i have a supply of some good smelling compost made from leaves
is this usefull for potting on some delphinium seedlings?
what else is it usefull for.
i am not sure if it has any nutritional value .
and where it can be best applied in my garden

On Tue, 28 Jan 2003 19:58:46 +0000, george wrote:

i have a supply of some good smelling compost made from leaves
is this usefull for potting on some delphinium seedlings?
what else is it usefull for.
i am not sure if it has any nutritional value .
and where it can be best applied in my garden


If you want to mix your own potting compost you could make peat free
John Innes. In the original specification the originators recomended
either peat or leaf mould
For seed compost use:
2 parts by bulk medium loam
1 " " " peat or leaf mould
1 " " " coarse sand

For porring compost use:
7 parts by bulk medium loam
3 " " " peat or leaf mould
2 " " " coarse sand

To each of these should be added chalk and fertilizer.

The original spec for the fertilizer was:
2parts by weight hoof and horn
2 " " " superphosphate of lime
1 " " " sulphate of potash

This gives an analysis of N5.1 P 6.4 K 9.7

For seed compost you should add 1lb of chalk and 2 lbs of the
fertilizer mix per cubic yard
For normal potting compost you should add 1 lb of chalk and 5 lbs of
fertilizer mix per cubic yard.

The loam and leaf mould should be sterilized before mixing.
For calcifuge plants omit the chalk.

--
Pete The Gardener
A room without books is like a body without a soul.

"george" wrote in message
...
i have a supply of some good smelling compost made from leaves
is this usefull for potting on some delphinium seedlings?
what else is it usefull for.
i am not sure if it has any nutritional value .
and where it can be best applied in my garden

As Pete said I wouldn't use it neat. Mix it with some normal compost, or
some soil. I like to mix my own blends anyway, generally some leaf compost,
some household compost, some soil, some sand, a little grit/gravel (since my
soil is clay), and occasionally some slow release fertiliser, or some
perlite. This I then use as a general compost for potting up and planting
out. This mix seems to me to contain almost everything most plants could
possibly need and seems to do a very good job with most plants I've put it
into. Including such things as pineapples, bananas and lemon trees, mind you
I also use it for the more run of the mill plants, potting up vegetables
etc.

Generally leaf mold is excellent for plants that live normally in a woodland
setting, e.g. bluebells, hellebores, ivy's.

Duncan