Most asked questions about Soil, compost & bark

All our composts are specially blended at our Evergreen Research Station in Levington, Suffolk and are rigorously tested. Each compost will be formulated for a specific purpose and have all the correct ingredients, including feed to ensure optimal plant health. We do not recommend you mix the composts as this will unbalance the nutrient levels as well as the ratios of carefully measured ingredients. Its rather like baking a cake, to get the best results you should always follow the recipe.

To find out more about the fantastic research done at Levington click here.

We advise you use your compost within 1 year. This is because any feed in the compost will be leached away by rain due to their being air holes in the bag. We suggest you use any old compost as a soil improver directly in your beds and borders.

These are likely to be scariad flies or fungus gnats which are tiny little flies that lay their eggs in compost that is warm and moist. They very rarely cause damage to established plants although the larvae in large numbers can sometimes damage the roots of young seedlings. The adults are more of a nuisance than a worry as they can fly around in large numbers.

Make sure you have fungus gnats not fruit flies first. The best way to check is to place a ripe banana near where you have a problem and if they start to hide under the fruit and a cloud of them moves every time you touch the banana then you have a fruit fly problem, not fungus gnats.

Fungus gnats lay eggs in compost and the soil in the plants you bring home. They feed on the fungus that is found in all types of soil. This is a natural occurrence and does not mean the compost or plant has not been manufactured or looked after properly.

All our compost bags have air holes to allow for breathing so as soon as they are left outside anywhere then a fungus gnat can lay an egg.

It is more likely that the problem will come from the plant though as fungus gnats do tend to lay their eggs in the top layer of soil. As more and more of us are growing houseplants so we are seeing more infestations.

Prevention

• Always check the top layer of any plant you bring into your home including new purchases and ones you may have given a summer holiday outside.
• Allow the top layer of your plant to dry out between each watering. Fungus gnats lay eggs in the top moist layer of compost.
• Put a layer of sand or fine grit over the top of the compost.
• Cover drainage holes with a very fine mesh to allow the water to drain but to stop the gnats getting in.
• Keep spare houseplant potting soil in an airtight box to prevent any gnats getting in.
• Water from the bottom, this will help the top soil (where the gnats lay their eggs) stay dry while keeping your plants hydrated and happy.
• Use yellow sticky fly traps to monitor the situation.
• If warm enough pop your infested plant outside and the gnats will leave but always check before bringing back in that they are gnat free.

Control

As the problem with fungus gnats is only noticeable once we have our plants indoors that means there is unlikely to be any natural predators. Using a spray like BugClear will work to kill the adults and as you are using it indoors you will not be harming any pollinators. You can also use BugClear Natural but with both these insect sprays you will have to wait for the next cycle of eggs to be hatched before you can get rid of the problem completely.

Once the flies have gone make sure you follow the prevention measures outlined above.

Miracle-Gro and Levington are working hard to reduce the amount of peat in our composts and our now using responsibly sourced alternative ingredients, such as coir, wood fibre, composted bark and composted green waste.  As a result the product is changing in its appearance and feel so don’t worry, they are perfectly natural and necessary additions to our compost mixes and don’t throw any of the ingredients away.  When we change formulations Evergreen Garden Care undertakes extensive growing trials to make sure you achieve the same excellent results without compromising on quality.

To find out more about the ingredients and what they look like click here.

• The wood fibre known as Fibre Smart™ is a patented design that we have worked hard to create. The hollow wood fibres ensure the optimum balance of air & water for strong roots to grow healthily. Wood fibres are 100% natural and peat free, however they do tend to look very different to the peat type products that you may be used to.
• Green compost is a renewable material, rich in valuable nutrients for plants to grow healthy.   It comes from the recycled materials found in people’s gardens, such as prunings, hedge trimmings, leaves and grass cuttings.
• Composted bark is a by-product of the timber industry where bark is removed from logs before timbers are cut. The bark helps with drainage in compost creating airspaces for roots to explore and breathe.  Any larger parts of bark help with aeration and water retention to contribute to the healthy growth of plants.
• Coir or coco-peat, is a by-product of coconut processing. A coconut is surrounded by a husk, made up of fibres and pith.  This is dried in the sun and compressed into dry blocks, which expand when water is added to make a spongy material good for holding water.

We are sorry to hear about this, however I would like to reassure you that our products are produced from high quality raw materials that would not generally contain weed seeds so this is very unusual. When peat or other raw materials are harvested, the material is generally free of contaminants, however occasionally weed seeds carried by the wind can contaminate the raw materials that are used in the compost production process.

Light weed seeds can also be introduced at any time on the wind, by wildlife or even in your garden soil which up to this point were dormant but have now started to germinate due to the soil being disturbed and the ideal growing conditions being present.