Used it since it came out. Always wonder about the Added JI. since JI is a formula for mixing compost for various purposes. So how can you add it to something?
Good stuff, but it does dry out quickly and does not hold plant food for as long as a peat based one, so you need to feed sooner.

That's helpful. I assume the added JI is a soil base addition to help the structure.
I prefer to use peat free but composts recently have been full of so much rubbish that I was beginning to doubt ever getting anything decent.

Why anyone should want to use peat free compost is beyond me.
You can still get decent peat based compost with no rubbish added. Or buy a bag of peat and make your own.

If people keep buying these crap alternatives they'll keep making them.

I guess you think we should go back to using lindane and DDT as well.
My 15sq ft of earth might not be much in the grand scheme of things but I'd rather not be adding to the destruction of natural areas of peatland.

Cheap peat based composts are worse than any of the peat free ones. It is also going to be impossible to buy any peat based ones over the next few years as legislation makes it gradually illegal to produce and sell peat.

" but I'd rather not be adding to the destruction of natural areas of peatland "

You actually think that is happening. Do a bit of research. Think you'll find that areas where peat is mined for 95% of what it is used for, ie, fuel, are in remote areas that haven't got a butterfly in sight.
The remaining 5% is used in horticulture.

And yes, cheap peat base composts are also crap, so don't buy them.

They'll never be able to ban peat use.

Wrong, Scrumpygal, they already are in the process of banning its use in horticulture. Slowly admittedly, but it is happening.

And it's not just about butterflies - there are whole ecosystems out there. And, if you care about such matters, peat bogs also help in the control of flooding in urban areas.
The ban on peat in compost for domestic use is lined up for 2020 (2030 for commercial use) so it's probably important that the research into good alternatives is being done now - and that includes the market research into what people actually buy once it's on the garden centre pallets.

From what I've read we are also importing peat from the Baltic States, while trying to protect the UK peat bogs - and that is just as unacceptable as destroying our own environment.

"Wrong, Scrumpygal, they already are in the process of banning its use in horticulture. Slowly admittedly, but it is happening"

They'll have to ban it's use as a fuel first. You reckon that will happen?
I don't think so.

To get to the peat used for fuel you have to remove the top layer. That is what is used in compost. This peat comes from non environmentally at risk areas. So peat in compost is not damaging the environment.

Why do you think peat for commercial use isn't being banned?
Answer, there isn't any suitable alternative.

If people want readily available compost try a smaller garden centre. Boycott multi national crap.

Look for Jacks Magic, Clover multipurpose and Humax original. All peat based, no rubbish added, and all made by the same people who produce the stuff you buy in garden centres etc, eg Westlands.
Also, the John Innes range.

And yes, the commercial composts are even better. These are also available in bulk to allotment societies, etc, and are actually quite cheap. £5 gets me 75 Litres of Clover professional potting compost.

"From what I've read we are also importing peat from the Baltic States, while trying to protect the UK peat bogs - and that is just as unacceptable as destroying our own environment"

Have you actually been to the areas where the peat is located?

The environment there makes Sellafield look like Mayfair.