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Organic Gardening Soil, Compost & Mulch Roses

Compost mistake question!

Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN)

8 months ago

Hi there! I have an important question. At the start of the season (early spring) we bought bulk compost and stored it in lidded trash cans. Then forgot about it. Well now we want to use it in a new rose garden bed and it smells vile because there was no air holes 🙈 is this now not safe to use? Will it damage my new roses? Did all the good bacteria die? 😰

thank you so much for any guidance you can give.

Featured Answer

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

8 months ago

There are no compost ’mistakes’ ..... other than not making or using it.

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Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 months ago
It is perfectly safe. As soon as it is spread out in the air the smell will go.
Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN) thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN)
Original Author
8 months ago
Oh great! Well now I feel silly 😅 I just worried I had killed all the good bacteria and created something toxic! I am relieved its safe!
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Even my open pile will turn sour if it gets too wet from rain. Darn wind blows off my tarp, sometimes. Compost holds on to water to an amazing degree, and water replaces air, so no oxygen can circulate. In an open pile, as the heat rises, fresh air is sucked into the sides. That's one reason I like to see steam--it means my pile is breathing. You mention the can had holes poked in it. I think a can would needs LOTS of holes not only some in the bottom for drainage, but in the lower part of the sides for air to come in as heat rises. Maybe fifty? And, you could make a couple of big holes on opposite sides to hold a piece of perforated PVC pipe through the bottom. Put holding pins through the ends sticking out, and some kind of way to turn the pipe, and finished compost would collect inside the pipe as you turned it. Kind of like a sifter/grater, for you to push out and use houseplants or the like, while the whole can benefited from air supply. Is it a round can? That you can put a top on? If you got one with handles, you could throw a bungee cord over the top, handle to handle, and tip the can and roll it just like a tumbler, too. If you've got PVC and a handle sticking out one side you might just be able to rock it back and forth. That might be enough. Heavens, I'm weird. This sounds like so much fun, I may do it myself, just to see if it works. I wouldn't have to fool that crazy tarp then!
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Not just termites, but soil holds moisture, so it's best to avoid having it up against anything other than concrete, such as wood siding, due to the risk of moisture rotting the wood. Note, the old house guys say that 'dry rot' is a misnomer - it normally means the wood was wet for some time. If your vinyl siding comes down over the concrete and that's all that is behind it, then maybe it's not an emergency. I've seen termites where I live, they are everywhere, and we always leave an expanse of exposed concrete to keep them from getting behind the siding into the wall (or crawling upwards till they find the wood wall) without being exposed to light. Never soil up against siding because there is protected air space behind it that can be used as a highway for not only termites but ants and other bugs. I'm going to guess that if you showed this to your pest control guy during your annual inspection you might see a raised eyebrow. It's up to you to decide what is appropriate. If this were my house I would get some bricks or blocks and make a border along the back with an inch or two of air between the blocks and the building. Or a treated timber or 2x4 on edge. Just my two cents.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
6 months ago
last modified: 6 months ago
Not so fast - composting that occurs in the absence of air (anaerobic) can seriously lower the pH of compost due to the organic acids that occur under those conditions. That's why leaves/ lawn clippings and chipped pine bark destined for horticultural applications should be wind-rowed and turned regularly to keep the pH within a reasonable range. If you're going to spread it as a top-dressing, it's not likely much of a risk, but it should be flushed if you plan on incorporating it around roots or using it in a container substrate (the later application [container substrate] is not a great idea regardless of the pH issues).

Al
Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN) thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN)
Original Author
6 months ago
@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

Hi friend, sorry just saw your reply. I was worried about it being anaerobic. My soil is high alkaline if that helps?

Would it be okay if I amended a garden bed with it now in fall and didn’t plant my rose in it until spring?

I’m double digging where I removed the bottom layer and then amended with the compost and the top layer of soil.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
6 months ago
Would it be okay if I amended a garden bed with it now in fall and didn’t plant my rose in it until spring? Yes - great. No matter how high the pH of the compost, the disparity in bulk density between the compost and the mineral soil highly favors the buffering capacity of the mineral soil, especially in view of the length of time we're talking about.

Best Luck!!

Al
Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)
4 months ago
last modified: 4 months ago
OP wrote they bought compost and stored it..... so it was already composted material if I'm reading that correctly. Should be fine, albeit possibly missing it's beneficial citizens due to the storage. Like already said, the smell will go once you spread it out. You may want to test it - pH and such, before using on your roses (just in case). Or, perhaps you can dump it into your compost bins and let nature re-invigorate/restore the natural bacteria, worms and mycorrhizal fungi? I think that's what I would do.
four (9B near 9A)
4 months ago
Just refining what Kimberly wrote. Aerate it, then instead of using it on anything, mix it as an ingredient into the other compost ingredients.
Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)
4 months ago
Yup yup... what @four (9B near 9A) said!

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