How do you know good pepper pot compost?

[DWB]

I'm thinking I'd like to mix the following crap in with regular potting soil, perlite and maybe some peat moss for growing my pepper plants this year.
 
I dug this out the bottom of our compost pile. It's many years old and consists of veggie scrap, daily coffee grounds, hardwood stove ash and a huge amount of decomposing egg shells. (My dogs get a half dozen boiled eggs a day in their food.) I dug out enough to fill two 50 pound feed sacks. Is there a good way to know if this compost will be good for my plants?
 

 
What about horse manure in this condition? I don't know if this would be considered composted but it's been on the ground for months. It doesn't stink and anything much older than this is dissolved back into the ground by now. I was thinking I'd fill a couple sacks of this and leave it sit, along with the compost, until I'm ready to start re-potting my plants for the new growing season. Good or no?
 
 

 

 

[Hybrid Mode 01]

     Let your nose guide you. If the compost smells like soil or forest duff, it's probably good to go. If it smells putrid or moldy, fork it up and let it go a while longer. If the horse manure doesn't have a strong ammonia smell it's probably OK too.
 
edit: Do you check the temperature of your compost? That's another good bit of info. If it has gotten hot (130-160F) during its lifetime, that's a good indicator that it's microbial populations have transitioned to a more plant-friendly cohort.

 

[moruga welder]

all i use horse poo  ,  and compost from the burn pile !

 

[nzchili]

should be OK id think..just dont go too higher compost to potting mix ratio till your sure things are ok.
 
I often rake up dry brown leaves from around my property, then mix it about half and half with green grass clippings...add water and you have hot compost.  I also throw crab /lobster shells in there as well. 
It gets really hot and steams etc.
 
The other thing I do is throw the crab shells in the brazier (fire) then add the burn shells & wood ash to the garden 

 

[DWB]

I've never checked temperature or turned it over or anything. Stuff goes into a rock wall open end pit and never comes out again. It never gets too full, just compresses. Today I raked off the top foot and shoveled some stuff out of the bottom. It does have a nice smell like good earthy soil. I guess some of this will provide plenty of calcium to my plants. We also throw all our shrimp shells and seafood waste in there. I think that adds calcium and nitrogen too.

The horse manure has a smell similar to the compost. Like nice, rich soil.
 
Would a decent mix maybe consist of 25% compost, 25% horse poo with the other 50% potting mix, perlite, etc?

 

[nzchili]

Just some info not really directly related to the situation, but anyway
"normal" composting takes much longer and does not kill bad organisms, disease etc like hot composting does.
 
hot composting happens when you mix similar amounts of dry/brown stuff (dry leaves in my case), with similar amounts of lush green material (grass clippings) and water it. It heats up very hot (150 ish deg F) and can decompose material in a matter of weeks, as opposed to months. 
Hot composting only happens when the consistency / ratio of dry & wet parts is right, pretty much unless you purposely did it, its probably not going to "hot" compost. Its very easy to do and and very good though. Also cuts down on pests that may come to eat the "normal" compost.
 
I would think that 50% compost / poo is going to be a bit rich. Personally I would look to have about 75% potting mix, then make up the remaining 25% from whatever ratios of compost/poo you see fit.

 

[JUR-Z-Devil]

if you are not sure just use all potting soil and make tea with the poo/compost to enrich the potting soil... sift some of the compost so you get all the fine particles in a pile... get about 4 - 8 cups worth and throw it in a burlap sack or tie it in a piece of cloth like a giant tea bag... throw a cup or 2 of the poo in the bag too... then fill a 5 gallon bucket with dechlorinated water (or just let it sit out over night to release the chlorine)...
 
Get an air pump and an air stone in the bottom of the bucket of water that really bubbles away.. not a wimpy fish tank bubbler... (even better tie the airstone up inside the baggy) toss it all in the bucket and turn the bubble stone on full blast..
 
let it go for a few hours.. you will know its done when it starts building foam up on top of the water and starts coming out of the bucket...
 
turn it off, remove the baggy... that 5 gallon bucket should give you about 25 gallons worth of weekly tea (dilute 5 to 1, but can put in full strength the first time to set up the plant) to feed your plants all summer... 

 

[solid7]

I've never checked temperature or turned it over or anything. Stuff goes into a rock wall open end pit and never comes out again. It never gets too full, just compresses. Today I raked off the top foot and shoveled some stuff out of the bottom. It does have a nice smell like good earthy soil. I guess some of this will provide plenty of calcium to my plants. We also throw all our shrimp shells and seafood waste in there. I think that adds calcium and nitrogen too.

The horse manure has a smell similar to the compost. Like nice, rich soil.
 
Would a decent mix maybe consist of 25% compost, 25% horse poo with the other 50% potting mix, perlite, etc?

 
You don't need more than 5-10% compost, max.  Any more than that, and you are sacrificing the structure of your potting mix.
.
Top dressing with a compost that you are unfamiliar with, is always the best bet. 

 

[Hybrid Mode 01]

 
You don't need more than 5-10% compost, max.  Any more than that, and you are sacrificing the structure of your potting mix.
.
Top dressing with a compost that you are unfamiliar with, is always the best bet. 

 

     I agree on both counts. I would decrease the compost and bump up the perlite. Perlite helps hold structure and maintain drainage and compost is really only there (in a container) to provide microbes and a few nutrients and acids. Too much and it will decompose over the course of the season and your root ball will shrink.
     And if you're really not sure of the nature of your compost (pH, microbes, too much N...) just top dress and water the leachate in. Use the soil to buffer any wonkiness. Just don't apply too much at one time (~2" max) and don't let it come in contact with the stem.

 

[Jase4224]

I don't know how much time you have before potting up but if it's a while you could try potting up another plant using your compost to see how that goes. If it thrives then use some, if the plant does crap then don't

 

[DWB]

Thanks for all the info. Using this stuff sounds either ill-advised or in the case of the compost tea, a whole bunch of extra time.
 
Basically, I'm interested in using what I have available here on my own property to mix with good quality dirt but not necessarily high-dollar potting soil.  At least I've given up one of my old ways and have been using perlite instead of the white sand I haul up from the creek.
 
I think that compost can grow good plants. Every holiday season, butternut squash seeds go on top of the pile. Every summer we have volunteer plants growing that make pretty good squash. This cycle has been going for a great many years. I may have broken it now by digging up the pile but we do have one squash left to refresh the system.

 

[solid7]

Thanks for all the info. Using this stuff sounds either ill-advised or in the case of the compost tea, a whole bunch of extra time.
 
Basically, I'm interested in using what I have available here on my own property to mix with good quality dirt but not necessarily high-dollar potting soil.  At least I've given up one of my old ways and have been using perlite instead of the white sand I haul up from the creek.
 
I think that compost can grow good plants. Every holiday season, butternut squash seeds go on top of the pile. Every summer we have volunteer plants growing that make pretty good squash. This cycle has been going for a great many years. I may have broken it now by digging up the pile but we do have one squash left to refresh the system.

 
Why not just grow in-ground with some of that compost added around the base of the plants?
 
What I wouldn't give to be able to grow in-ground...

 

[JUR-Z-Devil]

if stuff grows in it id use it. id sift out the bigger pieces first and do what hybrid said about top layering. the tea only takes minutes to prep then just letting it be but i guess it is a bit involved if not making it for a bunch of plants..  id say let your nose decide and go for it minus any pieces that are obviously gonna decay more.

 

[DWB]

 
Why not just grow in-ground with some of that compost added around the base of the plants?
 
What I wouldn't give to be able to grow in-ground...

 

I wouldn't mind growing in the ground but our land isn't too good for that. It's good for corn, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and things like that but lousy for things like tomatoes and peppers. It's got the wilt in it. I gave up on it after a few years. I have a neighbor who's been trying to fix it for more than 10 years and he still grows his tomatoes in buckets. I have plenty of utility poles to build raised beds but you never know what you'll get into with dirt hauled in to fill them.

 

[DWB]

if stuff grows in it id use it. id sift out the bigger pieces first and do what hybrid said about top layering. the tea only takes minutes to prep then just letting it be but i guess it is a bit involved if not making it for a bunch of plants..  id say let your nose decide and go for it minus any pieces that are obviously gonna decay more.

 
 
I may go ahead and try the juice. I used an old shredder vac to grind about 10 pounds of this stuff down really fine. I'm thinking I can bubble it with a leaky blow gun on a compressor air line. I need to blend my highly acid well water with our alkaline neutralized water anyway to come up with something the plants will like better for normal watering. It's not like it will be a real pain in the butt to mix up a batch of compost water.
 
Anyways, I think I will make my own potting mix this year using a decent but dirt cheap organic top soil + horse manure + compost + perlite + some micros. I'll need to do nutrient and pH testing on the finished product and adjust from there but in the end, I should have fairly decent soil for my peppers.

 

[solid7]

 
I wouldn't mind growing in the ground but our land isn't too good for that. It's good for corn, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and things like that but lousy for things like tomatoes and peppers. It's got the wilt in it. I gave up on it after a few years. I have a neighbor who's been trying to fix it for more than 10 years and he still grows his tomatoes in buckets. I have plenty of utility poles to build raised beds but you never know what you'll get into with dirt hauled in to fill them.

 
That's too bad.  Really sucks.

 

[DWB]

I don't know how much time you have before potting up but if it's a while you could try potting up another plant using your compost to see how that goes. If it thrives then use some, if the plant does crap then don't

 

That's a great idea. I have two identical randyp scorpions that will be coming out of 16 oz containers and into gallon pots in the next few days. I'll put one into the potting mix/perlite blend I've been using and put the other into a pot of home brew.

 

[moruga welder]

 
I wouldn't mind growing in the ground but our land isn't too good for that. It's good for corn, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and things like that but lousy for things like tomatoes and peppers. It's got the wilt in it. I gave up on it after a few years. I have a neighbor who's been trying to fix it for more than 10 years and he still grows his tomatoes in buckets. I have plenty of utility poles to build raised beds but you never know what you'll get into with dirt hauled in to fill them.

you can make that soil GOLD !  lots of horse poo, good hay ( not straw )  compost from leaves , good table scraps tons of coffee grounds you name it , pile it on every year , plant a winter crop cut it down let it set , that soil will be the best garden enrich soil money can buy . no till !  about 3 to 4 yrs. it'll be so soft . ooooh yeah ! 

 

[solid7]

you can make that soil GOLD !  lots of horse poo, good hay ( not straw )  compost from leaves , good table scraps tons of coffee grounds you name it , pile it on every year , plant a winter crop cut it down let it set , that soil will be the best garden enrich soil money can buy . no till !  about 3 to 4 yrs. it'll be so soft . ooooh yeah ! 

 
The only problem is, it sounds like he likes to grow heirloom variety plants which are susceptible to some of the soil-borne diseases, like Fusarium and Verticilium.  That would be a shame, because Alabama is almost universally recognized as having just about THE perfect tomato growing zone.
.
I was thinking of this after the comment was made.  If you don't mind planting hybrids - and there are some good ones - you could really do well in that composted soil.  As someone who doesn't have any soil, I can't encourage you enough to do it for those of us who can't.  LOL

 

[lek]

 
The only problem is, it sounds like he likes to grow heirloom variety plants which are susceptible to some of the soil-borne diseases, like Fusarium and Verticilium.  

just use Trichoderma fungi.  no need to be afraid of soil-borne diseases.