BOB FLOWERDEW
How to add more value to shop-bought compost
MICROORGANISMS (bacteria, fungi and so on) may be invisible to our eyes, but they are very important to plants, as they help transform organic matter (in soil) into nutrients – which are then taken up by plants’ roots.
There’s an amazingly simple way you can provide plants with a huge range of microorganisms.
The idea is to water on a live extract freshly made from a mature garden compost heap. This contains countless different microorganisms already living together, with most dedicated to the consumption of decaying organic material. It’s an excellent mixture to add to near-sterile potting composts in patio containers, and to plants in a border, especially where these have not been given fresh dressings of garden compost or well-rotted manure recently. Compost tea will help create a more active ecosystem, thus increasing fertility.
This ‘compost tea’ quickly brings old potting compost and stale soil back to life, which then stimulates the root systems in them.
It’s good preparation for plants that are soon to be pruned or moved, and particularly beneficial for summer crops keeing up their heavy production.
“It quickly brings stale compost back to life”
However, there is a caveat. Compost tea isn’t a sufficiently rich fertiliser to be used on its own. So ideally, also water on other liquid feeds and tonics such as diluted seaweed solution.
Now, gardeners used to hang sacks of manure in water butts. Simpler and better is to fill socks with good garden compost and pop one in each watering can, replacing them weekly – so I change socks on Saturdays! ■