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Soil, Compost & Mulch

propagating plants in compost or mulch

ahappy camper zone10

7 years ago

i recently purchased a cutting online that came with instructions that said to use compost as the rooting medium. i was a little surprised because i mostly hear people rooting things in perlite and potting soil.

i know there are many threads on why you shouldnt grow vegetables and plants in straight compost but what about propagation and rooting? what about attempting to root a cutting in just mulch before it even becomes compost?

one problem i would expect is the lack of anchoring or a strong foundation. however, i plan on moving this cutting to another location eventually anyways. my primary goal at the moment is to simply get it to sprout roots before i move it into actual soil in its permanent location. would something such as fine mulch and compost do well in this situation?

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Comments (4)

kimmq
7 years ago
When rooting a cutting you want to have it in a medium that will stay moist but not be too wet, even though many root cuttings in a glass of water. Both compost and mucles can be that medium, although both tend to hold more moisture than perlite would.

Plants of all kinds germinate, sprout, and grow in compost and mulches, something that drives some people up a wall.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
7 years ago
I think it depends a lot on the type of compost. Manure compost has a crumb structure that doesn't hold water particularly well. Waste organic composts do a better job of that. Wood by-product compost is supposed to be pretty good as a rooting compound also. I've seen studies that report optimal rooting in medium that is 45-75% biowaste compost. The advantage of stuff like perlite is that it provided higher air porosity than pure compost. Compost is pretty variable, which is why, for insurance, people like to stick to a fixed recipe with known ingredients.

With all this in mind, rooting in pure compost should be OK.
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Hi Josh, thanks for the welcome :-) I just put about 1" of the compost on top. I did use the wood shavings too. Today, I scooped about 1-2" of the top soil(compost and wood shavings), threw it away. some of the pots had gnats all over it. I'm probably over watering since it's still very moist at the top. that's why I'm wondering if I should only use compost or mulch when I get more sun and little rain.
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You can tell if compost is finished by the aroma. It smells wonderful like a forest floor after a spring rain. If it does not smell like that, then it is not finished. The last microbes to work in the compost are the ones that impart that fragrance. When you buy finished compost the provider should screen out anything that is not fully composted and toss that stuff into the next batch. All the little bits and pieces should be unrecognizable as to the original material. It will not hurt anything to keep them in there but it looks unsightly. And now that I think about it, if you bury unfinished compost (sticks and twigs) the decomposition process of those items will consume massive amounts of nitrogen to the point of absorbing all nitrogen from all nutritive sources in the immediate vicinity. Decomposition of wood is best done above ground. The best use of compost is to apply to the top of the soil. It can be tilled in but there are many reasons not to. Mother Nature never tills her compost in. She applies it on top.
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Those old socks make excellent mulch :D Seriously, if you have enough compost to do that God Bless You. Most of us have trouble getting enough for soil amendment. It would depend, to a degree, on the type of compost but rough, partially finished compost, such as you described, ought to be great for mulch. Every time you water it will leach out some nutrients into the soil so you would get the double benefit of mulch and nutrients.
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ahappy camper zone10
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you kimmsr and Dan.

kimmsir, yes I had thought too that a medium that would stay moist for longer would be the most ideal thing to root in. Mulch and compost both seem to do that better than perlite so why not pick mulch and compost over perlite especially since mulch and compost can be retrieved for free?

Dan, if it's not too trouble, do you by chance have a link of that study? I would love to read it out of interest. What's your opinion on using mulch? I know mulch is a very broad term but the kind that I'm thinking is more of a foresty wood product with remnants of trees…both leaves and wood. It's more porous than perlite, no? That in addition with holding more moisture would seem to make it better.

Thanks again you two.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
7 years ago
I vaguely recall that study, but don't have a link handy. You could try these ...

http://www.landscapetrades.com/2001/06/further-rooting-studies-with-municipal-waste-compost

https://www.maximumyield.com/organic-rooting-medium-composting-woods/2/1078

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