Kitchen Garden Forum

is it ok to use compost that i used last year?? it has some roots from veg grown in it last year. could i put some feed or chicken poop in it to get it going ( i have some chiiks so i have lots of chicken poop available)

yes, it will act as a moisture retainer, you need to replace the nutrients with your chicken poo , and be aware of the risk of carying disease from last year to the new crops. if last years crops were healthy theres no problem, if you had blighted tomatoes in it id dispose of it.

I often take the risk of using last years compost in pots for sowing new seed. It's just the finest stuff around. I wouldn't recommend it, but I'll continue to do it until I have a disaster. After all, we sow certain things direct into the soil, don't we, with all the potential for disease there is there.
mike

I wouldn't use the old compost for anything in the same plant family because I would worry about carrying over any diseases. On the whole, I keep the compost from lettuce and tomato growbags and potato bags (where I start early potatoes in the greenhouse) only for containers with flowers for the next year.

I agree with you mike nothing like last years compost for this years seeds, just enough life in it to get them to germinate before potting on in new stuff

thanks everyone!

Sage advice, Monika.
I'll take due note.

mike

I'm afraid that I must disagree with the majority of you. I would only ever use last years compost on the flower beds and absolutely nowhere else.
JB.

I'm with JB on this one, I empty out last years compost onto the flower beds.

I've used previous year's compost occasionally to start off new seeds if they're not going to be in it for a long time and otherwise dispose of my old compost on the compost heap. I also use it occasionally to line the rows where I'm sowing fresh seed directly into the earth (especially root vegetables) because we have very stoney soil round here.