Wife planted a number of large tubs of spring bulb which have now
finished and the tibs are wanted for the bedding plants.

Clearing out the old soil I wondered what I could do with it. In our old
house, it just went on the compost heaps. but here with limited space
and just one full dalek I wondered if I could reuse it at the bottom of
the tubs, may be with some added Growmore, and top up the tubs with new
compost. I've sieved it a bit to extract all the little bulblets and
most of the roots.

Is this wise, or will she just have very poor bedding plant display?

On 24/05/2020 17:51, Pwllgloyw wrote:
Wife planted a number of large tubs of spring bulb which have now
finished and the tibs are wanted for the bedding plants.

Clearing out the old soil I wondered what I could do with it. In our old
house, it just went on the compost heaps. but here with limited space
and just one full dalek I wondered if I could reuse it at the bottom of
the tubs, may be with some added Growmore, and top up the tubs with new
compost. I've sieved it a bit to extract all the little bulblets and
most of the roots.

Is this wise, or will she just have very poor bedding plant display?

You will probably get away with it provided you don't do it year to
year. Bulbs pretty much only need an inert medium to support them.

Where things go pear shaped is growing things from about the same plant
family more than once in the same ground or compost. Hence crop rotation
in allotments to prevent build up of endemic diseases and nutrient
deficiencies. In this period of shortages you take what you can get.

I'd be inclined to add a bit of garden soil and some of your own rough
compost to open it up a bit as well as some slow release fertiliser.
Maybe a sprinkling of Growmore on the surface afterwards.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 25/05/2020 09:48, Martin Brown wrote:
On 24/05/2020 17:51, Pwllgloyw wrote:
Wife planted a number of large tubs of spring bulb which have now
finished and the tibs are wanted for the bedding plants.

Clearing out the old soil I wondered what I could do with it. In our
old house, it just went on the compost heaps. but here with limited
space and just one full dalek I wondered if I could reuse it at the
bottom of the tubs, may be with some added Growmore, and top up the
tubs with new compost. I've sieved it a bit to extract all the little
bulblets and most of the roots.

Is this wise, or will she just have very poor bedding plant display?

You will probably get away with it provided you don't do it year to
year. Bulbs pretty much only need an inert medium to support them.

Where things go pear shaped is growing things from about the same plant
family more than once in the same ground or compost. Hence crop rotation
in allotments to prevent build up of endemic diseases and nutrient
deficiencies. In this period of shortages you take what you can get.

I'd be inclined to add a bit of garden soil and some of your own rough
compost to open it up a bit as well as some slow release fertiliser.
Maybe a sprinkling of Growmore on the surface afterwards.


Thanks Martin, Trouble is getting to a desent garden centre whilst we
are still under lockdown here in Wales (plus over 70!). The good one is
about 10 miles away, but is operating a click and collect service so no
chance to browse the shelves. Also I can not find tomato growbags
anywhere locally at the moment, so it looks like they will have to go in
pot (more compost needed of course).