compost to be used indoors
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. |
compost to be used indoors
Working from ancient memory here! The book "Crockett's Victory Garden"
suggests pasteurizing it outside in a big pot, perhaps over a gas grill. Add enough water so it doesn't burn. He says it stinks to high hell, so do it on a day with a breeze, and away from open windows. I don't recall how long this should take, but I'll guess and say 20 minutes from the time it starts boiling. "Anne" wrote in message om... Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. |
compost to be used indoors
On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:30:45 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote: "Anne" wrote Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. Working from ancient memory here! The book "Crockett's Victory Garden" suggests pasteurizing it outside in a big pot, perhaps over a gas grill. Add enough water so it doesn't burn. He says it stinks to high hell, so do it on a day with a breeze, and away from open windows. I don't recall how long this should take, but I'll guess and say 20 minutes from the time it starts boiling. Or you could buy some commercial compost for your houseplants. |
compost to be used indoors
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compost to be used indoors
On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:23:49 -0700, Anne wrote:
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. Don't bother with it, it's more trouble than it's worth. Buy commercial humus. |
compost to be used indoors
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compost to be used indoors
Homor Simpson:
"mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Earthy homemade oven-roasted compost.... Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" (drooling) |
compost to be used indoors
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compost to be used indoors
Quality compost has disease suppressive qualities, why in the world
would anyone want to sterilize it? Find a source of quality vermicompost and use it. Vermicompost from tested sources will not be pathogenic! On 3 Jul 2004 07:58:30 -0700, (Beecrofter) wrote: (Anne) wrote in message . com... Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. Sift it and allow it to dry out. If you spread it on hot pavement for a day in the sun that would pretty much do the trick. You could sterillize it but it's more effort than it is worth. |
compost to be used indoors
"Frogleg" wrote in message ... On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:30:45 GMT, "Doug Kanter" wrote: "Anne" wrote Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. Working from ancient memory here! The book "Crockett's Victory Garden" suggests pasteurizing it outside in a big pot, perhaps over a gas grill. Add enough water so it doesn't burn. He says it stinks to high hell, so do it on a day with a breeze, and away from open windows. I don't recall how long this should take, but I'll guess and say 20 minutes from the time it starts boiling. Or you could buy some commercial compost for your houseplants. .....but read the label if you might use it on food plants. Over the years, I've seen a few offerings of composted municipal waste, or some such thing. Rodale tested some of this stuff back in the 1980s and found it contained not just stuff which was originally "organic", but also quite a bit of heavy metal from all the other stuff people discard (batteries, computers, etc). |
compost to be used indoors
"Salty Thumb" wrote in message ... (Anne) wrote in om: Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. If I recall correctly, one of the advantages of compost is the biological action. Sterilizing seems counterproductive. I am a cheapskate, but I go and buy potting soil anyway. It might even drain better than home made oven roasted compost. That's ONE of the advantages. The other is the physical structure - far better than some of the soilless mixes sold as houseplant soil. |
compost to be used indoors
"tomjasz" wrote in message
... Quality compost has disease suppressive qualities, why in the world would anyone want to sterilize it? Compost's great stuff, but you cannot assume that the beneficial creatures living in it are good to have indoors where there are probably no natural controls or competition. |
compost to be used indoors
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compost to be used indoors
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. A lady in the garden club lives in a condo with strict rules, she follows the same principles of composting in her basemet in a lidded 5 gallon bucket she bought at one of the large box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Other then worms, squirrels and birds my compost pile doesn't attract anyone else, are you turning in your kitchen scraps???? Colleen Zone 5 CT |
compost to be used indoors
I put manure and earthworms in my houseplants pots when I put them outside Memorial Day. The compost is done and mixed with existing soil by mid september when I take them inside. All my houseplants have worms in them because I used soil and compost from the garden to plant my houseplants... the stuff I put them in is better then storebought and since it's free it's cheaper..... my plants do very well. Colleen Zone 5 CT |
compost to be used indoors
Anne wrote:
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to bring them in. Thank you. Rather than compost for potted plants, I strongly suggest my home-made potting mix. See http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html. The problem with compost is not with the bugs. It's the fact that it keeps decomposing and shrinking. You can't merely add more compost to the top of a pot because that will eventually bury the plant's crown and may cause the plant to rot and die. Instead, you must repeatedly remove the plant and add more compost to the bottom and sides of the pot. My mix does use some compost because it contains the microbes necessary to convert the nutrients (e.g., blood meal and bone meal) into forms that plant roots can absorb. However, the main constituents are sand (which does not decompose) and peat moss (which decomposes very slowly). Also, my mix will not become waterlogged, which can be a problem with fine compost. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19) Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/ |
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