Reusing compost

After planting on my seedlings into bigger pots can I reuse the compost which I sowed my seeds in also when I transfer pot to garden , cheers . Nok

 

well it will be not very fertile if it was seed compost and probably drains very well.
You might have to work on that, esp if the pots would have to stand in the sunshine.
You could keep it for next year?

 

All my old compost gets piled up and used to fill the bottom half of large pots, where the roots aren't likely to go all the way down.
It saves a lot on new compost and is re-useable next time, dug into the nursery bed.
It may not be the done thing, but what else can you do with it - careful Armandii!

 

I recycle 'used' compost by digging it into borders

 

I never reuse seed compost . When you transfer your pricked out plant from its pot into the garden or container , you transfer everything . You are trying in most cases to minimise disturbance to the roots . I sieve my MPC with a half inch sieve , I save the debris from this and old compost for the bottom 3 or 4 inches in a container , as GCC.

 

If you find any Vine Weevil grubs in the old compost, just hover your mouse over them until its eaten all of them.

 

I reuse my seed sowing compost repeatedly. If I got any disease I would chuck it, but that is not common - the seeds are only in it for a couple of weeks. Biggest drawback of reusing it is that any slow germinating seeds come up amongst whatever you are using it for next.

I use best quality seed sowing compost and I buy a 10kg bag each season (and I raise probably 1,000 - 2,000 plants started off by seed sown in 1/4 sized seed trays). Obviously some compost gets carried with the seedling into its new pot when pricked out, and for larger seedlings that can be "quite a lot", but for small seedlings its hardly anything.

 

I prick out early, and don't think the seed sowing compost needs any nutrients. If I find that seedlings are very slow to bulk up (things like Petunias, Lobellia etc.) then I stand the seed tray in some half-strength Miracle Gro or similar for 10 minutes so the seedlings get watered & fed.

For me, decent quality John Innes seed compost is so fine, and free draining, that it is a joy to prick out from. Multi-purpose clings together such that I think there is more root damage when I have to separate seedlings growing close together during pricking-out. With a very fine compost I can just prod it with the tip of my pencil (my "dibber" ) and it falls to bits allowing easy separation of the seedlings.

Each to his or her own though, of course

 

thanks kristen looks like i will be reusing it then

 

I dump all my old compost back into the bags ( I do get a lot of it), when they are full I stack them up the back of the garden. Once they been there for six months or so I reuse them on the plot or in the garden, after that time most of the dead plants and roots has rotted down enough and it comes out looking pretty much the same as it did the first time round. I dont use it in pots again though as I doubt its very rich.

Mrs Chopper

 

After hearing some reports of commercial compost now being contaminated with aminopyralid,apparently a commercial tomato plug plant grower in Yorkshire bought in green compost to mix themselves and lost 300 grands worth of plants according to farmers news.
If treated grass cuttings are put in garden waste and then find their way into compost at 1 part per billion that is enough.
So if you compost was safe for your seeds/cuttings to grow dont waste it reuse it anyway you can.

http://tiny.cc/rvdwcw
"After treatment, leave the clippings from the first mowing on the lawn. The next three mowings should be composted well, for at least 9 months, before being used as a mulch. Do not dispose of the grass clippings via council composting schemes."

 

I do that too with my "spent" multi purpose compost , its just my seed compost that I reuse

Spent multi-purpose I use for earthing up potatoes in Bags / Tubs (they are fed as a separate "regime"), and for things like dahlias being overwintered that just want to be surrounded by some very slightly moist compost. I have also mixed it 50:50 with sharp sand to grow carrots in containers. Anything left over goes on the garden, or the compost heap