Kitchen Garden Forum

Having had a large builders 'dumpy' bag of 5 year old compost given as a present! I was wondering how best to use some of it as a general potting compost - should I mix with soil/leaf mould or would it be OK to use on its own? Would appreciate some ideas.
Thanks
Hilary

What's it like? If it's soft and fibrous, just use it as you would a general fertiliser. If not, mix it with leaf mould, mole hill soil, anything you've got to break it down. Then top dress with it.

M.

Thanks - was hoping to use it instead of having to buy bags of compost for seeds, potting on etc. It really is lovely and crumbly. Will take a ph test as well.

For growing seeds I would add some grit, sharp asnd or perlite/vermiculite to improve the drainage and air movement. I'm not sure about proportions but it should feel noticeably gritty not claggy.

Hi Hilary,
I would buy just half the amount of potting compost you normally do and seive your acquired 'gold dust'
and mix 50:50 adding some sharp sands as Fen suggests. On it's own I feel that you would produce plants that are far too fleshy and open to attack by just about everything.

That's all right on the big seeds, the beans and peas, but I would buy the proper stuff for the smaller seeds, it's just false economy to risk those seeds. No seed needs a rich diet when small but after a month or so they do need some sort of feed.

Many thanks for suggestions - will do as you say, mix and use for big seeds. Will spend next week going through seed catalogues and then loooking forward to a new gardening year.
Happy Christmas to one and all!
Hilary

I would add some vitax slow release fertiliser in with it as well