In article ,
Frogleg wrote:

To clarify, you are referring to the 'composts' sold in garden
centres. The sort of thing that you get by composting household
organic waste is entirely different, and contains a lot of nutrients.

"Exact amounts of various minerals and substances in compost depend on
what went into the pile, how hot the pile became during composting,
and the extent of the composting process. Because of variations of
these conditions and inputs, compost does not have a consistent N-P-K
rating, although it should roughly equal 1-1-1." from:

Fine, but don't confuse the delusions of Californians with anything
that any sane person would associate with reality. The first sentence
is perfectly correct and solid science, but the second is thoroughly
addled.

Compost *does* contain nutrients -- I didn't say it didn't. But its
benefit isn't in the amount of what we generally call "fertilizer" as
in a nutrient boost for veg crops in particular.

Nobody ever said that household compost contained the same amount
of nutrients as either fermented bullshit or commercial synthetics.
Here is what you SAID:

Compost provides little extra nutrition for plants with N-P-K values
usually 1-1-1 or less. Its primary value is for 'fluffing up' the soil
and making existing nutrients more readily available to plants.

That is not true for composted household waste. It provides quite
a lot of extra nutrition - God alone knows why the Californians have
confused ratios with absolute values, but God alone can understand
their 'thought' processes. To repeat, not the same amount as in cow
manure or synthetic fertilisers, but quite a lot nevertheless.

Please note that there ARE some sane Californians but, as a society,
they cut themselves off from reality some decades ago and have been
drifting free ever since ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.