Throughout 2011 a number of professional, independent growing trials have been undertaken on behalf of Carbon Gold, testing its Soil Association approved ‘peatless’ peat composts and biochar based soil improver against conventional and peat reduced or peat free products.

The trials show that it’s Seed and All Purpose composts perform just as well or better than the competitors and its biochar based soil improver boosts growth when added to soil.

Stephanie Donaldson, a UK based independent grower and gardening correspondent for Country Living magazine conducted a trial of Carbon Gold’s All Purpose compost, which is a blend of sustainable coir and biochar.

Little Gem lettuce plugs were used in the trial and Carbon Gold’s All Purpose compost (left) was trialled against two other all purpose composts - a leading peat-free option (centre) and a top-rated organic compost (right).

The plugs planted in Carbon Gold’s compost show a clear increase in growth compared to the other two.

In another trail, which took place in spring 2011 Ben Raskin, an independent grower, conducted propagation trials raising squash seedlings in Carbon Gold’s Seed Compost and compared them to a leading peat-free competitor product.

All three varieties of squash performed better in Carbon Gold’s Seed Compost Ben said: “The water holding and re-wetting properties were particularly encouraging.”

Ben Raskin’s trial showed the increased growth of the squash seedlings grow in Carbon Gold’s Seed Compost.

In 2010, Tony Howard, head gardener at Fairlight Hall in East Sussex moved his raspberry canes to a fruit cage adjacent to the Hall’s main walled garden. He planted half the row with Carbon Gold’s Grochar soil improver and half in the same soil without biochar.

By June 2011 the raspberry canes planted with Carbon Gold’s GroChar were 18" to 2 ft taller than the non-biochar canes, the treated canes showed healthy vigorous upright growth and looked certain to produce a significantly larger harvest of fruit.

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