Topic: Re-using compost?

[Hector]

I grew tomatoes in big open bottomed pots sat on damp pebbles, so I had quite a bit of used compost at the end of the season. Can I renew/sterilise/recycle this for further use? I thought about mixing in manure and other composting stuff with a view to reusing after a "safe" period of time...is this possible?

[lincsyokel2]

ofc you can. Compost is thousands of years old, it doesnt go 'off'.  Renew the nutrients in it somehow and off you go again. I use it to layer on top of green stuff on the compost heap, thats one way to restore nutrient levels in it. You can also mix stuff like fish blood and bone, or bone meal in with it. Make a bin out of pallets, line it with plastic, mix it up with horse poo and leave it till next year to break down and recompost up, loverly stuff.

Just remember whats been in it before, and observe crop rotation rules though.

[Hector]

Thank you :)

[Kleftiwallah]

NEVER NEVER re-use compost ! :-* 

I'll bring my van round and 'dispose of it for you!  ::)   Cheers,   Tony.

[manicscousers]

we use it as mulch  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I usually chuck it on the garden, but I sometimes grow things in it. They never have any problems.

[lincsyokel2]

we use it as mulch  :)

I usually chuck it on the garden, but I sometimes grow things in it. They never have any problems.

Yep either works, both count as adding organic matter to the soil, which conditions and improves it.


Still say you're better off incorporating it into the compost heap, though

[davyw1]

The compost from my tomatoes gets baged up at the end of the season. It  will then be mixed with some grow bag and some grow organic and used in my boxes to grow potatoes. After they are harvested it again gets bagged up till the following year then riddled to make up my carrot mix.

[PurpleHeather]

We ALL re-use compost. It is all part of re-cycling. Mind you as I have only been doing it for 50+ years there are no doubt some know it all teenagers who know better.

If you buy compost these days then expect to find in it the stuff local councils collect.

Lets face it, the stuff that goes into the local council collection are, to be kind, 'less than pure'.

It is far better to re-cycle your own and make sure it reaches the proper temperature to kill off the things which could re-infect next year.  Encourage worms to purify the mix Than trust the plastic bags of what ever it is, the local garden centre/DIY shops offer.

DONT be a compost snob.

[Hector]

Thanks all, I was worried about infection/diseases...not worried re snobbery :) If it's heated properly is it still the case I can't use for tomatoes again next season?

[grassroots]

Hi Hector I used for the first time this year compost that i had stored in the greenhouse over winter for seedlings, some of the seedlings died when i came to look at the roots i found there were some little white grubs eating the plant alive .
So i would give it a good looking at before i would use it

[lincsyokel2]

If you buy compost these days then expect to find in it the stuff local councils collect.

Most commercial composts fall int o three catgories

1. Peat based
2. Loam based
3. 'Green' compost, which uses composted green waste, but  its usually only about 30% green waste.

Then theres the compost the sell/give away free at the local rubbish dump, its usually of such variable composition and quality (and the NPK levels and balance vary wildly from batch to batch) that i personally wouldn't actually use it to grow anything in. The best use for this stuff is dig it in 1 bag per square yard as a soil conditioner.

I use loam based composts like John Innes for seeds and seedlings, and peat based multipurpose for bigger pots and plants, and hanging baskets.