Using my own compost

[kingmysid]

We have our own composter in our garden. We have been putting all our organic kitchen waste, garden waste,egg shells etc in there for a year now.
Its very well broken down and full of worms. Its just like soil at the bottom!!


I would like to use it for my chilli plants this year, How do I go about using it, can I mix it with topsoil? what percentage do I use etc?


Any help would be super. Thanks

Dazza

 

[Burning Colon]

just take it and mix it in with your garden soil.........i'm assuming you are planting outside?
as another consideration, go to youtube and do a look up on "compost tea". my composter is still frozen solid.

 

[kingmysid]

I am going to be growing in my greenhouse in Pots and outside in the garden too.


Will check out utube


Luckily it Doesnt get cold enough here to freeze the composter. We had 15c here today 60f. Spring is here


All the best

just take it and mix it in with your garden soil.........i'm assuming you are planting outside?
as another consideration, go to youtube and do a look up on "compost tea". my composter is still frozen solid.

 

[Burning Colon]

i hit 10C today, 8 yesterday and i think 8 tomorrow, then back down to around 0C for the weekend.

for containers, i mix a small amount of my compost in with store bought potting soil and blend some peatmoss and other items like coffee grounds, ground eggshell, ground seaweed handful of fine sand and mix. i do this in a larger container until i get the consistancy i am looking for, before putting into my pots. i get concerned about how well the compost has decomposed when putting it into my blend.... the reason is smell. my containers can spend a lot of nights, during the summer in the house but if i had a greenhouse it wouldn't bother me. i use the composter all year round, even with it being frozen and full of snow. then when it starts to thaw i rotate it.... it may take a few years before i can use it.

 

[kingmysid]

Thanks for Info. I think I will also try some compost tea too and it looks jolly fun to do. Do you know how often to use the tea on the plants?


Also can you put seaweed in the compost bin as we get loads washed up here on portland?

 

[robbyjoe01]

Sounds like you got some good stuff there. Mix about 50/50 with top soil maybe throw in some perlite to keep loose and you are there. If thats looks too strong cut alittle back on the compost till you like what you see. I tend to keep it simple.

 

[Burning Colon]

Also can you put seaweed in the compost bin

yes and you can put it directly into your soil, it decomposes really fast, within days and what's really cool, it makes your soil fluffy.... you think brewing compost tea would be a hoot, wait until you play with soil that has been doctored with seaweed.

member hawaiial is the real pro, i am just a humble student of his.

as for compost tea usage, if you dilute it enough, you can use it everytime you water. with containers you run the risk of good microbes being flushed out of the bottom of the container when watering. frequent use will keep a fresh supply of microbes available for the roots.