only one season???

[hiyatim]

ive recently read that if you are container growing as i am then you have to replace the compost every year?? ive spent loads on compost and this would make my growing not viable as its cheaper to go to the farmers markets and get quality veg.

Anyone disagree with this??

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, unfortunately this is the problem with growing veggies in containers. We need to use fresh compost each year. My OH complains like mad about the cost and because when I'm planting up I keep sending him back to the garden centre for more compost.

What you have to remember Tim is that you are growing your own "genuine" organic vegetables. Even organic producers can use chemicals that are licenced for organic use.

You will never, ever be able to beat the taste of your own home grown vegetables that you harvested just 20 minutes before you ate them.

The price of both vegetables and fruit in the supermarket is disgusting. Lettuce is usually about £1.30 each which is the same price as a packet of 1000 lettuce seeds, 3 tiny courgettes are £1.99 and home grown courgettes produce so much fruit from just one plant. A few years ago Tesco were selling tiny sprigs of redcurrants for £2.98 - my redcurrant bushes were dripping in fruit!!

The thing to do Tim is grow veggies that aren't cheap to buy - don't bother with carrots and onions but grow what you enjoy eating. You've loved your broccoli and I'm sure if you were to buy organic broccoli heads, like you have grown, that they would have cost as much as a bag of compost.

Tim, don't you really love growing your own fresh organic veggies and eating them?????

[hiyatim]

hi lesley, i do agree with everything you have said but im also a true believer of live within your means and that means i simply buy cheap veggies which i can afford. this year i have treated myself over and over again to batches of compost that i couldnt really afford as my budget is so tight but told myself it was an investment

i think ill just see the season through and enjoy it while it lasts and then give up until i can afford it. it is sad though as ive really enjoyed the experience

[riversava]

Not sure about replacing compost every year, it costs a fortune, plus delivery charges. i tend to scoop up top layer of compost in pots and replace that, which saves a bit and then add some pant food to it.
And the sme with my raised beds, only top up with compost and feed with chicken manure. This year my raised beds look better then ever!

[riversava]

I am trying to attach some of my pics, hope it works!

[Hollie the Wollie]

I have a few containers aswell. I did not know this either! :-0

Can I use the compost for anything else? I have raised beds with awful soil and wanted to make a flower bed that will need compost.

[Tee Gee]

Due to the variation in size of 'containers' and their purpose, each one can present its own particular problems and aftercare.

As a rule of thumb I work on the premise if it can be easily moved around then the compost should be replaced each year! If it can't, then the top two to three inches of compost should be replaced.

When you consider this; we only tend to cultivate the top few inches of a traditional flower/veg bed so why not do the same for a cointainer!

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by hiyatim

hi lesley, i do agree with everything you have said but im also a true believer of live within your means and that means i simply buy cheap veggies which i can afford. this year i have treated myself over and over again to batches of compost that i couldnt really afford as my budget is so tight but told myself it was an investment

i think ill just see the season through and enjoy it while it lasts and then give up until i can afford it. it is sad though as ive really enjoyed the experience

Hi Tim, I have to say that I am gutted We can't lose such an excellent keen veggie grower!!

The problem with the compost is that your veggies are living on the nutrients plus you water the containers and it rains aswell which is flushing out the goodness. So by the end of the growing season it is considered 'dead'.

Can you replace the top third or the top quarter of the compost in your containers with fresh compost? If you can then this autumn collect up the fallen leaves, put them in a black bin bag and if they are dry then water them. Next fasten up the top of the bag and pierce some holes in it, then just leave it. Next year mix handfuls of these leaves into the old compost in the bottom two thirds or three quarters of your containers. At our old allotment site the council used to dump trailer loads of the autumn leaves and everyone (except me!) dug them into their plots. One of the old guys plots had so many leaves dug in over the years that he was virtually growing his veggies in leaves.

Now, have you got a compost bin or can you make one because after writing all that I have trailed through web sites and found this for you about how to re use old spent compost.

What to do with your Spent Compost

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by Hollie the Wollie

I have a few containers aswell. I did not know this either! :-0

Can I use the compost for anything else? I have raised beds with awful soil and wanted to make a flower bed that will need compost.

Hi Hollie, my OH empties the old compost onto the flower beds and I also use it to fill the bottom half of deep flower containers. But I wouldn't use the old compost if a veg plant had been diseased. Collect the autumn leaves up and make leaf mould to dig into your veggie bed. Just put the leaves in a black bin bag, you can run the mower over them first if you want, water if they are dry, fasten up the top, then pierce holes in the bag and leave it for 12 months. It's a great soil improver.

[hiyatim]

hey, things like leaves etc are not a problem for me as im a countryside ranger for the council so i can easily gather these, infact i could gather some part rotted ones into bags now if that may save my season come next year. i also have a friend who keeps horses, i know you have reservations about this lesley but the horses are kept in her own field which is never sprayed with anything, would this help??

the article you posted is excellent and has given me hope, i have a compost bin but i put potato peeling in it which ive read on the forum is a huge no no but this article doesnt seem to agree?? im about to buy 2 more compost bins an ill start re-nutrifying my compost thats finished with and then use what i make to replace the top third. looks like my veggie growing career may extend a bit longer

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, with all those leaves available you will be able to make leaf mould aswell to use in 1 - 2 years time. Just bag up the leaves as I explained and leave the bags for longer while the leaves rot down more. It is a great soil improver. But don't use conifer, laurel or holly leaves. If you can run a mower over the leaves that are on the ground now it will speed up the rotting down. Plus, put some in your compost bin!

The only reason for not putting potato peelings in your compost bin is that blight spores could live on the sprouts. Just be sure to bury them in the centre.

The problem with the horse manure is whether the horses were fed unknowingly with hay that has been contaminated with Aminopyralid weed killer. People do grow courgettes, squashes, cucumbers and melons in mounds of well rotted manure.

It's great to have our veg grower back!!

[Ace]

I have a further question on this topic.

Most of my containers are actually filled with veggie soil rather than compost. That's cos I started my entire growing year off with a delivery of 1 tonne of Veg Soil. Everything seems to love it and grows well in it.

Will I need to ditch all this soil next year the same as people growing in just compost ? Somehow that wouldn't seem right.

I am of course making my own compost so next year I will add that to the soil in the containers and also a sprinkling of fish, blood and bone as I did this year.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Ace, if I had the 'veggie soil' then I wouldn't dump it either! I would do the same as you are suggesting by adding your own well rotted compost to the mix.

[vegnovice10]

My daughter works for York Rotters who encourage people to compost. She bought me a new compost bin - a green Joanna. In this you can put cooked food as well so hopefully will speed up the process of making my compost. Not that I throw much food out but you can even put meat bones in.

I am confused about reusing compost as I agree with what you say about it then being dead but what do you do with it? I was told it could be used for lettuces if it had for example been used for tomatoes before.

[bettie sage]

once youve harvested i would sow the containers with a mixed green manure seed and dig it in ,your compost should be ok for next year
( iread alys fowlers book and she does that with her huge potato pots )

[Little tom]

Oh God! I didn't know this either :-/
My 2 main containers are big (one 115L for tomatoes and peas and one 60L for kale) so I planned to just replace the top 3 inches. Does anyone else think it would be OK? Would rotten manure be a good addition too? (I can't collect leaves to make my own compost on the balcony unfortunately).

[Little tom]

Originally Posted by bettie sage

once youve harvested i would sow the containers with a mixed green manure seed and dig it in ,your compost should be ok for next year
( iread alys fowlers book and she does that with her huge potato pots )

Oh yes that's right I read it too!
Also, since I've grown peas in one container, I'll leave the roots in. I hope that'll make a difference - at least it's worth trying.

[Little tom]

Oh, also:
Would my black tuscan kale survive several years in a container (provided I give it enough food)? I've read it's perennial, but maybe that doesn't work well in container if it exhaust the food in it.

[bettie sage]

Originally Posted by Little tom

Oh, also:
Would my black tuscan kale survive several years in a container (provided I give it enough food)? I've read it's perennial, but maybe that doesn't work well in container if it exhaust the food in it.

ive just got some small plants going for this and also wanted to grow one in a pot since it looks so beautiful.i'd be interested to know how you go on with it, i'll be growing it mostly in the ground and have never grown it before so any tips would be useful

my pack of seeds cost a couple of quid and has about 500 seeds and a 3-4 year life so you could always use seed to keep a new supply of plants

[Little tom]

Originally Posted by bettie sage

ive just got some small plants going for this and also wanted to grow one in a pot since it looks so beautiful.i'd be interested to know how you go on with it, i'll be growing it mostly in the ground and have never grown it before so any tips would be useful

my pack of seeds cost a couple of quid and has about 500 seeds and a 3-4 year life so you could always use seed to keep a new supply of plants

Hi Betty! Sure I'll let you know how the black kale goes in its pot - it'll be an experiment. It's said to be happy even in poor soils so I might get away with a container even for a few years...But as you say I've got backup seeds in case it doesn't work.

It's also my first year and I only have baby plants so far, I'm just getting a bit ahead of myself when I talk about keeping one for years. But I hope so! I also find it really beautiful! And so heathly too, it's packed with beta-carotene, vitamins C and K, and manganese, calcium and iron!

So far my plants are doing well in peat free compost and they are not fussy.
I've just read they prefer an alkaline and compact soil but are happy otherwise, even in part shade. The pigeons ate a couple of plants although the pots were tucked away in a corner of my balcony, amongst other plants! So my advice would be: protect them with a net if you see yours are nibbled.