Mushroom compost is a wonderful addition to your gardening efforts.
It provides a readily-available source of organic material to soil, which increases water capacity, microbial activity, and soil temperature. It also improves soil structure and amends clay-like soils over time.
What is Mushroom Compost?
Mushroom compost is a type of slow-release, organic plant fertilizer. The compost is made by mushroom growers using organic materials such as hay, straw, corn cobs, and hulls, and poultry or horse manure.
How is Mushroom Compost Made?
Piles of mushroom compost sit for about 30 days and do what compost does - heat up. The straw provides the structure and some food for bacteria, and the urea, cottonseed meal and chicken manure provide most of the nutrients.
The bacteria multiply, forcing the temperature inside the pile up to more than 160 degrees, killing any weed seeds or pathogens that might have been present in the straw or animal wastes. The result is mushroom compost, ready to grow a crop of commercial table mushrooms.
After every planting cycle, the compost is removed because it is “used up,” by the growing mushrooms. But it still has plenty left for gardeners and landscapers. It is sold to nurseries, landscape supply firms and general contractors.
How to use Mushroom Compost?
Mushroom compost can be used as a mulch around perennials, trees and shrubs and as a soil amendment for lawns, gardens and container plants.
For flower beds and vegetable gardens, till about three inches of the compost into the top six inches of fairly dry garden soil. For containerized plants, fresh mushroom compost should only make up about one-quarter of the volume of soil in the container.
To get the best results when organic gardening with mushroom compost, thoroughly mix it in with the garden soil prior to planting or allow it to sit over winter and apply in spring. Purchase your mushroom compost and soil amendments online for curbside pickup here.
Mushroom compost should be used with caution due to its high soluble salt levels. These salt levels can kill germinating seeds, harm young seedlings, and cause damage to salt-sensitive plants, like azaleas and rhododendrons.
Please note: One cubic yard of compost will cover about 100 square feet of garden to a depth of about two inches.
For more information or questions, feel free to stop in at Meadow View or give us a call at 937-845-0093. Happy gardening!
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