A Beginner's Guide To Composting - Tui Garden

"Don’t plant directly into compost as this can burn plant roots." I am wondering about this comment. I dont agree as compost is plant material with the addition of animal waste to speed up the decomposition process if one places it in. If the plant roots could be burn then the worms who exist in the compost would also be burnt and become non existent. Worms use the plant food that has been broken down by decoposition, they ingest the decomposed matter and they live within it so the Ph has to be the same sort of Ph as for plants to grow in. I gather if chemical based starters are used then the decomposition may be more hasty but with less worms present. At present my own cold compost is sprouting ten very healthy self set pumpkins and I am very interested in the pumpkins sprouting from the municipal compost I purchased I understood this was a hot compost. Therefore that pumpkins are growing from it is rather interesting. I look forward to your reply.

christine tuckey

• Hi Christine, thank you for getting in touch. Organic compost is a living organism and soil microbes are continually working to break it down. As this happens the compost compacts down becoming anaerobic which starves plant roots from air pore space – it is very important for water to move through the soil and for plant roots to ‘breathe’. It can also become water logged over time. The organic matter in compost increases earthworm activity. For our bagged compost product no chemical based starters are used as the product is hot composted maintaining a temperature for a duration of time that makes all weed and other seed non viable. There can still be heat in the compost when it is bagged and this can lead to sensitive plant roots burning, therefore Tui always recommend that compost be dug into the soil for best results. It can also be used as a mulch if desired. We hear of a lot of people planting directly into compost, but at Tui we advocate best practice and recommend a specially blended potting mix or garden mix be used on pots and containers for best results and compost be dug into the garden to replenish the soil.

  Tui Team

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