sieved compost alternative indoors?

i have been using canadian peat moss as the main ingredient of my organic soil. but now the supply has dried up.

coco peat is available to me but it is a very labour intensive process to remove the salts.

then my worm castings supplier made an interesting suggestion that fine sieved compost would do the job? my immediate concern is bringing pathogens indoors.

is there anybody who has tried this... i bet sea maiden will have a useful answer to this question?

Just don't bring the pathogens outdoors and everything should be cool.

HH, you got it.

I've been bringing compost indoors for years and never had any kind of an issue. There's nothing as healthy in your soil as a well made compost - bring it on indoors.

Its in my house in my soil mix, as a mulch topdressing and in my worm bins - they eat the hell out of it.

Its also in the form of vermicompost in my pots. Not only do the worms in my bins enjoy it but the worms in my pots love it.

Compost, compost, everywhere.

Jerry

I bring it in and let it sit for 6 months, not sure if it helps much but the bugs seem to go away in that time. You can always cook it to sterilize it, but that always seemed silly because it is so alive and that's half the benefit =)

What was used and how it was made will somewhat determine the qualities of the finished product. Straight composted leaves, leaf mold, is probably the closest thing to peat besides coco. It takes about a 1-2 years to make, though...you might be able to just find this in your yard or a neighbors. It's just a pile of leaves left to sit by itself until fungi break it down.

I just recently went looking for something to use besides peat and ended up prepping coco for the first time. I like light soils that don't hold water for too long, and compost holds some serious water. Straight compost can get 'muddy' and it will be thick, you should definitely cut it with something. Compost is great, but it's usually not used for more than 50% of any potting soil mix recipe I've ever seen. Leaf mold is different, though, as its not typical compost and it feels different.

Good luck with whatever you choose, hope I've helped.

The answer to bugs is more bugs. When plants are in a protected environment, so are the bugs.

Compost is king....adjust with aeration amendments.

Capt.Cheeze1 said:

Compost is king....adjust with aeration amendments.

Click to expand...

you have used it successfully indoors captain cheese?

i get vermicompost from an organic nursery. works great. it appears to be wormcastings and screened compost mix.

yes you can and should use compost in your indoor mixes.

no it will not be a 1:1 peat replacement.

moses wellfleet said:

you have used it successfully indoors captain cheese?

Click to expand...

This is correct. Compost is as good or better than EWC at putting humic material and bio-diversity in the soil...I use both.

I used to put compost in on every recycle until I felt I had reached the desired level which would actually be of benefit for the long haul of recycling.. Remember my soil is 3 years old and very little compost or EWC is actually needed now other than quick fix top dressing on individually troubled plants that may arise due to whatever reason...mostly type related.