Compost differences

Back in the day you could use compost straight from the bag and it would be fine. These days I always find I need to do something to it. For seedlings it needs to go through a sieve to get rid of plastic and big lumps. Often it needs some grit, vermiculite or perlite to open it up a bit too. Neither multipurpose nor soil-based composts seem to drain very well, the water makes it all stick together and stops air getting to the roots.

I don't mind messing about like this, but it must be a lot harder for inexperienced gardeners, who are often going to be disappointed and discouraged. I'm all for preserving our remaining peat bogs, but I wish the compost makers would put some effort into making their replacement stuff in some way comparable.

The broad beans are growing in Dalefoot Seed Compost, which I guess is a similar formulation to their other composts but sieved finer. I've had good results with it so far: in addition to the broad beans, my tomatoes, chillies, etc were all sown in it and everything has germinated apart from the aubergines. It's not cheap, but neither is sowing seeds that then fail to thrive and have to be resown.

I know better than to sow seeds in cheap or heavy compost, and I don't buy anything with bits of plastic in! I agree that there's little excuse for poor quality peat-free compost, but you get what you pay for - and as long as there are people who don't want to pay for the good stuff, manufacturers are going to keep making it.