Recently I questioned myself whether I am applying compost in my garden the right way or not. At the moment I'm using it mixed well into the first six inches of earth before planting anything in it. I understand some people buried it in the grow bed and some as a mulch. So is there a right way? or Is there a most effective way to use it?
I don't know the answer to this question, KK, but I would like to so I'll be watching this thread that you have started to see what the folks on THE STEW have to say.. Hank
I recycle to a border I don't use for much. It should be a rich border in the Spring, I threw half a big bag of B&Q manure on it. K
I am not sure there is a more correct way or not... at least you got it on where the plant can utilize it somehow.
I am in complete agreement with Carolyn....I honestly do not know. I know how I use it (and it is in different ways depending on what I am doing and what I want to achieve).
KK, there is no wrong way to use compost, unless you are using it as a side dish with your beef roast! I use compost turned into the garden soil; as a side dressing for vegetables; and as mulch around my roses. Our compost gets used as a 2" or 3" bottom in a planting hole (for tomatoes, peppers, any plant that goes in as a transplant and not a seed) and I mix it with potting soil for the container plants--about one third compost and two-thirds potting soil. If you have a limited amount of compost, think where it will do the most good, and apply it there. Good home-made compost is such a boon for your plants!
I buy my compost by the truckload 5 yards at a time. It goes everywhere, lawn, garden beds and plants(mixed with a nursery potting soil). It usually takes me the summer to use it up. Jerry
I put it in the planting hole when I transplant my seedlings to give them a boost. I also mostly topdress / sidedress under my mulch. If you look at the way God designed nature, it is from the top down. If you already have decent soil I wouldn't dig it in. Topdress and mulch on top. Watering / rain will do the rest. A good and steady layer of mulch is just as important as compost. Look at how it takes place in nature. In the forests where plants grow the best, they fertilize themselves. Every time the trees drop their leaves they add to the "mulch" which breaks down on the top over time and the rain brings it down through the soil. Of course our soil need more help since it is not fertile rainforest soil. The best we can do is try to get hints from the natural way nature works. At least that is my take on it. I live in the tropics and have horrible sandy soil. My garden beds are about 2 years old and I add as much organic matter as I possibly can. Never let fall leaves (which I don't have the pleasure of getting down here), yard clippings, kitchen scraps, etc go to waste. It will improve your soil drastically. The more we learn about microbiology and the organisms that make up our soil, the more we find out that nature has it right from the very beginning.
Yes Mart, JUST USE IT!!! hehe!!! Errr ... Clay_22 I don't get what you mean. Sorry! Do you mind rephrasing?
I think Clay 22 is asking you to let him know how your compost helps out. He said he just is just starting composting.
Thanks Tacticalgardener. Clay_22 I had been using compost since day 1 I started my "Mini-Farm" in 2008. My compost is mainly grass clipping from my lawn and daily coffee ground from the coffee I had and kitchen vegetable waste including egg shells. It was really good for my Mini-Farm and almost everything grow really well. There is no need to add any kind of fertilizer other than the compost. I usually mixed the compost with earth from the grow bed in the ratio of 1:1 and return the mixture back to the grow bed forming a top layer of about 6 inches. In 2013 we decided to downsize our home and relocated to where we are now and a new Mini-Farm was developed. As a comparison the old place the house was build about 70 years ago and the land was as original as mother earth so it is already very fertile. Now in this new place the land was developed for housing 17 years ago. The area where our house is build is cut from a hill side to make it flat. The cut is deep like 20 feet or more and so what we get is a very infertile yard. The ground is hard with lots of rocks and clay. I continued using compost the way I did but I had problems of under nourished veggies. Out of desperation for the first time in my life I bought fertilizer. Over time I added as much compost as I can to fertilize and amend my grow beds. Every now and then I'll collect fish guts from my fishmonger and buried them deep in the grow bed. Most of the veggies I planted now are doing better and I had stop using fertilizers. Worms had also taken up resident in my grow bed too! Yes compost is GREAT! USE IT!!! The reason I asked how to use compost is because I was confused by the many articles I read in the www.