Compost in a Garden, Farm, or Rangeland Benefits of Compost in Croplands and Gardens
•
Helps with soil increasing aggregation, building soil capacity to hold more air, moisture, and nutrients, and reducing the potential for erosion
•
Contains all essential plant nutrients and releases them slowly, over months or years, unlike synthetic fertilizers
•
Brings diverse life to soil, including bacteria, fungi, insects, and worms
Potting Mix Blend On page 12, we discussed why plants cannot be planted directly into 100 percent compost. Now let’s look at how to make a soil blend from your compost for raised garden beds or large pots. Commonly, planting mixes contain topsoil (largely clay/sand in New Mexico and light brown in color); something to encourage drainage, such as pumice, perlite, or vermiculite; something fluffy for porosity and moisture regulation, such as coconut coir or peat moss (peat moss is not recommended due to the damaging harvesting methods used, but we mention it here since it is common in commercial soil blends); and then of course the compost. You can begin with one part each in your blend as a base, and experiment with different ratios and ingredients to find what best suits your situation. Batches can be made in any size, from a wheelbarrow to a several cubic yards!
Note: Depending on your feedstocks and composting process, a high rate of manure and compost application can cause salt accumulation and therefore have negative effects on crop production. If in doubt, it’s best to test your compost before heavy applications.
The next time you work on raised beds, add potted plants to your porch, or set up a row of vegetables, trying mixing up different ratios of compost, coconut coir or peat moss, pumice or vermiculite, and sand/clay from elsewhere on your property. Be sure to write down what the ratios were and how the plants did, and evaluate what worked best for your plants!
33
