Too much compost

Weston grower · « **on:** April 01, 2011, 10:03 »

On our allotments the comunal compost heap is massive and we are being encouraged to help ourselves to as much as we want.

If I dig the top 6 inches off and discard it, cos its full of weeds and roots, I've then got 3 feet of lovely crumbly 4 year old compost.

Our soil is sandy - is it possible to put too much compost into it? It seems rude not to take as much as poss when its free and just a few feet from my plot.

I realise I should leave it clear of my carrots and parsnips.

Cheers, WG

Gandan57 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 01, 2011, 10:17 »

You are so lucky, dig in and get your share before your neighbours take it all. If it`s anything like our site the fresh horse manure turns up at any time and then it`s every man for himself and it disappears in an hour or two.

If this compost is four years old you cannot have too much and even your roots would benefit from a little mixed in with your sandy soil.

mumofstig · « **Reply #2 on:** April 01, 2011, 10:48 »

take as much as you can.........I think compost is ok for roots, just to avoid manure

Yorkie · « **Reply #3 on:** April 01, 2011, 18:04 »

Go for it. Even if you don't add it all in one go, you can stack it on the plot for future use

Zippy · « **Reply #4 on:** April 02, 2011, 01:02 »

"Too much compost"? What's that?

Trillium · « **Reply #5 on:** April 02, 2011, 01:49 »

It's never too much on sandy soil, as the good stuff tends to work its way down very quickly and needs frequent replenishing, so get greedy, take lots - but not the weedy bits.

Growster... · « **Reply #6 on:** April 02, 2011, 06:53 »

I don't think I'm going to take too much of our communal heap back, seeing the rubbish that's been chucked on there...

Lucky you - go for it!

Trillium · « **Reply #7 on:** April 02, 2011, 16:23 »

I know, that's often the problem with incoming compost - others consider it a free garbage dump instead of proper recycling.

I get free leaves delivered by my town and I always have to first pick through and take out all the rubbish, pop cans, carrier bags, etc that get sucked into the parks cleanup truck.

Even when I picked up bags of leaves at houses, people still tried to sneak garbage into the centres. It's a never ending problem.

Kleftiwallah · « **Reply #8 on:** April 02, 2011, 18:14 »

Have you ever heard anyone say "My lottery win was too big"?

Cheers, Tony.

peskypixie · « **Reply #9 on:** April 04, 2011, 20:06 »

Zippy and Kleftiwallah.....so with you! There is no such thing as too much compost!

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Too much compost

Weston grower

Too much compost

Gandan57

Re: Too much compost

mumofstig

Re: Too much compost

Yorkie

Re: Too much compost

Zippy

Re: Too much compost

Trillium

Re: Too much compost

Growster...

Re: Too much compost

Trillium

Re: Too much compost

Kleftiwallah

Re: Too much compost

peskypixie

Re: Too much compost

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