Is OK to sow seeds in sieved home made compost from my dalek?
or does it need mixing with something else first? (maybe some soil).
Ideally the seed mix should have some topsoil and sharp sand added to make the compost open and free draining. The problem with compost on its own is that it can compact and glue itself into a wad which is not good for the seedling.
There will already be sufficient nutrients in the compost for germinating seeds but extra feed is needed when used to pot on bigger plants.
I've got some well rotted leaf mould , wondering about potting on ? :)
The other thing is did the dalek get hot enough to cook all the weed seeds or are you going to sterilise the compost, if you are not careful you will not be able to find the seedlings for weed seeds.
I never bother for the majority of seeds and find only the occasional weed germinates. If anyone is sowing rare or expensive seeds you really ought to buy a bag of JI no1 and new pots. Anyone mad enough to pay £2 for a cucumber seed should spend a little bit more looking after it, but for run of the mill veg seeds homemade stuff will do just fine. It does help if you know what the seedlings should look like though.
Thanks, I'll add some topsoil and sand.
There shouldn't be any weed seeds in there, as I only used kitchen waste.
Unless they blew in when the top was open.
I don't think it got particularly hot though.
I've used it before to pot on a chilli plant (which is now indoors) and none have come up so far.
Would you use 2/3rds compost and a 3rd sand?
I'm not sure of the quantities, I was going to mix various quantities until it looked right. :)
There will be some sand in the topsoil too.
I've got a half used bag of vermiculite under the sink, I was going to stick that in too.
Anyway it's far too windy and rainy to be going outside.
***wishing for a log fire to curl up in front of with my cats***
The vermiculite under the sink turned out to be pearlite.
I used it anyway and made up a nice mix with a bit of sieved topsoil.
So a heated propagator full of chilli seeds should be germinating very soon. :D