Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?

Mike
South East Coast of the Isle of Wight

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"'Mike'" wrote ...

Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?


I would have said yes but one of our keen allotment gardeners had his soil
analysed and it came back that he should not manure his soil for at least
two seasons.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Bob, aren't 'manure' and 'compost' two different things?

Mike



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"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ...

"'Mike'" wrote ...

Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?


I would have said yes but one of our keen allotment gardeners had his soil
analysed and it came back that he should not manure his soil for at least
two seasons.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"'Mike'" wrote

"Bob Hobden" wrote
"'Mike'" wrote ...

Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?


I would have said yes but one of our keen allotment gardeners had his soil
analysed and it came back that he should not manure his soil for at least
two seasons.

Bob, aren't 'manure' and 'compost' two different things?


Sorry, bad day, yes compost is different from manure.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"'Mike'" wrote

Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?


Depends on soil type, compost is acid so too much on an already acid soil,
like our allotment, will make the situation worse which is where the use of
garden lime comes in as a balance. With you being on chalk I can't see that
being a problem.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving, but
we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced thoughts are
that the compost would add body.

Mike



..................................................
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ...

"'Mike'" wrote

Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?


Depends on soil type, compost is acid so too much on an already acid soil,
like our allotment, will make the situation worse which is where the use of
garden lime comes in as a balance. With you being on chalk I can't see that
being a problem.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 14/12/14 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.

Compost in the soil definitely helps to hold water there and compost on
the surface as a mulch helps to prevent evaporation.

Some crops benefit more than others. After digging in compost and manure
this year, I got the biggest celeriac ever on allotment!!

On 14/12/2014 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.


I thought volcanic soil was the ideal growing medium in terms of
nutrients and water holding capacity.
Perhaps you have a holiday home in a volcanic region?

Stuart I cannot argue as the whether volcanic soil is good or bad, but I
have just returned from a cruise which took in Gran Canary. The ship docked
in the north and we took the bus to the south to our daughter and son in
law's apartment block in the south. Now what I saw was 'barren' fields and
landscape, but fascinatingly, areas of land divided up into 'allotments' by
collecting the larger stones and placing them in lines to form 'boundaries'.
However, nothing was growing and it didn't look as if anything had been or
was going to be growing in the near future. First question. Why? Second
question. IS this something new and are they 'allotments'? Third question.
Would compost shipped out there by the Tonne do any good?

Mike

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"stuart noble" wrote in message ...

On 14/12/2014 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.


I thought volcanic soil was the ideal growing medium in terms of
nutrients and water holding capacity.
Perhaps you have a holiday home in a volcanic region?

Couldn't agree with you more. Don't know much about gardening, (got a
resident gardener of some 60 odd years experience/standing for the technical
and horticultural matters!!) but I am into composting and am looking into
adding "Home Composting" into the talks I give to WI's and Church Groups etc
........................... long way to go yet ;-)

Mike
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advert will be here in the New Year



"RedAcer" wrote in message ...

On 14/12/14 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.

Compost in the soil definitely helps to hold water there and compost on
the surface as a mulch helps to prevent evaporation.

Some crops benefit more than others. After digging in compost and manure
this year, I got the biggest celeriac ever on allotment!!

On 14/12/14 16:08, stuart noble wrote:
On 14/12/2014 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.


I thought volcanic soil was the ideal growing medium in terms of nutrients and
water holding capacity.

While volcanic soil can be very good for some crops, I doubt it is for those
reasons.

The volcanic areas that I have seen are /very/ dry, since the "soil" is very
porous and completely without clays.

Example: Iceland. All volcanic. Very dry surface in many places despite the high
rainfall. Normal temperature range on the periphery: 0C to 20C.

20% is "green and fertile", but that only requires a 1 inch diameter tuft of
grass every foot! Yes, they do grow tomatoes and bananas, but only in
greenhouses ObJoke: Q - what do you do when you get lost in an Icelandic
forest? A: stand up.

On 14/12/2014 17:13, Tom Gardner wrote:
On 14/12/14 16:08, stuart noble wrote:
On 14/12/2014 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.


I thought volcanic soil was the ideal growing medium in terms of
nutrients and
water holding capacity.

While volcanic soil can be very good for some crops, I doubt it is for
those reasons.

The volcanic areas that I have seen are /very/ dry, since the "soil" is
very porous and completely without clays.

Example: Iceland. All volcanic. Very dry surface in many places despite
the high rainfall. Normal temperature range on the periphery: 0C to 20C.

20% is "green and fertile", but that only requires a 1 inch diameter
tuft of grass every foot! Yes, they do grow tomatoes and bananas, but
only in greenhouses ObJoke: Q - what do you do when you get lost in
an Icelandic forest? A: stand up.

I only have experience of perlite and vermiculite, both of which can
hold huge amounts of water, so I'm not sure why Iceland is so porous.

As I recall the southern tip of Gran Canaria is virtually devoid of
living things. I was told it never rains, but it did the day I tried to
get a taxi to the airport. Sheets of the stuff!

On 14/12/2014 16:08, stuart noble wrote:
On 14/12/2014 15:35, 'Mike' wrote:
Thanks Bob. It is actually volcanic soil I am interested in improving,
but we have a heat and lack of water problem. My very inexperienced
thoughts are that the compost would add body.


I thought volcanic soil was the ideal growing medium in terms of
nutrients and water holding capacity.
Perhaps you have a holiday home in a volcanic region?

I would have guessed that a volcanic soil is good for potassium and for
trace elements, but might be short on nitrates and phosphates.

On Sun, 14 Dec 2014 16:28:13 -0000, "'Mike'"
wrote:

Stuart I cannot argue as the whether volcanic soil is good or bad, but I
have just returned from a cruise which took in Gran Canary. Third question.

Would compost shipped out there by the Tonne do any good?

Whether it does or not it may be prudent to see if there would be any
importing restrictions from their equivalent of DEFRA.

Compost might need sterilizing.

G.Harman

On 13/12/2014 17:20, 'Mike' wrote:

Does digging in mature compost 'always' improve the soil?

It won't do any harm and willimprove moisture retention.

But why bother digging it in?
Spread it on top as a mulch and let the worms do the work initially

--
Regards,
Martin Brown