sources as far as I'm concerned.

I'm a bit sat-on-the-fence on this one, although I'm not sure if I cheat when I do the maths :)

if I use some Peat and as a consequence grow better / more veg and thus buy less from Supermarket is that a better outcome?

If I use a good potting compost (granted: it doesn't have to contain peat, but this applies, for me, to other choices which are Non Eco) I make the job of raising plants easier / most successful, I use less of my time - or achieve more in the time available - and thus if I grow more veg or get a better yield I think ??? I have a smaller overall environmental footprint.

I use no pesticides at all ... except ... if I needed to save a crop I would, as no crop would mean me buying from the supermarket (which would probably be veg raised using pesticides).  Blight is probably the best example of that ... luckily its rare in this part of the world, but if I found it in my crop I'd need to act quickly to prevent it wrecking the whole crop.

I also apply the same Maths :) to using fertilisers made from petrochemicals, heating a greenhouse, all sorts of things. In the main I try to avoid all of these non-Eco options, but I don't have a blanket "don't do it" policy because I, personally, think that may be counter productive.