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Aberdeenshire, Scotland Sco

Just read that my new fruit trees shold be planted in John Innes No3 compost. Is this readily available? Most composts I see are the likes of Levington, Miracle Gro etc.
Would any 50% peat compost do the same job? I want to give them the best possible start!!




Answers

 

The reason for using JI 3 is that it is a soil based compost with a certain amount of long term fertiliser in it. Your fruit trees need a good soil based growing medium. It is usually sold in any half decent Garden Centre. The trouble is that the quality of the soil used varies enormously. A 50% peat compost would not really be good for fruit trees in the long run.

28 Jan, 2011

 

Agree with Owdboggy. Should be readily available, and certainly worth using it - comes in smaller bags because it's heavy, you probably just haven't noticed it at the garden centre.

28 Jan, 2011

 

You would benefit from using a compost like this if the trees are are to be planted in containers, Donna, but I would not be using it in the ground. I would hope to have some garden compost available to dig into the soil first and then fork some bonemeal in.

28 Jan, 2011

 

Agree with Bulbaholic too - I assumed you were putting them in pots...

28 Jan, 2011

 

So did I, since the question was about compost.

28 Jan, 2011

 

Yes, they're only minature trees and they've come with 30L pots, so I was going to give them a couple of seasons in the pots first to see how they thrive.

I see B&Q have 30L bags for £5.28. Job done!

28 Jan, 2011

 

OK, Donna, fair enough.

28 Jan, 2011

 

I've just bought some no.3 from Homebase for £4.98 per bag.

28 Jan, 2011

 

And I shall be selling cheaper than that in three weeks time! Worthy

28 Jan, 2011

How do I say thanks?

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