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Tue, Oct 18, 11 at 17:57
| I thought perhaps I could get my milk jugs full of compost now then when I go to winter sow in them I would not have to use a ton of potting soil. The jugs will be frozen by time I plan to sow but thought I could add a touch of potting soil over the frozen compost. For me this would save money as I have access to lots of fine compost much cheaper than the potting soil. And I could fill the milk jugs fuller thus not drying out so quickly. Also I would be able to have the mess outside now rather than the mess in the wintertime. I would love to hear if others do this or your thoughts on this idea. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I wouldn't use compost. too wet. Use good potting mix. Cheap isn't always best. Karen |
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| Sounds great to me. However, I'd be a bit worried using compost, not knowing whether there are fungi or other organisms that might effect germination or development of new sprouts. I like the "sterile" nature of the store-bought potting mixes. Martha |
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| I don't think anything sown outdoors needs to be sterile, but the compost will be the wrong texture in a container. It will be too dense, not enough aeration for seedlings roots to thrive. You really will be happier with something formulated for containers - save your compost for your garden where its invaluable (they don't call it black gold for nothing), not used inappropriately in your pots. |
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- Posted by hummersteve 6 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 27, 11 at 13:01
| All the comments above are true and I agree with them. But I will say that before I knew better I used just plain garden soil that I dug up and I have mainly clay soil and I did mix some compost with it and I still had success with winter sowing. Now that I look back on it I wonder how I had any succes at all. But following the methods of better aeration will produce more and better results , I totally agree with that. |
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