March has arrived and spring is nearly here, so many people are starting to think more about their gardens.
After all, the sun is starting to shine a little more so many of us are hoping to see more colour and life in our outdoor spaces. But there may be some people who still have questions about what they should be doing.
A gardening expert has recently issued some super useful advice, as he talked about old compost and if it can be re-used. Ish, known as gardening.with.ish on TikTok, often shares handy hints – and his latest tip will help many people.
It turns out you can indeed re-use old compost, and it actually has a pretty handy use. He explained all in a recent video.
According to Ish, it’s great to make the most of it, but you need to complete a few steps to make sure it’s fit for purpose. You essentially need to “clear up” the soil, and get it prepared ready for next time.
Demonstrating what to do, Ish said: “To make life easier, don’t hesitate – just take this and put it in a big tub like that first. That will help us see what’s actually going on in the soil.
“Now you can see from the bottom of the pot I’ve added in some gravel, and that’s ok – that will work as additional drainage. We have got quite a bit of a root base, but that has actually broken down over the course of the winter, so it’s not actually looking too bad at all.
“What I’m going to do is just mix this up, just look for stems and bigger bits of roots and I’m going to get those out first. Little bits of green weeds as well – weed them out too.”
After he does this, he realizes the compost is still lacking some nutrition, so he adds some freshly rotted compost – around 25% to 75% of the old soil. He also adds some failed seedlings to the mix, as well as some more old compost from other pots.
The new mixture can be used to make new compost ready for next year. It’s super easy to do, and it costs hardly anything.
The video has been viewed more than 1,000 times so far, and people were quick to comment. They asked all sorts of different questions.
One person said: “Perfect timing. I’m feeling down about my aubergine seeds that haven’t germinated. I’m wondering if I should just wait a little longer or just toss them and use the soil in the garden.”
A second added: “I always do this, but usually find a vine weevil or two, so feel like I have to throw it or setting up to fail, even though in a short time they’ll probably find their way back in new compost.”
A third also replied: “I use old compost in the bottom of pots and add new on top.” Meanwhile, a fourth also commented: “Ah brill. I’ve chucked so much used compost away.”
