I can't afford the compost for soft fruit / veg in containers

twiglet98

I'd love to trawl through the whole Greenfingered library as I'm sure the answers are there, but then I won't get anything else done this afternoon!

I have 12 black bags of potatoes on the go and they need topping up with compost again today. Last week I used 2 x 70 litre and 1 x 60 litre bag, just topping these up. It's scary how much I'm spending on multi purpose compost just for the spuds, so....

1. Today I want to plant about 30 strawberries into a long tin bath. I wondered about putting some crumpled compost sacks in the bottom to fill some space, then some paper sacks, and just a few inches of compost on top to plant them in. How deep do strawberries root? Will this work? How do I stop the roots from getting too hot in the tin bath - should I line it with polystyrene?

2. My home made compost is way off being ready but I have a flattish old heap of horse manure up in the corner. It's pretty dry, but can I put that in with bought MP compost for the other things I want to grow in bags and pots (carrots, french beans, salad, beetroot, courgettes, raspberries). Is there anything that must not have manure, even quite old stuff? I already have some plant feed left from last year, blood fish and bone, and the blue miracle-gro soluble feed, and tomorite, I just can't afford several big sacks of compost week after week

Thanks all!

SallyForth_2

If you are in Cambridgeshire, you should be able to take advantage of the free compost given away by the Recycling scheme. Google Donarbon, for you local collection point. Ours it at Alconbury Weston, and as long as you go with your own sacks and a spade, you can just help yourself.

foreign_correspondent

strawbs dont need much sompost - they are grown commercially in grown bags, which should give you an idea of the depth you need, howevr,t he fact that the compost is contained in plastic does retain some moisture - a thin layer in a wide receptacle like a bath will dry our far faster.

misskool

Growbags are often cheaper than MPC weight by weight so use that. If you have collected some leaves in the autumn to make leafmould then you can top up the pots with them. you can also earth up using a mix of grass clippings (I dry mine for a bit) and some leafmould. You can mix some shredded newspaper into the bag.

Strawberries don't root very deeply, so line about 1/3rd of the trough with polystyrene chips. If you're planting it in something metal you may want to insulate the sides with some plastic so it doesn't burn them when it's too hot. You can grow the courgettes straight into the manure (if it's WELL rotted, it must be crumbly and have no smell).

Carrots don't need manure, you can mix in some sand with the compost, they don't need very much nutrients.

Once you've harvested the potatoes, don't tip the compost away, you can use it again to grow some salad crops!!!

ceridwen

Some Councils give out free compost at this sort of time of year - so investigate yours to see if they are one of them.

I have to say that there ARE Councils that include "streetsweepings" amongst the compost they have made from peoples garden waste. This is done in order to save money on disposing of said "streetsweepings" AFAIK.:(

However - your Council may not follow this "moneysaving":cool: practice - and, if desperate, then I personally would have to accept my Council's "nasty ways" in this respect and just carefully "pick through" any free compost I got from them to remove the worst "bits that shouldnt be there".

HTH

Kay_Peel

You don't need to top up your pototoes with compost - you need soil. You just have to make sure the soil is nice crumbly (a bit of sand mixed in if it's too heavy?) before earthing up.

I've never used compost for growing pototoes in containers - not only do I think it's an expensive way of growing the crop but also because I don't find that compost is a good growing medium where potatoes are concerned, in my experience.

You can pack a lot of rubble and stuff into the bottom of your tin bath. I put polystyrene, bricks, old crocks and upside down sods of turf into containers. Then I add a good layer of garden soil. I only put compost into the planting holes. Compost is rich in nutrients to get plants started off - but you don't need it in spaces between plants. That's just a waste of money and materials.

My advice is go easy on compost and fertilisers - not just to save money but to get the best possible growing medium for your fruit crops.

:beer:

savemoney

3 x 70 litres bags at B&Q £10

savemoney

I topped mine up just now with own compost I have potatoes in plastic bags

kimmee

SallyForth wrote: »

If you are in Cambridgeshire, you should be able to take advantage of the free compost given away by the Recycling scheme. Google Donarbon, for you local collection point. Ours it at Alconbury Weston, and as long as you go with your own sacks and a spade, you can just help yourself.

Donarbon do give away the recycled stuff (our local one is at Waterbeach) but it's not compost - it's 'soil improver'. Dunno if it's ok to grow veg in - have to say I get quite a bit of the stuff but I only use it to dig in my flower beds. As SallyForth say - just go along with sacks and a spade and you can have as much as you want - just be warned, it's very pongy :rotfl:

twiglet98

Kay_Peel wrote: »

You don't need to top up your pototoes with compost - you need soil. You just have to make sure the soil is nice crumbly (a bit of sand mixed in if it's too heavy?) before earthing up.

I've never used compost for growing pototoes in containers - not only do I think it's an expensive way of growing the crop but also because I don't find that compost is a good growing medium where potatoes are concerned, in my experience.

You can pack a lot of rubble and stuff into the bottom of your tin bath. I put polystyrene, bricks, old crocks and upside down sods of turf into containers. Then I add a good layer of garden soil. I only put compost into the planting holes. Compost is rich in nutrients to get plants started off - but you don't need it in spaces between plants. That's just a waste of money and materials.

My advice is go easy on compost and fertilisers - not just to save money but to get the best possible growing medium for your fruit crops.

:beer:

Thanks, that makes sense but I don't have any useable (diggable) soil in my garden, I'm on revolting heavy boulder clay and under the turf seems to be tonnes of broken concrete. My garden is half an acre of grass and dandelions with two trees, hawthorn and elder hedges, and a buddleia! Digging up the turf is impossible, hence the containers and a 20 foot by 4 foot strip of raised beds. I know topsoil sometimes comes up on freecycle but I'm never lucky there, and in any case would have to pay my son to come and shovel it into bags as my back isn't up to it. I had no idea how expensive a project growing food would be. I'll explore the cost of getting a big bag of topsoil delivered next year, that's probably the best option because you're right, it doesn't sound logical to use MP compost as the main growing medium for root veg. Or I'll stick to summer fruit and salad, the easy bits!

Thanks for the tips to try Donarbon too, I had no idea they gave anything away. Waterbeach is my nearest, 18 miles. Again, I'd have to bribe my son to help but it sounds worth it. He was supposed to drill drainage holes in the strawberry bath but no such luck.

3 x 70 litres bags at B&Q £10 :eek: I got 3 x 60 litres for £10 at the local nurseries, but they're only 4.5 miles and B&Q are 12 miles away. Homebase have a double Nectar points weekend, maybe I'll trek into town tomorrow and look in both.

What kind of sand do I need for carrots? Building sand, play sand or is there a different sort? (Or could spend tomorrow on an empty Norfolk beach, much more fun, and bring some back) :rotfl:

Lube

Sharp sand around £2 for a bag I also use it mixed with multi purpose for cuttings