Forum home Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Using spent compost

2»

Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If they're deep-ish pots and you want to plant annuals in them, you can replace just the top half or so.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Good idea @JennyJ
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    I just tip the spent compost onto the veg plot and flower beds as a sort of mulch. My pots often end up with slugs and weevils so wouldn’t reuse it in pots but feel spreading it on the beds let’s the birds eat any nasties.
    That's what I do.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • B3 said:
     If I jiggled in some  slow release fertiliser, are there any plants apart from bulbs that might do reasonably well?
    I grow all my potted annuals in old compost.  They do very well.  

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/18/how-to-reuse-old-compost-alys-fowler#:~:text=Ideally%20you%20then%20cut%20the,it%20to%20be%20planted%20up.
  • M33R4M33R4 Posts: 291
    Me too, I tip spent compost into the beds and work it in.
    I wish I could garden all year round!
  • I use it to pot up my dahlias as they will get plenty of food from the soil and mulch once planted out.
  • coccinellacoccinella Posts: 1,428
    thank you @Danae(dan-Ah-ee) for the link to Alice Fowls' article. Has anyone actually used cat litter? It is interesting but won't it absorb a lot of water that should go to the plant? Will the plant need more watering? 

    Luxembourg
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    Another vote here for tipping it onto beds though I may use some from last years melons to fill hanging baskets with nasturtiums as they don’t like the soil too rich. 
    I think life is too short to sterilise compost, and wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy new? 
  • I turn my pots out, into old compost bags. I leave it for a few months to let any roots rot away. When I reuse it, I  liven it up with some fertiliser, plus a bit of fresh compost.  Sometimes if filling a large pot I use old compost in the bottom and fill up with fresh,  it depends on what I am growing.  
    BTW I turn the old bags inside out, so I immediately know which bags have old compost in them and which have fresh.
    AB Still learning

Sign In or Register to comment.