anyone use straight compost ?

i know it burns seedlings. but bigger plants love it. anyone here ever tried a grow useing nothing but compost and regular feeding. im always out of perlite ,potting soil , peat moss ect. but compost i always have a ton. i was making a post about this i would use it straight if i could has anyone tried this or is this just me being cheap lol

compost drains poorly......................

maybe thats a misconception in a hard clay soil whats suggested for better drainage compost its stays moist but drain poorly idk thats not really an issue for me .

well if drainage is the only issue with compost then use a cup of perlite and boom super soil .

scroglodyte said:

compost drains poorly......................

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thanks scrog im just thinking outside the box here drainage is something that could become an issue .but easy to fix is there other reasons why its not used in this manner .

I reuse my soil and add compost after each use so after 3 years of doing this my mix is probably mostly compost but its probably leached of most things by the time I add more and I add things to make sure it stays airy. I would say try it on a plant and see how it does. I know a lot people plant in 6-8 in of compost outdoors so give it a whirl as long as its airy enough and fully composted I can't see it being too bad of a medium thou it might run a little hot.

NickNasty said:

I reuse my soil and add compost after each use so after 3 years of doing this my mix is probably mostly compost but its probably leached of most things by the time I add more and I add things to make sure it stays airy. I would say try it on a plant and see how it does. I know a lot people plant in 6-8 in of compost outdoors so give it a whirl as long as its airy enough and fully composted I can't see it being too bad of a medium thou it might run a little hot.

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thanks nick .im gonna wait for my newest ones to get strong enough first but im gonna give that a gro and just see whats what.

I've heard of people throwing a layer of topsoil directly on top of a compost bed and planting in that. Supposedly with great results. Sounds like it could be good.

Greeenhat said:

I've heard of people throwing a layer of topsoil directly on top of a compost bed and planting in that. Supposedly with great results. Sounds like it could be good.

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well im not really doing it different other then dixie cups filled with potting soil instead but yeah that would be easy only concern would be if they set roots too far . with this it would work but i really dont want casualties lol

I don't do it with cannabis seeds, but I've done it with corn, tomatoes, peas, and a bunch of other fruits and veggies. The only reason I don't do it with cannabis seeds is because I typically don't get 100% germination doing it that way. Instead I normally get a 60%-80% success rate and then if I'm sowing directly outside before the season has started (e.g. winter sowing) sometimes I come back a few days post germination only to discover some insect or small animal chewed my seedling in half.

For me it's easier and more reliable to buy a bag of sterilized potting soil made specifically for seed germination and start my seeds indoors, then let them grow out for at 3-4 weeks or until the stem gets about as thick as a #2 pencil. Its a little more work and it also means I have to spend 3-5 days hardening them off outdoors, but the survivability is so much higher that it's worth it.

Generally as long as it's organic you can toss it into a compost bin. You don't however want to just toss a bunch of things into your containers. Another thing to conciser is how fast you need your compost to be fully broken down. If you plan on turning it 3x a week and want it ready under a month, I wouldn't go adding egg shells and wax paper into the compost pile, since those can take years to break down.

shaelin said:

hey guys=on the topic of compost=can i throw anything in that will break down=fruits from trees in yard,figs.lemons,palmagranites,bananas,mayb sum kitchen scraps,egg shells,tamatoes,etc.=thanks=sorry 2 b off subject

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i buy compost for indoor and made a pile outside for the yard keeping outside = outside the wife has brought in plants when i was gone and i got mites from that so

i found some interesting things about studies on compost microorganisms .they not only convert organic material to humus. but they can degrade toxic chemicals into simpler ,benign organic molecules things like gasoline ,diesel jet fuel ,oil greese , wood perservatives, pcbs, coal gasification,waste refinery waste, insecticides ,herbicides ,freon, some can even convert uranium .compost is used for biofiltraition systems biofilters and even recycle the wifes cat lol just saying could be useful to know lol