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Can I use last year's tomato compost for this year's potatoes and j. artichokes?
January Man
Posts: 212
in Fruit & veg
Hi all
Due to space limitations, I am going to try growing potatoes and jerusalem artichokes in those large grow bags you can buy.
I still have all of my tomato pots from last year and they still have their compost in them. I was wondering if I can use this in the grow bags, along with some fresh compost (or manure) and some soil (either from the garden direct or from fresh mole hills; something I just saw on a youtube video)?
If not, is there anything I can use the old tomato plant compost for?
Many thanks
Max
0
Posts
Potatoes are the same family as tomatoes, and both suffer from blight. I would not reuse tomato compost for potatoes if there was any sign of disease on them last year. They would not affect the Jerusalem artichokes. I use tomato compost for winter bulbs, then tip it on the veg patch and fork in before planting beans.
As Fidget said, don't use it for potatoes.. but it should be fine for anything else, as long as you mix it with a new bag of compost/leaf mold/well rotted manure, etc. Or use it as is as a top dressing/mulch around other plants or in the boarder. I've use it before as a seed covering in my veg patch.. it makes it easy to see where I've planted my rows, and it's usually easier for seedlings to grow through than my own soil. Just use a hoe to make the furrow, put in the seeds and back-fill with the old bag compost.