One of my favourite plants, Ipomoea Heavenly Blue, was dreadful last year. However, not wanting to be beaten, I bought fresh seeds this year from T and M with a good date. Potted into Jack’s Magic with some drainage material mixed in, after a couple of months on a warm windowsill the growth is pathetic. The leaves look stunted and weak and some of the plants have just withered away. From lots of experience in the past, this plant should be romping away.
I was at a local nursery today and asked about their compost as all of their plants looked pristine. They do not use peat free and, and I know many won’t like this, when I asked why they said plants just die in peat free. They told me that almost all of the stuff widely available is junk and plants are destined to struggle. They have to buy a Sinclair compost specially for the trade, unavailable generally. Even in the huge bulk they buy it in, it’s very expensive and they wouldn’t sell me a bag! I handled it and it was beautiful stuff with perlite etc already added. They said they can’t afford to use anything less reliable as business depends on it so they are willing to pay.
So, I can’t buy it but is anyone using anything this year which they feel has offered decent results? It’s such a shame that folk will fork out good money on plants which will at worst die or at best struggle because the compost they have been grown in is not available.