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Can anyone vouch for Westland Irish peat moss?


JimsPlants

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Has anyone had good results with this over a long period?

Ive just noticed on the package "specially formulated to nourish roots" which is rather worrying.

I really need to know as i have a lot of plants sitting in it and all i can think now is that they need repotting.

Thanks

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I think it depends on the batch you get and where you get it from.

The only peat i've used for the last 2 years has been westland and mine has been O.K.

But many growers have used it with terrible results.

How long have they been potted in it?

ada

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I think it depends on the batch you get and where you get it from.

The only peat i've used for the last 2 years has been westland and mine has been O.K.

But many growers have used it with terrible results.

How long have they been potted in it?

ada

Some of them have been in it for about 1 month. They dont seem to have any problems as such nor do they seem to be thriving but its hard to tell as there probally getting ready to be dormant.

I really just want to clear it up and get them repotted if they need it for the winter. But i had a search and it looks like people have mixed opinions on it, same with the shamrock brand which is my alternative.

Im more worried about it having added fertilizers etc after reading the details on the packaging..a little too late maybe.

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You probably won't find out until next year,as you say everything is going dormant.I had a iffy batch once.

What i found was--everything was o.k for a few months,then when the roots had grown down to the water level in the trays everything changed.

The roots went all black,like they had been burnt and died,the plants then started to look ill,the longer i left them the worst they looked.

so i ended up repotting everything,luckliy everything survived.

ada

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I've only ever used Westland since I started collecting (about 3 years) and I haven't experienced any problems. Having said that I am going to start using Moorland Gold this year for environmental reasons.

It looks to me as though there is no real bad Peat but it just is a case of being unlucky with certain batches.

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I would AVOID using it!!! Ive used Westlands for a few years now with no problems, UNTIL NOW. The new bag i opened was alot darker, almost black, it was quite wet and had twigs and big lumps of stuff in it, i have lost a good few plants since potting them in that rubbish. I have been advised to invest in Moorland gold, i suggest you do the same. Sandra

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I would AVOID using it!!! Ive used Westlands for a few years now with no problems, UNTIL NOW. The new bag i opened was alot darker, almost black, it was quite wet and had twigs and big lumps of stuff in it, i have lost a good few plants since potting them in that rubbish. I have been advised to invest in Moorland gold, i suggest you do the same. Sandra

The twiggy stuff comes from the bottom of the bog. When I was younger we used to cut peat from the bog and dry it for fuel for the fire. When you got to the bottom you would find the stumps of the Scots pine trees that covered the lowlands of Ireland thousands of years ago before the bogs covered it all. You always new when you were getting close because there was a lumpy layer full of birch twigs just above it.

Trev.

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Westland is crap.

It used to be fine, but the last batch really affected the VFTs. Sluggish growth, black traps before opening etc.

Repotted in Shamrock and they're happy as larry, but their experience meant they lost about 6 weeks of the growing season.

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Hi, all

Ive also had the 'bad batch' of peat from Westland, batch code number on the side of the bag is 90272C.

I still have 3.5 100L bags that I cant use, thats after I went through 2.5 bags!

I have also put a complaint in to Westland via their website, and they sent me a sample bag to fill and send back, and Im now waiting on the results to come back.

Ive also had the pleasure of complaining in person to the Wesland area manager (not just a rep) when he came to my garden centre.

In the meantime I have also switched over to Shamrock (which I told to the area manager!), with far better results.

I would recommend that anyone having trouble with the Wesland peat, list all the plants that you have lost due to it, and formally complain to Wesland via thier own website!

Regards

Langy

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Dear Mr.

Thank you for your e-mail, we do not intentionally add anything to our Irish moss peat and the information on the back of the pack refers to the beneficial effect the slow breakdown of the peat has on soil. However as we do recycle any out of spec or damaged bags of multipurpose into our peat we cannot absolutely guarantee that our Irish moss peat will be totally free of lime or nutrients so with very sensitive plants like carnivorous plants I would have to recommend that you proceed with caution

Im so glad i got them out of that black sludge now.

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Dear Mr.

Thank you for your e-mail, we do not intentionally add anything to our Irish moss peat and the information on the back of the pack refers to the beneficial effect the slow breakdown of the peat has on soil. However as we do recycle any out of spec or damaged bags of multipurpose into our peat we cannot absolutely guarantee that our Irish moss peat will be totally free of lime or nutrients so with very sensitive plants like carnivorous plants I would have to recommend that you proceed with caution

Im so glad i got them out of that black sludge now.

Nice of them to let us know! Glad I changed when I did.

Thanks for finding this out and posting it here. :D

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[edit]However as we do recycle any out of spec or damaged bags of multipurpose into our peat we cannot absolutely guarantee that our Irish moss peat will be totally free of lime or nutrients so with very sensitive plants like carnivorous plants I would have to recommend that you proceed with caution

If they cannot guarantee that their Irish Moss Peat is purely Moss Peat, I can absolutely guarantee that I will never be using their product.

Edited by mobile
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What do they mean "proceed with caution"? Add a little at a time to see what happens??

Kill one plant at a time?

Well to me means steer clear. I want a product i can be confident in.. not proceeding with caution.

Now what to do with 95 litres of westland peat??

Thanks for all your help

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I've only ever used Westland since I started collecting (about 3 years) and I haven't experienced any problems. Having said that I am going to start using Moorland Gold this year for environmental reasons.

It looks to me as though there is no real bad Peat but it just is a case of being unlucky with certain batches.

Having read all your comments and the very interesting comment from the supplier it looks like I have been lucky over the last few years. It does indeed look like there is "bad Peat" :read: .

Hoping to collect my Moorland Gold this weekend so I think a bit of repotting is called for over the next couple of months. :yes:

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