For years I saved every bit of used potting compost in a heap, this year I have enough to mulch the whole garden with it. There may not be much food left in it but it still makes the plants grow.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.You are not supposed to reuse soil from pots in case it's been contaminated with a fungus or disease but I use it anyway. There's such a small amount in a pot that I figure the mix it's added to is enough to kill anything from a small pot.
freeofgod
Level 8
Nov 15, 2018
1
That is one reason why I store it for some time, at least two years, before use. Though many people now regard introduced fungus as generally more useful than harmful.
I buy bags of manure when it's on sale and spread it around. Any old potting soil gets mixed in with the manure.
I built a frame with a 1/2 inch mesh screen to fit over my wheelbarrow. I can raise it up to make it easy on my back and mix soil all day. This is how I removed all the rocks from our landscape. I even have a 1/4 inch mesh screen.
flower_nut
Level 7
Nov 15, 2018
2
That's a good idea, but it is best to compost manure fist, that helps get rid of an bad things in the bedding, stops the bedding lowering the nitrogen in the soil, and stops strong manure over feeeding or burning plants.
@Fernapple
The stuff I use is composted and sold at garden centres ready for the garden. I don't have an ideal area to compost if I did I would go visit the farmers and pick it up for free. Several people gave me testimonies of how well chicken shit makes their garden grow.
You're right about raw manure in the garden it will burn the plants.
@flower_nut I fully plan to seek out a horse stable or two that might allow to take it off their hands for free, but that is a long term project, as yes, it needs plenty of time to age. I have only just started composting in the past 3 months....bought a yard with a small house attached ? last May.
@MikeInBatonRouge
You need a sunny spot for composting and all my spots have plants.
Leftover rubbish and leaves from our landscape are piled in the woods. After a couple years I use it to plant gardens in the woods. The seeds from the garden rubbish grow in the compost pile. It does break down enough to go through a 1/2 inch mesh.
Have fun with your garden. It's so exciting!
Give it a boost with some grass clippings and leaves, mixed well in and then compost will heat up. That will kill any seeds or fungus in the composted mix. Wait a few weeks and it will have twice as much nutrients as when you started. The lawn clippings create nitrogen and the leaves will add carbon.
OldGoat43
Level 9
Nov 15, 2018
4
Yes I do that too. This was just a special one off.
Sure.
I have wondered what to do with old compacted potting soil In pots, with some dead Rosebush root still in them. I have read from more than one source to avoid planting a rose where another rose had died within the preceding year. No explanation given. But I assumed it was the assumption that microbes built up there to decompose the rose roots would be hard on living rose roots. I wonder about similar issues arising in compost. ....weed seeds, rose leaves with fungal disease, etc. Does anyone know definitively what is safe?
MikeInBatonRouge
Level 8
Nov 15, 2018
1
It is called rose replants disease in roses, and no one is sure but a fungus or two may be to blame. That is why I store the potting compost a year or two before use.
@Fernapple thnx
@MikeInBatonRouge That ok happy growing.
If you still have a pile than there’s stuff in it. It was all organic to begin with. It’s still organic.
AstralSmoke
Level 8
Nov 15, 2018
3
Yes, plus some loam.
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