There have been a few threads on this lately Hywel and most people agreed that this year's compost has generally been a load of @*#€.

I think it was CottageKaren or Scotkat that found a really nice one - new on the market but quite expensive. This week I bought a bag of homebase John Innes No2 for a sink garden - that was very fine and no grot but at £6 for 25l it isn't something that (even with my tiny yard) I would buy a lot of.

Tried New Horizon Peat free and have to say it has been the best peat free I have tried to date, but still not as good as all peat composts. Have also tried Verve from B & Q it is ok but have to agree that it is not ideal - seems to hold too much water and doesn't drain well - have transplanted seedlings into this and have had to resort to watering with a very small indoor plants watering can to avoid overwetting. I suppose we shall just have to get used to how to use these new composts - next time I'm going to add more horticultural grit to see if that improves drainage.

I would also vote for 'New Horizon' it is what we buy. Unlike Wendy, I find that it is far better than peat based composts!

the vitax v4 does still exist. If you go onto this website
www.vitax.co.uk/home-garden/new-vitax-q4-multi-purpose-compost/

click on the 'where to buy' tag at the top and put your postcode in, it will list local stockists if there are any. There was a recent question from Scotkat recommending this compost. Unfortunately there are no local stockists near me so haven't been able to obtain any.

Vitax Q4 compost has only been around for about 12 months - I've tracked it down on eBay at about £7/bag. I object to the 'where to buy' option on the vitax website as they ask for personal information rather than just giving a list of stockists.

Thanks for your replies.
I used to buy Vitax Q4 many years ago.
I shall look at the website Lijemc suggests.

I haven't seen New Horizon. I'll have to look for it next year I think.

Hi Hywel, levinhton was 1 of if not the best multi purpose composts around at 1 time, but like the majority of multi purpose composts now, have declined in quality, what I do now is buy john innes, 1 2 or 3 depending on what I'm doing, and bulk it out with multi purpose, I usually add horticultural grit as well, to give sharper drainage, I always use j i seed and cutting compost, but even that, I add grit to for cuttings, Derek.

Thanks Derek. I have bought JI compost today. I usually like it. I shall add grit to it as you suggest :o)

Why not make your own compost? you know what's gone in it, you can adjust the ingredients to suit your needs, but the best thing is that it cost nowt.

That's a good idea. I've already got two binfulls of it but don't know if it's any good now, because it is old.

Old compost is good compost Hywel. Nice and seasoned like a mature lady. LOL.

Too many people use compost too early. They think that because it's been in the bin for a few months it's ok to use.

Compost needs a couple of years at least for the worms and insects to do their job and for the things in it to decay and rot down properly. I have compost that's been sitting in a composter for over 5 years and it looks great. It will be like serving up the equivalent of sirloin steak when I add it to my plants... mmmmm, could eat it myself. ;o)

My compost is about 10 years old ! lol I brought it from my previous garden ...
I suppose it's ready to use then :o)

We mix our own composts.
Seed: 2 parts New Horizon; 1 part small grit; 1 part coarse sand.
Potting (JI #2 eqiv): 1 part loam (or garden soil); 1 part humus (leaf mould preferred); 1 part grit. Bonemeal added as fertiliser.

Thanks for that :) I shall try it ...