Compost storage

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
PrepDad
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 11, 2022 12:27 am

Re: Compost storage

Post by PrepDad »

Yes I thought a sell by date would come into it and keeping it in a useful state would also pose a problem. I appreciate the feedback about aquaponics however I'm still trying to keep my preps basic/cheap/minimal time. Ive seen some "dehydrated" compost in a 10l bag, Im going to buy a bag and some micro greens and do a little experiment see how they turn out in an indoor environment. Thanks for all the feedback, ill hopefully post up some results soon!!
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Compost storage

Post by jennyjj01 »

PrepDad wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 5:53 pm Yes I thought a sell by date would come into it and keeping it in a useful state would also pose a problem. I appreciate the feedback about aquaponics however I'm still trying to keep my preps basic/cheap/minimal time. Ive seen some "dehydrated" compost in a 10l bag, Im going to buy a bag and some micro greens and do a little experiment see how they turn out in an indoor environment. Thanks for all the feedback, ill hopefully post up some results soon!!
Compressed coir bricks? An interesting product. Thanks for the pointer! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greena%C2%AE-C ... C88&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Potting-Compos ... r=8-5&th=1

Four to fifteen times the cost of regular compost ?!

Again, what is your expected usage of the compost? In the house, stuck indoors or to be used as 'clean soil' when the outside world is contaminated. And what is your gardening level of expertise?

A 30L grow bag costs about £3 and takes up 0.03M^3 of storage space and is good for three tomato plants. Three coffee jars and three trifle pots costs nothing, takes very little space, lasts forever and will support three tomato plants just as well if not better than the growbag. "basic/cheap/minimal time"
Plus for the cost of a tomato pip , a teaspoon of fertilizer and a loo roll, you could have a practice growing season.

I've spent about £120 on bags of compost this year with mixed results. I could possibly get the same crop from £20 of simple hydroponics kit. And watering would have been easier to get right.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

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PrepDad
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 11, 2022 12:27 am

Re: Compost storage

Post by PrepDad »

[/quote]Compressed coir bricks? An interesting product. Thanks for the pointer! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greena%C2%AE-C ... C88&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Potting-Compos ... r=8-5&th=1

Four to fifteen times the cost of regular compost ?!

Again, what is your expected usage of the compost? In the house, stuck indoors or to be used as 'clean soil' when the outside world is contaminated. And what is your gardening level of expertise?

A 30L grow bag costs about £3 and takes up 0.03M^3 of storage space and is good for three tomato plants. Three coffee jars and three trifle pots costs nothing, takes very little space, lasts forever and will support three tomato plants just as well if not better than the growbag. "basic/cheap/minimal time"
Plus for the cost of a tomato pip , a teaspoon of fertilizer and a loo roll, you could have a practice growing season.

I've spent about £120 on bags of compost this year with mixed results. I could possibly get the same crop from £20 of simple hydroponics kit. And watering would have been easier to get right.
[/quote]

Ive got a pretty extensive garden with veg beds with active compost bins (approx 1acre total garden space) but the veg beds/chickens are in a separate old walled garden which is handy as the walls provide a good level of security.

Id like the idea of the dehydrated stuff as I should just be able to store it long term and forget about it until it would be needed (hopefully it has a good shelf life) I can imagine its not going to feed the family however it would also give some of the younger ones something to do and go into building a bit of a "bugging in" routine
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Compost storage

Post by jennyjj01 »

PrepDad wrote: Sun May 15, 2022 9:34 pm Ive got a pretty extensive garden with veg beds with active compost bins (approx 1acre total garden space) but the veg beds/chickens are in a separate old walled garden which is handy as the walls provide a good level of security.

Id like the idea of the dehydrated stuff as I should just be able to store it long term and forget about it until it would be needed (hopefully it has a good shelf life) I can imagine its not going to feed the family however it would also give some of the younger ones something to do and go into building a bit of a "bugging in" routine
I respect your superior gardening knowledge and I agree that dehdrated/compressed sounds useful.
Let's hope we never have to bug-indoors to that ultimate level, and having this as part of training your children is as good a reason as any for getting some.

I'd still suggest having a practice session with it now rather than when needed. And I'm still intrigued enough to do my own hydroponic experiments. If you watched the tomato video, the yield was most impressive.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Compost storage

Post by Arzosah »

The compressed coir bricks are what I'm currently using for my seedlings right now - this stuff https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-coco- ... /p/0504679 the pack I bought was 16l, I think, not 10l. It's doing okay, the first seedlings popped out after only two days (it's May, after all) and the cornflower seeds are just starting to poke through, though the chives aren't doing anything yet.

Just to remember there's no nutrition in there at all, so potting on becomes super-duper important. I'm away overnight midweek for a funeral, so I'm wondering if the first-born seeds, the kale, will make it, can't exactly plan this stuff. I'll do what I can - no true leaves showing on them yet, so there's not much I can do.

As for storing - the rest (and there's a lot of it :( ) is sitting on the kitchen table. On my social-blather forum, someone told me that they'd sawn up the compost brick into pieces, which is a brilliant idea to me. Highly recommended, seeing how big the whole dratted thing is when hydrated.
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Compost storage

Post by jennyjj01 »

Arzosah wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:43 am ...- this stuff https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-coco- ... /p/0504679 the pack I bought was 16l, I think, not 10l. ...

Just to remember there's no nutrition in there at all.
At £1.60 for 10L equivalent, this sounds great value and on a par with growbags. For that price, I'll get some.

Interesting that you say it has no nutrients. I wondered if there's any in the normal Coir composts? A quick google reveals that many, but not all Coir growbags have added nutrients. Some of these brick ones ( Coco Boost ) have added nutrients too. But Coir is not the best at Holding nutrients

Many regular seed composts are low in nutrients too. Goes to show that this compost stuff really is more complicated than just 'dirt'. It also explains why some of my seedlings died. They starved.

The consensus as I see it, is that it's a nice soft medium for germinating seeds, but then we must add a feed or pot on into nutrient rich compost... Or do the hydroponics thing.

So..... Next to research different fertilisers and feeds.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Compost storage

Post by jennyjj01 »

Arzosah wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:43 am ...- this stuff https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-coco- ... /p/0504679 the pack I bought was 16l, I think, not 10l. ...

Just to remember there's no nutrition in there at all.
At £1.60 for 10L equivalent, this sounds great value and on a par with growbags. For that price, I'll get some.

Interesting that you say it has no nutrients. I wondered if there's any in the normal Coir composts? A quick google reveals that many, but not all Coir growbags have added nutrients. Some of these brick ones ( Coco Boost ) have added nutrients too. But Coir is not the best at Holding nutrients

Many regular seed composts are low in nutrients too. Goes to show that this compost stuff really is more complicated than just 'dirt'. It also explains why some of my seedlings died. They starved.

The consensus as I see it, is that it's a nice soft medium for germinating seeds, but then we must add a feed or pot on into nutrient rich compost... Or do the hydroponics thing.

So..... Next to research different fertilisers and feeds.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Compost storage

Post by jennyjj01 »

jennyjj01 wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:30 am
Arzosah wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:43 am ...- this stuff https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-coco- ... /p/0504679 the pack I bought was 16l, I think, not 10l. ...

Just to remember there's no nutrition in there at all.
At £1.60 for 10L equivalent, this sounds great value and on a par with growbags. For that price, I'll get some.
Apparently the Wilkinsons ones are mail order only with low max order limits :( :(

Some very similar bricks reduced to £1.25 in PoundStretcher. Each brick supposedly makes 10L. A small bucketful.

I just made one up as per the instructions to add 9L tepid water. After an hour and a bit of stirring, I'd say it's very waterlogged. A bit like used tea-leaves or coffee grounds. Probably can only take a max of 8L to get a proper consistency.

It did dissolve and crumble very easily. I progressively crumbled it rather than just letting it soak.

Will sow something in it later tonight.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong