Compost for tomatoes

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georget

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Compost for tomatoes
« on: September 26, 2013, 10:12 »
Grown tomatoes for the first time this year,had a cracking crop.My dad always grew them years ago so i had an idea how to go on,i also read a lot on this site and others like it.Read about comfry tea by John and i must admit i had never heard of it despite growing vegetables for years.Wonderful stuff fed toms and cucumbers and runner beans with it.
I have a question for the more experienced tomatoe growers out there.Can i re use the compost i grew them in it was my own mix.I can make some more no problem and spread this years on the garden but it would save work if i could re use it. :wub:

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compostqueen

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Re: Compost for tomatoes
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2013, 10:15 »
As long as there was no blight on your crop then you can re-use your compost. Don't use it for next year's tomato crop etc.  You could spread it on the garden and leave it over winter. It's handy for making new beds as you can mix it with your soil to lighten it up a bit

We never waste compost  :)

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Kristen

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Re: Compost for tomatoes
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2013, 10:36 »
I grow my tomatoes in the border of my greenhouse (rather than in containers) and I change the "soil" each year.  I use a 50:50 mix of well rotted manure and the compost heap; the compost heap is pretty rough when it goes in (late Autumn), but it is in good shape by Spring (and holds water well) and when it comes out the following Autumn its lovely friable stuff. The weeds that germinate early on are easily dealt with before the Tomatoes get planted out in May, and any after that have a hard time in the heat of the greenhouse, so are easily taken care of, and I reckon the "compost" is a lot cleaner for its follow-on uses

I find the Compost / Manure mix quite "light" to work with, compared to my garden soil, so I don't find it to much like hard work changing the greenhouse soil :)

I use the "spent soil" from the greenhouse as a potting compost for my Dahlias and Cannas starting off in the spring (they need big pots, which take lots of compost, and would cost a fortune each year if I bought it in bags), and the rest goes as a mulch on the Asparagus.  Anything left over from that goes on the bed where the Potatoes were as I figure that whatever diseases the Potatoes and Tomatoes had are common to each other, so added to the previous year's Potato patch gives the bugs/diseases time to be neutralised before my crop rotation will plant Spuds in that bed again (for me that's a 4 year rotation)

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surbie100

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Re: Compost for tomatoes
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2013, 10:50 »
I reuse mine, with a small addition of BFB, for growing carrots in large trugs. I get a great crop of clean, straight carrots and the trug is easily fleeced to keep out the fly & other pests.

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georget

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Re: Compost for tomatoes
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2013, 14:36 »
Thanks for your responses,ithink i will dig it into where i intend planting parsnips next year and make fresh next year.Got some real good 20 year old horse muck for next years toms ::)



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