Multi-purpose composts ???

[Gerry Webster]

Lesley - I had thought of an old coffee grinder or crushing between piece of paving slab. I've tried a club hammer which works but is both laborious & messy. Why do manufacturers introduce these 'improvements' which, at least for some of us, are not?

[Lesley Cox]

I think the crushing between slabs would be too much akin to breaking rocks or other old prison activities.

[Lesley Cox]

Slightly off topic, but the local Cadbury's (one of Dunedin's biggest employers) have taken a lot of more popular items off shore for manufacture in Australia, Italy and God knows where else. These are "improvements" (only to the shareholders) in which the cocoa content of the chocolate has been reduced, palm oil is being used and the weight of the standard block has been reduced from 250gms to 200, though the price has risen. Likewise, the packaging has changed and I can no longer open a block silently, to avoid the "looks" from both Roger and the dogs.

In the case of the palm oil, the public has expressed such outrage, and boycotted the products, that Cadbury's have been forced to change back to cocoa butter. The other changes are still extant however. Wages for our local employees are now even calculated and distributed to bank accounts through their London office, for Pete's sake!

Back to the topic though. Both cocoa and coffee beans, once their useable content has been extracted, make excellent soil conditioner and add humus. Being small, they incorporate very easily and smell nice too. Likewise, barley once the maltings have been extracted.

[Lesley Cox]

CAUTION: But wear a mask to do it and use it!!

YES (Do as I say, not as I do. )

[Eric Locke]

All the manufactures mentioned by others are not the one I have had trouble with and infact I find the Levington brand to be currently the best by a long way.
Many years ago I did use Multi Purpose straight from the bag ,but have more recently found the need to add other ingredients depending on what I am using it for. Obviously this is of little use for most Alpines but usefull for many other applications .
I have had further communication from the manufacturer in question stating that one of their suppliers was not screening composted green material to specification and further loads from this source have been stopped. I will still not purchase any more of this from them however and have already purchased an alternative to try out.

Eric

[annew]

My 25kg of Q4 is a powder. I got it from LBS.

[Gerry Webster]

My 25kg of Q4 is a powder. I got it from LBS.

Anne - I'm glad to hear it is still available in this form. Who or what is LBS?

[derekb]

My 25kg of Q4 is a powder. I got it from LBS.

Anne - I'm glad to hear it is still available in this form. Who or what is LBS?

Gerry I have just ordered 25K of Q4 from LBS it is in powder form.
go to www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk  If you play your cards right you may be able to get trade prices but they do retail as well, I use my old trade name from 25 years ago.

Derek

[Gerry Webster]

Thanks for the info Derek. It seems that Q4 in powder form is only available to professional growers & in 25 kg packs. I estimate that this would last me rather more than 50 years!

[derekb]

Thanks for the info Derek. It seems that Q4 in powder form is only available to professional growers & in 25 kg packs. I estimate that this would last me rather more than 50 years!

Gerry you could always split it and sell it on Ebay

[iann]

Possible alternatives to Vitax Q4.  The John Innes Base is presumably the original recipe and the improved with synthetic ingredients.

[Gerry Webster]

Possible alternatives to Vitax Q4.  The John Innes Base is presumably the original recipe and the improved with synthetic ingredients.

Thanks Iann. I terms purely of N : P : K,  the Chempak  John Innes Base Improved seems comparable to Vitax Q4 but there is no mention of the additional trace elements which are present in Q4.
Vitax Q4            100 : 141 : 188

Chempak JI       100 : 153 : 212
base improved

[iann]

I don't have that exact box to hand, but other Chempak bases include trace trace elements, apparently the same seven trace elements and in the same proportions as in all their fertilisers:
Boron
Copper
Iron
Magnesium
Manganese
Molybdenum
Zinc

[Gerry Webster]

I don't have that exact box to hand, but other Chempak bases include trace trace elements, apparently the same seven trace elements and in the same proportions as in all their fertilisers:
Boron
Copper
Iron
Magnesium
Manganese
Molybdenum
Zinc

Thanks Iann. I have a couple of the Chempak soluble fertilisers (no. 4 & no. eight*)  & they do indeed contain trace elements. My comment concerned the John Innes base & was based on the information given  in the link you cited. It seems that Chempak does not have a website at present.  
* If I type the numeral I get a funny face when posted! 

[iann]

  Chempak, or the multinational parent conglomerate, went bust although the website was never much use anyway.  There was an attempted management buyout and now Thompson and Morgan have bought out the horticultural bits.  They have said they'll be keeping the Chempak brand.