The nearest I’ve ever got to sieving compost is chucking the odd large uncomposted twig back into one of the cooking bins and hoiking out the old plant labels and odd bits of plastic that always seem to end up in the bin.
Richard - If it’s just to be used as a mulch I really wouldn’t bother.
As Dove has said, we use the same word , "compost" for garden compost primary a soil condtioner, and potting compost, a growing medium, but they're not the same thing.
You'll find you plant pots will probably sprout a lot of weeds and have a very variable nutrient content.
Are you saying using home compost is not work it if it is for potting compost? If I use it as a mulch wont it sprout just as many weeds on the veg beds?
Easier to deal with if it's in a bigger area @Richard168, especially veg beds where it can be hoed between rows of produce. It would be fine for potting on reasonable sized plants because you could see weeds appearing and remove them, but it doesn't have the same nutrition as commercial stuff.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Commercial potting composts have been "cooked" at a higher temperature than can be achieved in domestic compost bins and that helps kill of weed seeds and any pathogens that would compete with or harm precious seedlings. It is also fertilised at different levels suitable for seeds and cuttings or potting on or full grown plants and, in the UK, further divided into loam-based John Innes, more fibrous Levingtons and ericaceous for lime-haters.
Hard to match that in domestic conditions and quantities.
We keep our home-made compost for mulching and buy commercial planting composts for seeds, potting on and plants when it's on offer as a BOGOF or similar.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I use compost straight from the bin when planting up tubs of bulbs, but they're emptied once the flowers have passed. I'd not use it for "pot plants" unless it's just a layer on the bottom of a big container to add bulk before using proper potting compost on top.
I do exactly the same as you do @Hostafan1 - using bought compost for seeds/seedlings whilst they are beginning and once the seedlings are at their final stage before planting out they are potted into compost from our heap. The same for outdoor pots - compost from the heap every time - it is far too expensive for us to use bought compost in all our 20+ big outdoor pots. We also dig our home made compost into our veg. patch where necessary i.e. courgettes, squash etc.
Hi Richard, I use a riddle over a plastic trug - if you can find the right sizes where the riddle fits in the top of the trug you can really speed up the process. I'm using it for a bag of compost here but it works equally well with homemade compost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0aBUcIaWDg the relevant bit is at 22 seconds in.
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You'll find you plant pots will probably sprout a lot of weeds and have a very variable nutrient content.
Hostafan1
Are you saying using home compost is not work it if it is for potting compost? If I use it as a mulch wont it sprout just as many weeds on the veg beds?
It would be fine for potting on reasonable sized plants because you could see weeds appearing and remove them, but it doesn't have the same nutrition as commercial stuff.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hard to match that in domestic conditions and quantities.
We keep our home-made compost for mulching and buy commercial planting composts for seeds, potting on and plants when it's on offer as a BOGOF or similar.
the relevant bit is at 22 seconds in.
Hope that helps.