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Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
+3
camprn
sfg4uKim
DirtFarmer
7 posters
Page 1 of 1
Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
I am *this close* to being able to plant! Tonight I was mixing my first ever batch of Mel's Mix, and when I opened the first bag of "Organic Soil Enriching Compost", it appeared very dry and had a lot of white "stuff" in it. The white stuff has the appearance of mold (to me).
Is this okay? Is it normal? Should I use it?
I opened the other bags of compost I had purchased, and they were all nice and moist, dark, odor free and basically beautiful. I only need 1.5 more cubic feet to mix in and I'll be on my way! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little anxious to get planting.

I opened the other bags of compost I had purchased, and they were all nice and moist, dark, odor free and basically beautiful. I only need 1.5 more cubic feet to mix in and I'll be on my way! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little anxious to get planting.

DirtFarmer- Posts : 14
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Manteca, CA (Zone 9)
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Can you post a picture?
I have seen women looking at jewelry ads with a misty eye and one hand resting on the heart, and I only know what they're feeling because that's how I read the seed catalogs in January - Barbara Kingsolver - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Dirt, who was the manufacturer? It is probably fine, just dried out. Photo if you can please.
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books
DirtFarmer- Posts : 14
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Manteca, CA (Zone 9)
DirtFarmer- Posts : 14
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Manteca, CA (Zone 9)
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Oh yay!
Thank you all so much for the quick replies, even if just to request a picture. It makes a newbie like me have so much more confidence. I'll go ahead and mix it in and water it a little since it looks sadly dried out.
Thanks again!


Thank you all so much for the quick replies, even if just to request a picture. It makes a newbie like me have so much more confidence. I'll go ahead and mix it in and water it a little since it looks sadly dried out.
Thanks again!
DirtFarmer- Posts : 14
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Manteca, CA (Zone 9)
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
I have seen women looking at jewelry ads with a misty eye and one hand resting on the heart, and I only know what they're feeling because that's how I read the seed catalogs in January - Barbara Kingsolver - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Well, there was quite a bit of white growth, but not enough to determine if it had a root system (or it just didn't). I was kind of hoping it might be a good bacteria, but I've no experience with this sort of thing. I'm just happy to be able to move forward!
Gardening success!

Maybe someday I'll master turning pictures.
Just a grid and a few plants away from my first SFG box.
Gardening success!

Maybe someday I'll master turning pictures.

Just a grid and a few plants away from my first SFG box.

DirtFarmer- Posts : 14
Join date : 2013-03-13
Location : Manteca, CA (Zone 9)
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Try holding the phone sideways. Works for me.
Gunny-
Posts : 158
Join date : 2013-02-01
Age : 77
Location : Zone 10a Elev. 100' +/- 5'
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Ugh, Kellogg brand N'Rich.
I got some of that for my first year too. Never again.
Lots of wood chips, kept finding pieces of plastic, and even a few pieces of metal (looked like soda can material).
There's a reason it's cheap...
I got some of that for my first year too. Never again.
Lots of wood chips, kept finding pieces of plastic, and even a few pieces of metal (looked like soda can material).
There's a reason it's cheap...
brainchasm-
Posts : 478
Join date : 2013-02-26
Age : 47
Location : Las Vegas, NV
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
Ahh yep. Both brands of Kellogg that I had were like that. But N-Rich was the worst. Using a quarter inch sifter I got over six cu. ft of wood chips etc. out of about as many bags. It is marketed as an amendment for heavy clay soil so I shouldn't complain about the wood chips in it. Just wouldn't use it for a seed bed if I were growing in ground. At least I have a lot of chips to use as mulch and BtE type experimental beds. So there is a bright side to this too.
Gunny-
Posts : 158
Join date : 2013-02-01
Age : 77
Location : Zone 10a Elev. 100' +/- 5'
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
[quote="sfg4uKim"]By any chance are any microbes listed on the bag? Does it look like it has a root system? Would anyone know if this might be mychorrhizal fungi which is a beneficial fungi?
Here are a couple examples:


If I lived in an old house that showed that fungal growth it would be condemmed as unfit for human habitation for it looks like common wood wet rot . To get to that stage you need lots of wood that's been kept wet . The spores are not good for your lungs .
I would not use such a form of bqagged compost and I deffo would not store it in any building I owned .
Here are a couple examples:


If I lived in an old house that showed that fungal growth it would be condemmed as unfit for human habitation for it looks like common wood wet rot . To get to that stage you need lots of wood that's been kept wet . The spores are not good for your lungs .
I would not use such a form of bqagged compost and I deffo would not store it in any building I owned .
plantoid-
Posts : 4089
Join date : 2011-11-09
Age : 72
Location : At the west end of M4 in the UK
CapeCoddess- Posts : 6824
Join date : 2012-05-20
Age : 67
Location : elbow of the Cape, MA, Zone 6b/7a
Re: Help! Mold in purchased compost material?
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books

» Purchased compost
» Favorite Purchased Compost
» Need some help analyzing the compost I purchased…
» Compost material from grocery store
» Leaf Mold vs. Compost
» Favorite Purchased Compost
» Need some help analyzing the compost I purchased…
» Compost material from grocery store
» Leaf Mold vs. Compost
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