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Can You Add Too Much Compost To Soil? Now Answered

by Idris Ya'u
This article was fact checked.
Helpful: 100%

Welcome once again to the world of compost and its relevance to your soil. We’ve treated what compost is, its comparison with fertilizer, and other relevant topics in the past, however, in this article, we’ll be discussing whether you can add too much compost to the soil.

Once the compost has matured and is ready to use, it can be used in a variety of ways in the garden. You can use it as mulch, add it to your soil to increase its quality, dilute compost tea to use as liquid fertilizer, or apply it directly to an aerated grass.

To use compost as mulch, treat it like any other sort of mulch and apply it to your garden beds once or twice a year in a two to three-inch layer.

Simply dig the compost into your soil to a depth of four inches if your soil requires improvement. Composting in an insulated bin which is intended to trap heat and enable food scraps and other natural matter to break down quickly in the composter can also help speed up the process.

Read also: How To Start A Worm Bin

Compost For Gardeners

Many gardeners swear by compost because of the numerous advantages it provides to their gardens. It is a type of organic material created from shredded twigs, leaves, plants, and even kitchen leftovers.

Gardeners provide a boost to their plants by providing them with all of the nutrients they require by including compost into their gardening practice. Using too much compost, on the other hand, will suffocate or kill the plant. This is the unfavorable side of composting.

Composting is a good way to save money by recycling any yard trash that would have ended up in plastic bags at the landfill instead of paying a firm to clean up and cart away any dead plant materials.

Recommended reading: Step By Step Guide To Vermicompost

Demerits Of Compost

Even though adding too much compost is bad, the following are the various demerits of compost.

  1. Ensure that none of your garden plants have soil-borne diseases before using compost.
  2. Compost takes longer than other additives to have an effect on the soil.
  3. Composting can be a time-consuming process that can take months to finish.
  4. Composting needs more physical effort than simply digging out some topsoil.
  5. Because compost is created from decomposing organic materials, compost spreads can be stinky at times.
  6. Compost requires extra storage and processing area.

Can You Add Too Much Compost To Soil?

Even while compost is a fantastic source of nutrients and helps to create the structure of the soil, too much of it can be harmful due to greater phosphorus levels if it is not fully cured.

High amounts of phosphorus make it difficult for plants to absorb iron and manganese, resulting in shortages that cause chlorophyll in plant leaves to exit the veins and become stranded on the outside.

This can be caused by an excess of iron or phosphorus. You can exacerbate the problem by adding more compost, which can eventually kill the plant.

High quantities of phosphorus are poisonous to mycorrhizal fungi, which are an important part of the plant’s microbiome. These fungi provide water, phosphate, and nutrients to the plant. Plants that do not have it must expend more energy, which is necessary for larger root systems to survive.

Read also: How Much Compost to Mix with Soil

Conclusion

I hope you find this article helpful. I would like to hear from you. So, let me know if you have any questions.

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