{"id":11448,"date":"2020-10-16T16:01:47","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T23:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=11448"},"modified":"2020-10-16T16:01:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T23:01:49","slug":"fertilizing-vegetables-with-compost-pros-and-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/fertilizing-vegetables-with-compost-pros-and-cons\/","title":{"rendered":"Fertilizing vegetables with compost: pros and cons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

October being one of the two transitional times in the vegetable garden in Southern California (March being the other), it is a month when I usually add compost to the beds. So compost is on my mind right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been using compost to fertilize my vegetable gardens for the past 15 years or so. How has it gone? What are the pros and cons?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with the good news, the advantages, the reasons that I choose to use compost. But even before that, let me quickly define my term. Compost is any plant or animal material that has sat around for a while and decomposed substantially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have made and purchased compost that consists of only plant materials. You can buy this type of compost in a bag, but mostly I have purchased the yard waste compost from a municipal facility (Miramar Greenery<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My boys help load compost at Miramar back in 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And I have made my own compost in which I added various manures (chicken, pig, horse, cow) to the plant material and let the mix break down for some months. (See the photo at the top, where my chickens are scratching through a compost pile one more time before I use it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such composts can also be purchased in bags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Malibu compost. I’ve never used it, but I’ve seen it around.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pros: Simple<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the advantages of compost is that it\u2019s simple to apply. How much to add? Doesn\u2019t much matter. If your plants aren\u2019t growing as well as you\u2019d like, try adding more. Can you add too much? Probably, but I\u2019ve never seen such a case. I personally add about two inches to the surface of each vegetable bed per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you need to dig it in? No. You can, but you don\u2019t need to. I haven\u2019t dug compost into my vegetable beds for about eight years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(More in my post, \u201cDon\u2019t dig in your garden.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I changed over this bed last week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Old tomatoes to be removed.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Tomatoes removed.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Compost added to surface.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Carrots sown into compost.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Natural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, intuitively we might sense that just spreading compost on top of a vegetable bed should work because it is similar to how nature works. In nature, a bunch of plant and animal material dies and lies on the soil surface and is taken down into the dirt by various small organisms, constantly and forever, providing nutrients for the roots of new plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because compost is usually made with diverse ingredients and various parts of plants, it can contain a panoply of nutrients, all the nutrients that new plants need to grow. Therefore, compost can be your only fertilizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can make own<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compost is also a convenient fertilizer in that anyone can make it on their own. It also requires very little space and effort if done in certain ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(See my post, \u201cSimple composting.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I like to make piles like this in the fall so the winter rains keep them moist and decomposing all winter into spring.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That being said, it is difficult to make as much compost as your garden needs. I\u2019ve always had to buy or bring in extra to supplement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increases water and nutrient retention<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most fertilizers add nutrients but few other benefits to your vegetable garden\u2019s soil. Compost, however, additionally \u201camends\u201d the soil by improving it in various ways. In sandy soils in particular, compost improves both the water-holding and nutrient-holding capacities. The more water a soil can hold, the less often you need to irrigate. The more nutrients a soil can hold, the less often you need to fertilize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read about these claims for composts everywhere, in the Western Fertilizer Handbook<\/em><\/a> for example. But are these benefits so big that you\u2019ll notice them? I sometimes think I notice such improvements in my own gardens over the years, but I can\u2019t be sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Read this thought-provoking article: \u201cCompost may not improve orchard performance.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increases permeability and aeration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another set of benefits imparted by compost that is not strictly related to fertilization is in increasing a soil\u2019s permeability and aeration. This means that water, air, and roots can pass through the soil more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Composts that include fibrous materials such as wood and bark are especially capable of improving the soil in this way. (Page 146 in the Western Fertilizer Handbook<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prevents soil crusting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my first vegetable garden, the soil had an irritating tendency to form a crust on the surface. This made it difficult to water, and it was also challenging for seeds to break through after they\u2019d germinated. Compost, especially compost left on the surface, helps ameliorate this condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weed control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using compost as fertilizer and mulch also provides some weed control by covering the weed seeds and inhibiting their germination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I find that carrots germinate easily through a shallow compost covering. The compost can also reduce the need to weed around the tiny carrot seedlings.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You do have to be using compost that doesn\u2019t contain its own weed seeds. Sometimes I am too reluctant to trash plants and I end up adding some with seeds to my compost piles and, therefore, I don\u2019t get the full weed control benefits that the compost could otherwise provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeps fruit and leaves cleaner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it rains and there\u2019s nothing covering the dirt of your vegetable bed, you get a lot of splashing up onto the plants. This is especially inconvenient for crops like lettuce and strawberries. Using compost on the surface of the bed as a fertilizer and mulch reduces this. It doesn\u2019t completely prevent the splashing, in my experience, but it does significantly reduce it. So there\u2019s less washing needed at harvest time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protects against soil erosion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also when it rains, the soil on your beds can erode. I\u2019ve always gardened on slight to extreme slopes so this has been an important consideration for me. With compost on the surface of a bed, I haven\u2019t seen any erosion except in the heaviest of downpours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cons: Laborious and time consuming<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now for the other side. Fertilizing vegetables with compost does have disadvantages compared to fertilizing with other products. For one thing, compost is bulky and requires more time and effort to apply than fertilizers that you can easily sprinkle from a box, or that you can inject into your irrigation system. With compost, you must labor to make it or buy it and transport the heavy stuff to your garden and then spread it around. It is all far more time-consuming and effortful than applying other fertilizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sifted and ready for hauling and spreading.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Slower acting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nutrients in compost are mostly in a form that is slower to be used by plants versus the forms in other fertilizers. If you need instant nutrition for a plant, compost is not your best choice. Compost can take weeks to months before it is further broken down by soil microbes into the chemical forms that plant roots can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(See more at this University of California webpage about compost<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weak<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to other fertilizers, compost is less concentrated. While composts are variable in their characteristics and nutrient profiles according to what has been used to make them, they generally contain far less of the macronutrients that plants need to grow. Macronutrients are nutrients that plants need a lot of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such macronutrient is nitrogen, but compost is usually said to contain only 1.5 to 2 percent nitrogen by volume. In contrast, most organic vegetable fertilizers contain 4 percent. For example, E.B. Stone\u2019s \u201cTomato and Vegetable Food\u201d<\/a> has 4 percent nitrogen, as does Down to Earth\u2019s \u201cVegetable Garden\u201d<\/a> fertilizer. Therefore, pound for pound, you\u2019re going to have to add more compost to apply the same amount of nutrients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why I use compost<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always thought of fertilizing my vegetables with compost as doing it for the long haul. I seek a steady diet for my soil’s biology and for my plants. And I want soil with better structure and more microbes every year, such that I might even be able to take a year off and not notice a difference in plant performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s the dream, anyway. No doubt, other ways of fertilizing vegetables have advantages though. The one that appeals to me on some days is not having to load my truck or wheelbarrow and spread compost. Rather, sprinkling something from a little box sounds nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet compost comes with so many ancillary benefits — especially when used as a mulch — that I would seek to provide for my vegetables anyway. Because of this whole picture, compost remains the best method for fertilizing vegetables in my present circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I also have to admit that I love the way a good compost feels and smells. Must be something primal.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

You might also like to read this related post: “Using wood chips as mulch for vegetables.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a more general fertilizing post: “Fertile soil can be child’s play.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of my Yard Posts are HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October being one of the two transitional times in the vegetable garden in Southern California (March being the other), it is a month when I usually add compost to the beds. So compost is on my mind right now. I\u2019ve been using compost to fertilize my vegetable gardens for the past 15 years or so. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,30],"tags":[41,62],"class_list":["post-11448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soil-and-fertilizer","category-vegetables","tag-compost","tag-fertilizer"],"yoast_head":"\nFertilizing vegetables with compost: pros and cons - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My experiences of the advantages and disadvantages of fertilizing a vegetable garden using compost almost exclusively for about 15 years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/fertilizing-vegetables-with-compost-pros-and-cons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fertilizing vegetables with compost: pros and cons - 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