what compost for salad and herbs?

[PreparedKent]

Just wondering if standard compost ie stuff with added nutes is OK for herbs and salad or will the plant food taint the herbs as they are quick growing??

[featherstick]

Shop-bought compost contains nutrients for about 6 weeks, so you'll get a baby crop or two if you sow thickly and cut when they are about 2-3 inches high.

For full size lettuce etc. you'll need to sow in compost and then plant out into proper soil mixture, either in a bed or in a container. Pulling a few leaves off at a time is a good way to keep your salad going.

Herbs need different treatment - we are after the essential oils which give them their flavour. They'll do better in slightly poorer soil in a sunny spot, which will match the marginal, Mediterranean conditions they originated in. This will give long lasting plants. If you're just after shoots, then just sow into compost and harvest as wanted.

[PreparedKent]

Thanks for the advice, I'm planning on planting out rocket, chives, basil and Italian leaves.

So multipurpose compost should be OK for now then? I have (rotting) chicken manure in a covered silo at the moment but its nowhere near ready and due to smell issues I couldn't use it in my conservatory.

[featherstick]

Thanks for the advice, I'm planning on planting out rocket, chives, basil and Italian leaves.

So multipurpose compost should be OK for now then? I have (rotting) chicken manure in a covered silo at the moment but its nowhere near ready and due to smell issues I couldn't use it in my conservatory.

Multipurpose will be fine for starting them, and will grow baby leaf crops. Rocket does well in Kent on the thin chalk soil, and I have perennial wild rocket on the allotment - great big self-sown bushes, so get that it you can.

Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and gives off ammonia as it degrades so is unsuitable for direct use on plants but can be used as a compost-heap starter, or left to completely rot down and used as a high-nitrogen feed.