Topic: Reusing compost

[meg_gordon]

Hi all

I grow all my veggies in pots - and got a bit beyond myself last year and tried too many things (most got grey mould, potato blight, sciarids, and whatever cucumbers get that rots them) so this year I am back concentrating on potatoes and runner beans outside, courgettes, toms and cukes in greenhouse.  What I want to know is can I reuse the compost I grew onions in last year to grow runner beans this year?  I reused potato compost last year to grow peas and that was fine - just dont want to lose my harvest like last year.  Always put new growbags in the greenhouse so I am ok there.

Any advice?

Meg

[phoenix_co2]

I am a pot grower too, where do you think you went wrong??? this is my first year

[Duke Ellington]

Before I had an allotment I used to grow my vegetables in containers. I used fresh compost every year and used the old compost as a mulch or dug it into my flower beds in the garden or sometimes added a bit to my compost bins. Containers being a confined spaced I really didn't want to risk transferring any pest or diseases to the next seasons vegetables. Some might think its wasteful but It really did work for me. :)

Duke

[meg_gordon]

Thanks Duke - I think I knew what the right thing to do was, but there just seems to be such a load of compost going to waste :)  Anyway, I have emptied the pots and cleaned them out, including sterilising.

Phoenix - I think the problem with last year was the weather.  It was cold, wet and miserable - and I am on the west coast of Scotland, so a couple of weeks shorter growing season than further south.  All of my peas got a grey mould on them, my dwarf beans had a dwarf harvest, the carrots didn't come to much at all - although the ones I managed to get as far as the pot were lovely.  In the greenhouse, because it was a wet, cold, damp summer, I had sciarid fly which was impossible to get rid of, my tomatoes were disappointing - and the cucumbers seemed to rot at the stem. 

This year I have washed, cleaned, sterilised, as if my life depended on it - so we will see what happens.  Good luck with your potted garden. 

Meg

[Tee Gee]

What I want to know is can I reuse the compost I grew onions in last year to grow runner beans this year?

You don't mention if you are going to add fertiliser to your used compost. I would guess the compost you have will be spent as onions are heavy feeders as are runner beans.

If this is an economy issue why not try this;

Fill the bottom 30-40% of the pot with the old compost (you could mix a handful of a general fertiliser in at this stage) then top the pot up with new potting compost.

I do this with all my container grown plants rather than fill them 'totally' with new compost each year.

[meg_gordon]

Great idea TeeGee - will try this and put in some fertiliser as well.  Thanks for this.

Meg

[kt.]

I have just potted on 30 tomato plants into their final growing containers.  I used about 40% of old compost from containers I grew carrots in last year.  I will use the remaining compost topped up with fresh compost for sowing this years carrots.

In a large plastic fish-box I grew carrots in last year,  I have some spring onions, radish and beetroot in at the moment.  It is in my greenhouse to give me an early crop whilst waiting for outside temperatures to increase so I can do some sowing.......