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Can I save and re-use seed compost?

DirtyFingernailsDirtyFingernails Posts: 14
in Problem solving
Hi folks, I've started propagating from seed for the first time, and it's going really well.* I've been starting seeds off in fine seed compost, then potting them on into regular compost. Obviously, not every seed grows and once I've pricked out the seedlings I'm often left with a heap of leftover seed compost. I've been collecting it in an old plastic compost sack that is currently in the shed. Can I recycle it next year? Or else what should I do with it? It's low in nutrients compared with regular compost, so is it worth chucking into the garden? 

*well, apart from that bit in the first few weeks when I didn't realise that seed compost was low-nutrient, so I was potting on into seed mix rather than regular compost and wondering why my plants weren't growing...  :# Spent a good chunk of time repotting everything again into proper compost and they're going great guns

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    edited April 2023
    I reuse it several times then after that I usually mix it in with any multi purpose compost that l use in tubs/window box etc . 
     It might not have any nutritional value as such but it does help to bulk up the container, if you see what l mean, and saves on the use of MPC which is becoming quite expensive.
  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,394
    I've reused last year's seed compost which had been sitting in my mini greenhouse all year and germination has been great!
    East Yorkshire
  • DirtyFingernailsDirtyFingernails Posts: 14
    Thanks folks! 
  • PerkiPerki Posts: 2,527
    I mix it in with multipurpose compost when I potting up the seedling I've just pricked out . 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I reuse it,  I don't use actual seed compost,  just MPC. It’s great fun when you reuse and a stranger pops up,  something from last year that laid dormant all winter.  It’s guess the plant time 😀
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm the same as @Lyn - I never use seed compost. It's only of benefit if you're sowing in autumn when you generally don't want lots and lots of growth to try and manage over winter. Old compost will do the same job as it anyway. At this time of year, any compost is fine, or sieved soil with grit etc.
    I use old compost from the previous year's annuals, with some Perlite or grit - just altered to suit whatever seed I'm sowing. Those that like lots of moisture need less footering with.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    One of the main properties of seed compost is that it is sterile.  No weeds, no bugs, no diseases, no fungi.  

    You can save money.  But at what risk?
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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