The exact recipe for each potting compost is a closely guarded secret. But most composts rely on the same basic ingredients. If you want organic compost, look for those with Soil Association accreditation, and if you want to avoid peat, choose composts clearly labelled as peat-free.
Basic ingredients:
Peat Mechanically harvested from 10,000-year-old peat bogs, it’s cheap and reliable for growing plants, but non-renewable, with high carbon emissions.
Coir A by-product of the coconut industry, coir is light, fibrous and absorbent. But it’s shipped from South Asia, which generates pollution, and processing it uses lots of water in a region where water is in short supply.
Wood fibre Produced in the UK, wood fibre is lightweight and renewable. However, it takes a lot of energy to harvest and transport it,…
