Yes, you absolutely can use compost in containers.
Using compost in container gardens is a great way to provide nutrients and improve the soil structure for your potted plants. Based on the reference provided, once your compost has broken down into a finished stage, known as humus, it is ready to be incorporated into your container planting mix or used as a liquid feed.
Utilizing Finished Compost in Containers
Finished compost is a rich, dark, and crumbly material with a pleasant earthy smell. It's essentially decomposed organic matter that has reached a stable state.
According to the reference, when your compost reaches this mature, soil-like stage:
- You can directly add it to your garden bed or containers. This means you can mix it into your potting soil or use it as a top layer.
- You can also make a compost tea as a liquid fertilizer to use as you water your garden.
Methods for Using Compost in Containers
Here are the primary ways to use finished compost for your container plants, as suggested by the reference:
1. Direct Addition
- How: Incorporate the mature, crumbly compost directly into the soil mix you use for planting in your containers. Alternatively, you can gently add a layer of finished compost to the top of existing container soil.
- Benefit (Implied by being usable): Provides nutrients and improves soil quality within the confined space of a container.
2. Compost Tea
- How: Create a liquid feed by steeping finished compost in water. The reference specifies a ratio of 5 parts water to 1 part compost for making this tea. Once brewed and strained (optional, but recommended for watering cans), use this liquid to water your container plants.
- Benefit (Implied by being usable): Offers a boost of soluble nutrients that plants can readily absorb through watering.
Both methods allow you to effectively use the valuable nutrients and organic matter from your finished compost to support healthy growth in your container gardens.
