Reusing compost

[JMCKG]

What do others do with last years tomato compost? Can you reuse it, may be by adding well rotted manure?

[Nannysally99]

We re use compost from both our tomatoes and potatoes grown in buckets/bags. Riddled, then add blood fish and bone, Growmore or similar fertilisers from the start

[Jay-ell]

Mine's going into a new bed for roots

[JMCKG]

We re use compost from both our tomatoes and potatoes grown in buckets/bags. Riddled, then add blood fish and bone, Growmore or similar fertilisers from the start

Thanks will do that plus add some well rotted horse manure.

[arpoet]

I mix old compost with rotted hos muck, in the autumn. I leave it to over winter for a couple of months, uncovered, and any time now i will bag it all up in old MPC bags and store in the greenhouse until i'm ready to use it.
As i also add leaves and spent hops to the fresh manure heaps, the mixture at about 18 months is very good.

[Bren In Pots]

Have a read at this post by Potty he offers excellent advice :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1244963

[JMCKG]

Have a read at this post by Potty he offers excellent advice :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1244963

Interesting, thank you.

[Mikey]

My beds in the greenhouse are made up fresh each year with a mixture of bagged compost (used more as a mulch than an active ingredient, home grown compost and well rotted FYM. Come the start of the following year I use this earth as my seedling starter by sieving it to remove any big lumps.

Seedlings need soil which has very little fertility otherwise they get leggy very quickly, so by using last years compost I can scrape off the top of my greenhouse beds ready for adding a new mix and fill my seed pots and trays for free.

Any surplus compost from the greenhouse is added to my raised beds around April as its dry and light and improves the heavy top layer of earth ready for planting out seeds.

[KevinM67]

I'm coming to this thread a bit late, however - I've read that you don't plant strawberries where tomatoes have previously grown.

Therefore...

1 - Is it the same principle with using old compost ?
2 - Why is this ? - Is it due to potential pests/diseases left in the soil, or the tomatoes using up vital nutrients ?