[Market-farming] mint compost, potting up tomatoes
Rachel Evans
rachel at sunshinefarmmarket.com
Sun Apr 26 23:02:50 EDT 2009
I was wondering if any of you have tried using mint compost--compost
made entirely of wastes from mint plants. I thought it was a great
thing when I discovered it, but now I'm regretting my decision.
We used it this year on our fields instead of chicken manure compost
(sourcing compost here in eastern Washington is not easy--even the
chicken manure compost they truck over from the west side).
The mint compost is nice and black and is supposed to rate out at
about 2% nitrogen. We used it last year on the fields too and I was
generally happy with the results.
This year, however, we also used it in the soilless mix we make to pot
up tomatoes--one part mint compost to two parts plug mix. In the
past, we used one part worm castings to two parts plug mix. And in
fact, in the first succession of tomato potting up I did use the worm
castings instead of the mint. Those tomatoes did great. The ones
with the mint--no. They look horrible and are dying in their pots.
Just wilting and not growing. My sense is that there's fundamentally
unworkable about the texture of the mint compost--it's particle size
is extremely small, it's not "fluffy" like worm castings, and it
doesn't seem to hold water well. Or is there any possibility it could
be nitrogen burn? I can't think of any reason that the tomatoes in
the mint are doing so much worse than those in the worm castings.
Maybe remains of the essential oil are poisoning the plants?? Is that
going to happen in my fields too, if I keep adding mint compost???
Rachel
--
Rachel Evans
The Sunshine Farm
37 Highway 97A
Chelan, WA 98816
509-670-8958
rachel at sunshinefarmmarket.com
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