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Growing in pure Compost

Has anyone grown peppers in pure organic compost as the medium?



I've added 20% perlite and a handful of organic bonemeal to the planting hole along with 100% organic compost in a 6.5 gallon bucket.

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This is a subject that comes up alot.
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As a general rule, pure compost is not a good idea.  That being said, not all compost is the same. Some compost is leaf litter, some is aged bark, some is kitchen scraps, some is manure, some is dead bodies.  It's just too generic to call something "compost", and then make statements about its suitability as a growing medium. (as I've come to find out)
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Again, however, pure compost violates soil (soilless) building 101.  It is best served as an amendment, not a medium.
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Bone meal in pots is a rather worthless amendment for potted plants.  It will never ever have the time to break down in containers, and in return, it gives you the risk of pathogens.  And critters love it.  It might be worth putting up with, if there were a real benefit.  But even so, phosphorus is probably the least likely nutrient to be deficient, even in containers, and adding more won't give you extra benefit. Skip that, save some money for plants.
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Some people have had luck with pure "compost".  My hat is off to them.  I have tried it and failed on multiple occasions.  Multiple types of compost.  It's too hard to deal with in a climate that gets alot of rain. (turns to mud)  Then, when it dries out, it tends to turn to concrete. (compaction)  In reality, you can get the full benefit of compost, with the addition of only 5% by total volume.
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Maybe your climate allows good benefit.  If it works, use it.  But at least specify what is in your "compost".
 
I feel like the "compost" some people use at 100% and actually succeed with is porous enough to not compact easily due to being made mostly of bark and such.
 
I tried some local compost as an experiment, but it just compacted into a solid lump as I expected. The plant is growing and green, but very slowly presumably because it can't spread its roots properly.
 
I've got basically pure compost in raised beds; added some gypsum and some osmocote- type granulated fertilizer to the ones at home. Aside from other mixtures in fabric pots, that's the only medium I've grown in until this year. Never tried it in buckets or similar containers.

The Community Garden I belong to, that's all they let us grow in...16x4' raised beds filled with what they call "organic mushroom compost" but I don't think that's what it really is. I've seen three shipments of that stuff come in so far; first year's was old and well-composted. Last year's smelled rank and was still "hot" when we got it. Boy, it smelled bad! And it burned some of my plants up a bit at plant-out. This year's still smelled like it might be hot, but the plants seemed unfazed by it.

When I say I don't think it's actually organic mushroom compost, what I mean is, we get it from the City of Camden's Children's Gardens, with whom we partner, and it seems to be similar to the stuff you get from a lot of urban composting centers. I suspect it comes from the Philadelphia composting center, originally. Seems like it is mostly leaf compost with other stuff thrown in... Some woodchips, kitchen scraps, actual garbage. Like, I always find latex gloves and plastic food wrappers in the pile. But it is light and airy like real mushroom compost is. When we started a farm/garden at work, we spent the money to have mushroom compost delivered so I know what that stuff is like. Very light and well aerated just by its structure alone, with zero plastic or rubber garbage included. Both the "real deal" mushroom compost and the stuff we get from the 'hood both drain very well in the context of raised beds.

(Fwiw, we do "make" our own compost at the Community Garden, mostly from the remains of last year's plants, leaves, and any other discarded plant material. Tom, the compost guy, refuses to add weeds bc he feels like they'll just seed more weeds once we put the compost in the beds. My feeling is, if the weeds haven't gone to seed yet when I pull them, there's no risk. And, even if they have gone to seed, most of those seeds will not be viable once they break down... And even if they are viable, so what? The Community Garden is already a weed factory, running at 100% capacity. What harm would some weed seed in the compost do? But, when in Rome, I compost as the Romans do. Long story short, that homemade compost, once it's broken down, is good shit. Full of the right microorganisms, seemd nutrient rich, and it definitely doesn't get muddy. Drains out really quickly after a rain...)

I'm not complaining; beggars can't be choosers. I've gotten to use yards and yards of the stuff for nothing more than the $20/year membership fee.

This year, I built new raised beds and I filled those with topsoil I had delivered by dumptruck, cut maybe 80/20 or 85/15 with the hoodrat compost. I put gypsum thru it too, but not much. In retrospect, I kinda wish I'd mixed in some perlite as well. Mostly for my piece of mind. The shitty topsoil I'd bought was madd sandy and also for rocks and bits of wood in it which seems pretty shitty but it was fairly clean and it does seem to drain well, at least in these beds.

The beds that are 100% compost, which are right alongside the topsoil/compost mix, are performing pretty much exactly as well as the the ones with the "real" soil. So far.

We'll see how they do, comparatively, as the season hits full swing.

Not sure if this answers the OP's question at all. Like solid7 said, there's a million different flavors of compost, and they have different qualities and characteristics. Composted Cowshit, for instance, turns into sandy mud when wet. I can imagine that other forms might do the same. But the stuff I've been using, it's been really good in terms of physical characteristics. I suspect it is lacking, in terms of some chemical composition. I use fertilizers to compensate for that. I'm a shitty novice grower, but I've made it work with dozens of plants year one, maybe 120 plants year two, and i have over 170 plants going this year, too. They aren't exactly kicking ass, but they are all alive, basically thriving, and producing... And I suspect that the setbacks i have experienced are due more to my foolish rookie mistakes than they are to my heavy use of compost.

Hth,
Rob
 
Thanks for the info guys.
 
The organic compost I'm using is from a local horse stables - its composed of horse manure and the straw/hay swept up from the horse beds. 
 
The compost feels very light and fluffy even after watering it down.
 
I've only tried with 1 plant so that will decide whether I use only that this coming season or not. Where I live peat is very expensive and so is coco coir. 
 
What other mediums/soils would compost be better to mix with for ideal results from your experiences?
 
Thanks again for your time to answer, I'm only a 2nd year grower so very novice. 
 
Honestly, if you can't get a soilless media, I'd consider planting in-ground.  Do you have a place you can plant?
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You'll completely eliminate the worries about compost, if you do.  Because you can mix the compost with the native soil - dig out the hole, mix what you take out 50/50 with the soil, add the plant, cover with soil/compost mix.
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In ground planting is so much less fussy.  And easier to get good results, I'd argue.
 
solid7 said:
Honestly, if you can't get a soilless media, I'd consider planting in-ground.  Do you have a place you can plant?
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You'll completely eliminate the worries about compost, if you do.  Because you can mix the compost with the native soil - dig out the hole, mix what you take out 50/50 with the soil, add the plant, cover with soil/compost mix.
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In ground planting is so much less fussy.  And easier to get good results, I'd argue.
 
The problem is where i live we have this hard rocky clay. So I have done a couple plants in the ground with 50/50 mix compost and top soil I bought and they're doing well. But I'm planning to do around 20- 30 plants this year and thought 25L buckets would be better. I live near a big open field and for some reason all types of pests hit my garden lol. 
 
Thanks for your advice. Appreciate it
 
Royce_SA said:
 
The problem is where i live we have this hard rocky clay. So I have done a couple plants in the ground with 50/50 mix compost and top soil I bought and they're doing well. But I'm planning to do around 20- 30 plants this year and thought 25L buckets would be better. I live near a big open field and for some reason all types of pests hit my garden lol. 
 
Thanks for your advice. Appreciate it
 
Clay soil can be made useable fairly easily, if you just put in a little time and effort. (and provided you have resources available)
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I once owned a home with very hard packed clay/loam soil.  Over a couple years, I started putting organic matter into the soil.  My yard had 3 very large oak trees, that dropped so many leaves.  I would gather them up, and put the entire stack in my garden area, as thick as they wanted to be.  The first year, I tried to till the soil.  That was a disaster.  After that, just putting down the leaves, I never needed to again.  The soil was rich, and loose, and gave me the best garden I've ever had  in my life.  I didn't even fertilize.
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I'm not sure if you have access to leaves or hay, or anything of the sort, but if you do, it's an option.
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Also, pests are not unique to you.  That happens to us all.  This forum is crawling with pest id request, broken and mangled plants, and even recently a few night time snapshots of large mammals.  That's farm life.  Something always wants what you're growing. ;)
 
I do have access to grass cuttings and leaves etc. Is there anything to break up the clay to make it finer to work with. I've read that gypsum does that.

I might have to start preparing it this year for next.

I have gotten mites in my garden. I am not worried about aphids, white flies and thrips but the mites have been a problem for my plants in the ground.
 
Gypsum is specifically for clay soil.  But like I said, if you can put in the time, the organic matter is all you need.  I don't live in a place where gypsum is used at all, so I don't know the pros/cons of using it.
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Every pest that you have listed, can be dealt with by using Neem.  If you don't know how to use Neem, I'm actually thinking of posting a Neem tutorial. (because it comes up so often)
 
Anytime.  By the way, if you can also frame up your garden area, with corrugated metal, or some type of durable wood, It makes the task a whole lot easier.  This is a long term project - take at least 2 years to get your best quality soil.  But believe me, it's totally worth it.
 
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