Using my own compost

jenjehle 6/7/2010, 9:29 am

Hi everyone! I have yet another question to run by the "experts" Smile

I have compost in the bottom of my bin that is ready to be used. I wanted to give my plants a little boost so I "top dressed" each of my plants that I thought could use it with a "ring" of compost. A circle of about a trowel full of my compost, spread out, leaving about an each around the stem.

Do you think this was OK to do? I didn't look into it before doing it but thought I'd read about it before and that it was a good thing to do.

Did find this on the web:

Some vegetables are especially helped with top dressing. These include corn, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. But all vegetables will be benefited with even the addition of well seasoned manure or compost top dressed around their plantings. For more specific needs you can top dress with vegetable specific fertilizer that is slightly higher phosphorous than nitrogen to promote fruit or vegetable growth rather than being high in nitrogen which would only promote more leaves and less fruit or vegetables. You can do this any time during the growing season up until the first fruit and then to a lesser extent as the season draws to a close.

Read more at Suite101: Top Dressing- the basics http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/org_vegetable_garden/107370#ixzz0qAoUm8M0

Thanks for your replies! I always appreciate hearing from my fellow gardeners!

Odd Duck 6/7/2010, 12:16 pm

I top dress frequently with either organic, granular fertilizer or compost. It always seems to give the plants a nice boost and I've never had any issues with it if I kept it back from the stem a little bit (like you did).

jenjehle 6/7/2010, 2:56 pm

Odd Duck wrote:I top dress frequently with either organic, granular fertilizer or compost. It always seems to give the plants a nice boost and I've never had any issues with it if I kept it back from the stem a little bit (like you did).

Weird thing is my compost was the consistency of mud. Probably b/c it was at the bottom of the bin and we've had lots & lots of rain. But when I spread it out, it was like spreading lumpy oatmeal on top of the soil. Hoping it was a good idea Smile

Odd Duck 6/7/2010, 6:49 pm

jenjehle wrote:

Weird thing is my compost was the consistency of mud. Probably b/c it was at the bottom of the bin and we've had lots & lots of rain. But when I spread it out, it was like spreading lumpy oatmeal on top of the soil. Hoping it was a good idea

That is some seriously ready compost! Using my own compost Icon_biggrin

Should do great things for your plants!

quiltbea 6/7/2010, 8:47 pm

I side-dress (put a ring around my plants but not touching the stem) my plants as well, with either regular compost or vermiculture compost (worm castings) the first week of every month. I hope to get a better harvest this year doing it this way.

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