What are the benifts of compost and how is it used?

Answer 1

Compost is gold for a garden. As a mulch it fertilizes while controlling weeds, retaining moisture, and stabilizing soil temperature, when mixed into soil it improves the texture, breaking up clay soils while increasing drainage, and giving structure to sandy soil while increasing water retention. There is no such thing as too much compost, because it will never burn your plants like chemicals do, and the more you add to the soil the healthier and more fertile the soil becomes, creating a perfect environment for all the microorganisms and insects which are beneficial for plants, thus controlling the population of the insects you don't want, and of course the stronger a plant is (and compost will strengthen it), the better its ability to combat diseases.

There are basically four different ways to use compost, though there are of course variations.

1. You can use it as a mulch, meaning put a layer of compost on top of the bare soil around plants, usually 1-2 inches deep.

2. You can dig or till it directly into the soil, either near existing plants or before planting.

3. You can use it to make "compost tea" (you make it pretty much like normal tea, but use cool water and do not drink with sugar and lemon), which can be used either as a liquid fertilizer or a foliar spray, meaning something you spray directly on the plant to give it a boost of nutrients.

4. You can use it to make your own potting soil mix, either by planting things directly in the compost or mixing it with vermiculite, perlite, wood chips, even just some dirt dug up from outside in order to give it a bit better drainage, a stronger texture for roots to grip, and to spread the nutrients out enough so that roots continue to spread (plants in pure compost may eventually just topple over because the roots will not find the need to grow very much)

Compost is awesome.