Now more than ever it would be good to know how to save some money in the garden. So here is some advice for saving money and making your own seed compost for budget gardening.
Making any kind of compost does of course require advance preparation, and I am beginning from the assumption that you already have some mature compost. If you don’t then perhaps you can borrow some from a neighbour and make them some seed compost too. Or this might inspire you to get some going for next year. Find out how here. 5 Top Tips for Making Peat Free Compost at Home
If you don't have space for a full scale composting area in your garden we are ahead of you. Take a look at our Rollmix Composter for advice on the easiest way to create compost in a small space with our amazing rolling compost bin.
How to make Seed Compost
It is far simpler and less time consuming to simply buy a bag of seed compost, BUT it will not come with wholesome ingredients of physical effort, self-satisfaction and thriftiness!
Did you know that seed compost does not need high nutrient levels? Seeds are packed with everything they need to germinate so do not ned support form the soil around them. As they grow and are potted on they need more and more fertiliser to support healthy growth but they are pretty self sufficient at the early stage.
Here are the 5 Free ingredients for seed compost:
- 1/3 mature kitchen/garden compost
- 1/3 sharp/grit sand
- 1/3 top soil - dig this up from your garden or plot
- Water
- Elbow grease
The first step is to simply mix them together in a large builders bucket or wheel barrow.
The second step is to get rid of the lumps. This isn't just to make it look like shop bought compost. There is a practical reason.
Good seed compost should be nutrient rich, moisture retentive, and have a fine uniform consistency that allows for good air circulation. The mix of above ingredients should give you all that. You will also need to sieve the mix to take out the lumps and achieve the fine airy consistency.
You could use a traditional heavy wooden riddle to sieve compost, but the Easy Riddle (pictured) offers a lighter more ergonomic way of getting the job done.
Check out this fun and poetic YouTube video to see it in action Easy Riddle - easy compost! Strictly speaking home garden compost should be heated to kill off pathogens. There is a fine balance between killing off pathogens and destroying the structure in the heating process. Few people bother with this step and no harm comes to their seedlings.
Adding moisture to your seed Compost
The third step is to get the moisture right. If you take a handful of your seed compost and squeeze it then it should hold together loosely. Then you should be able to easily crumble it back so it is loose grains. If your compost does not hold together then sprinkle with a little water and mix. Less is more so add a little at a time and check until you feel its right.
Then you can use your compost to fill pots and seed trays and grow whatever you want.
For more information about composting and our composting products please go to our composting page. In the meantime, Happy gardening!