posted
I hope I am in the right forum for these questions :
I am replanting my watermelon plant's (17 plants in all). I have several bags of leaves I was wondering can I use that in the soil since how they have been in bags for the last several months (10 bags of leave's)?
Or does it have to be mixed with other stuff like the egg shells, coffee grinds, etc....?
posted
it probably would be better to cook em down a bit as compost. i could be wrong but if they are in their present state ,their not gonna offer much to the plants. next year maybe,but i dont think they would offer much in their present state other then fluffing the soil a bit.ive grown watermelons but ive never grown good watermelons!! kinda would like to see what it takes to grow a good watermelon.
Plants: 180 | From: st louis mo | Registered: Mar 2006
| Seeded: 70.237.214.242
posted
Thank you porter57, I have heard all kinds of stories some people say water the watermelon alot some say don't so right now I am trying to water every other day, but now that our rain is out i will check on it every 2 to 3 day. So back to the leaves problem how are you suppose to cook them? Just sit them out in the sun or am I suppose to get some kind of machine? I really would love to start compost gardening instead of throughing some much out. I also here you can use coffee does it matter if it is flavored do you know? I drink alot of that I also eat a lot of eggs. Thank you for your help in advance Porter57 or anyone. Nicky
posted
when i said cook em down a bit,i meant to compost em. shred em if you can,mix em in a big pile(3 foot by 3 foot) with green stuff...grass clippings,vegetable waste from the kitchen,coffee grounds,tea bags,tater peels, left over fruit and vegetables. water the pile well as you make it and let it sit .every week or so turn it over to expose the inner part to air. it should start to get warm and if its really going well it will actually get hot! eventually,it will break down to a dark crumbly substance known as compost. mixing that with you garden soil will greatly enhance it. but it does take time. starting now,your not likely to have any before your melons are well on their way. you can place it around and dig it in around exsisting plants and it will do some good but its real beauty is that it enhances your soil and makes it much more appealing for future plantings. if you have the room for such an endeavor, i highly recomend it. otherwise you can buy compost and mix it in before you start your garden. its just so cool to take what we would normally have to dispose of and come up with a real use for it. i have a pile cooking right now and its almost ready. smells reall earthy like and i didnt have to pay a waste hauler to take the thirty or so bags of leaves off my hands last fall. once i shreeded them with the lawn mower i had a pile about 4'x 4' and started adding green waste as i generated it over the winter. first couple mowings worth of grass clippings went in also. checked it the other day and its getting hot right now.
Plants: 180 | From: st louis mo | Registered: Mar 2006
| Seeded: 70.237.214.242
posted
Thank you Porter57, I had never heard of organic compost before. I started thinking about starting organic compost when i came to this forum there's so much info. I love this forum. It really comes in handy for us newbie's. Again thank you I will keep what you said in mind hopefully I will be starting it in the next month or 2 (I'm saving up the stuff). Thank you, Nicky
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