Guidance on using compost

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Using compost for best advantage

Learn how using compost wisely can help you, your soil and your vegetables plants.

When should you add compost?

When autumn digging add compost and incorporate it into the top 10cm soil particularly for potato, tomato, brassica, curcurbit, shallot, leek, chard and celery crops.

For 'raised beds' and 'no-dig beds' add compost as a layer onto the soil for the worms to incorporate over the winter.

Add to improve your soil;

sandy soils: benefit from improved structure and water holding
clay based soils: benefit from improved drainage and more crumbly structure
In a trench or hole or row to boost yield of climbing beans

using compost

Or, if you are short of compost, add at planting;

to give a boost to cucurbit, brassica and tomato transplants
prepare a hole for each transplant
dig in some compost and plant
Or dig in to the row to boost moisture conservation
or dig in to a row to help establish peas or beans

How much compost should you add?

It all depends on your soil type and the vegetables you are growing.

A maximum of a wheel barrow load over 5 square metres for light sandy and heavy clay soils and for hungry crops (potatoes, tomatoes, cucurbits, brassicas and celery).

Use less compost for loams and before other crops.

No compost should be added; before carrots/ beetroot/ parsnips, where the soil is already organically rich or within 4 weeks of applying lime.

For more information on composting

For more on using compost in your vegetable garden.

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