All gardeners know the benefits of composting. But you’ve probably also heard that compost can burn plants. Confused? Compost is intended to benefit your plants, but sometimes, too much of a good thing can be harmful! So in this article, I’ll explain why compost can burn plants and what you can do to avoid this…
I remember the first time I checked my outdoor compost after a thundershower. I noticed a brown liquid seeping from the bottom of my bin. Aha! That must be the compost tea I keep hearing marvelous things about! I thought excitedly. Now that I’ve been composting for years, I know the liquid wasn’t compost tea. …
Whenever I hear someone say compost and fertilizer are the same things, I’m tempted to blurt out, “Oh no, they’re not!” But I bite my tongue because I don’t want to be a know-it-all 🙂 Although I stop myself from correcting people’s gardening knowledge during casual conversations, I share what I know when asked. So…
Most gardeners understand the value of compost as a soil amendment. It’s an excellent source of plant nutrients and can even be used as mulch. So given the benefits of compost, can you use it as a replacement for potting soil and plant directly into compost? It sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to do……
If you’re a regular here at Help Me Compost (thank you!), you know I talk a lot about balancing greens and browns. Greens (organic wastes high in nitrogen) and browns (carbon-rich wastes) are 2 essential ingredients your compost needs in a specific ratio. I like to keep composting stress-free, so I usually give loose guidelines…
Both worm castings and compost take a certain amount of effort to produce. But is one better than the other? Should you try making more worm compost or just stick to classic composting? And is there really a significant difference between these two substances? In this article, I’ll explain in detail how these two things…
You might be wondering what type of compost is best suited to your gardening needs. And there’s a surprisingly wide range of different types of compost you can use. Which can make things pretty confusing. In fact, I would even say that no one type of compost is the same as another! After all, the…
It’s easy to get confused! The stuff you put in your compost heap eventually turns into something that closely resembles good earthy soil. But is it? Granted, it certainly looks very similar. But there are some essential things to understand about the transformation process that we call “decomposition” and the end product called “compost.” And…
If you’ve watched your compost develop, you’ll know that the garden wastes and food scraps you tossed in look very different as time goes by. But how do you know when the transformation is complete? You might have heard that the ultimate form is “black gold.” But what the heck does finished compost look like…
I’ve heard experienced gardeners say that compost and topsoil are just the same things! I think that statement sums up the level of confusion about these two substances. After all, they look pretty similar. And you grow plants in both of them… Right? So what’s the big deal? Suppose you’re serious about growing healthy, disease-free…