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wilsocn

Unifinised compost and adding extra nitrogen to compensate?

wilsocn
11 years ago

This is my first year of starting an actual tilled garden. Up until now I have dealt with a slew of containers on my back deck. The soil here has a lot of clay and this is a newer subdivision and I think a lot of the good topsoil was scraped away when they cleared the land of trees and other vegetation.

I read an article that said I should add 6-8" of organic material and work it into the soil. I compost at home but only had about 20 gallons on hand since I haven't been composting all that long. So I went a local landscaping/mulch place and they sold me a big scoop of their compost but its nothing like what nature made for me here at home.

They said it was made from 100% leaves and that is sits for 6 months and then they run it through a shredder. The problem is that it has a very strong smell of bagged mulch and it is steaming hot in the middle. I assume this isnt done composting because it doesnt really look or smell like the good earthy stuff that I made here. It is dark and the texture is nice but you can easily tell that it was made from leaves because many of the shredded bits are still visible.

I didnt really have any other ideas so I tilled it in. The soil is now a nice brown color instead of red and its fluffy but I am worried that it might lock up some of the nitrogen that I have in the soil to finish breaking down the composted leaves. I should add that I also tilled in my own compost and about 4 bags of store bought compost that I had left over in my shed.

Is this a valid concern with unfinished compost? I had a soil test done last year and was already a little lacking in the nitrogen department which hasnt been corrected yet although I did get the ph adjusted.

Anyone have any suggestions? How will I know if the plants are lacking nitrogen?

Thanks everyone

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