I use ‘no-dig’ in my garden and currently I don’t produce enough compost to put a layer on all my beds each spring so I’m still buying in bags. I rarely go to Aldi but was in there the other day (they have GF icecream!) and spotted big bags of terreau universal at a good price, suitible for organic bla bla. I grabbed some bags and off home I came. I wanted to top dress the bed where I planted my courgettes yesterday and realised there were no vegetables in the picture on the bag (I often get the Lidl ones which do) which made me read a bit closer. No mention of being suitable for fruit / veg only arbre and arbustes. Now I have plenty of those so would be able to use it and they can probably do with a bit of a perk up but means I have to go out and re-buy what I need. Does dirt really care what it is on? It did say not to eat (which I’d not previously seen) is it possible it has something bad that shouldn’t be anywhere near food crops?
I generally use as a mulch but also mix with my compost to put under plants etc if that makes any difference.
What do you all think? Use it as planned or just put it on my shrubs / flowers and buy one with a picture of a tomato?? @Wozza@JaneJones ?
I’ve been using Super Us terre semis for s couple of years now and my seeds come up ok. Ben on Grow veg (videos on you tube and I have the garden planner subscription) just sifts his regular stuff, says it makes no difference and loads cheaper.
I very rarely use any special mix for germinating (most seeds don’t initially need to many nutrient until later when you prick out) I sow in mostly spent compost, sieving out the bigger bits.
The bag of terreau should be fine, pictures on bags are deceptive, recently I looked at the composition of a bag of terreau potager & another terreau for geraniums both the same. Always look on the bags for NPK % / ratio etc if they aren’t on the bag I’d said the stuff inside is just organic bulk with no nutrients. If I was you, I’d tip it into a wheel barrow & add a good few hand full of blood fish & bone.
If you haven’t enough compost rather than dress the bed, spot treat, when planting, ex: dig the hole a bit deeper and put a shovel of compost in the hole / trench etc.
I can’t really help on the bagged compost, but only to add that we have a similar predicament for our no dig veg plot. We replaced our home grown compost with a little bit of mulch from the local déchetterie and lot of hay from local farms. Its been working a charm… so far.
