Is is OK to use new compost as mulch on Vegie plants .
The compost has completed it's cycle, and is no longer hot. I have made more this year than I really need for planting, so I was wondering if it would be beneficial to use it as mulch??
Thanks! O'boy!
I put new compose around my Tomato plants every year and I have never had a problem.
You might want to try it on just some plants just to make sure it is not too rich or you could always mix it with potting soil just to make sure you don't burn your plants.
Great idea. In a climate where you get just one chance per year to plant certain things, test something on your precious plants. Not good. Instead, spread it around those plants, but imagine an 18" radius around the stems. Keep it outside that radius. For tomatoes, that's a pretty safe margin. For plants whose diameter is smaller, shrink the circle.
would it also depend on what was put in the compost bin and how long it has been sitting since it was hot.
For instance, a dried leaves, tea bags, vege and fruit peels, coffee grounds, paper compost mix would not hold anything in terms of being too rich or weedy you would worry about spreading round.
A compost mix containing weeds or seeding grasses, animal poops etc may be too fresh for plants or contain seeds that were not properly killed by heat.
If it is of any use to you, I have used fairly fresh compost myself as mulch and as fill for raised garden. Buried a foot down in a raised garden not much germinated from it I was worried about. I used some under a hedge to keep weeds down. The compost itself sprouted some weeds (and interestingly a few tomato plants) but easily weeded out/mulched over. The hedge is quit hardy mind.
rob
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