Mushroom compost is used as a soil conditioner and a mulch. High in organic matter, it enhances the structure of your soil and providing nutrients for healthy plants. It’s slightly alkaline, and should not be used with ericaceous plants, which thrive in acid soils.
Mushroom compost provides an excellent growing medium for most garden plants. This organic soil amendment contains a wealth of nutrients that boost plant growth and overall garden health.
When used properly, mushroom compost benefits a wide variety of flowers, vegetables, herbs, and other plants. Understanding which plants thrive with mushroom compost helps gardeners make the most of this rich material.
What is Mushroom Compost?
Mushroom compost consists of materials like straw, horse manure, peat moss, and chicken manure. It provides an ideal growing medium for mushroom production.
Once the mushrooms have been harvested, the remaining compost still contains abundant nutrients and organic matter. This makes it a valuable soil additive for gardens and landscaping projects
The components of mushroom compost give it some unique properties. It has excellent moisture retention but still allows good drainage. The compost offers a slow release of nitrogen and other nutrients to support steady plant growth.
Benefits of Using Mushroom Compost
When added to garden beds and planting holes, mushroom compost provides the following advantages
- Improves soil structure and fertility
- Boosts moisture retention
- Provides a slow, steady release of nutrients
- Helps balance pH levels
- Attracts beneficial organisms like earthworms
- Suppresses plant diseases
- Discourages weed growth
- Insulates plant roots against temperature changes
These benefits make mushroom compost ideal for enriching garden soil and boosting the health of your plants
Best Vegetables for Mushroom Compost
Most vegetable plants thrive in mushroom compost-enriched soil. Some great options include:
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Tomatoes: The nutrients help tomatoes produce healthy foliage and abundant fruit. The compost’s moisture retention reduces blossom-end rot.
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Peppers: Mushroom compost provides steady nourishment for strong pepper plant growth and good yields.
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Lettuces/Greens: The compost helps produce nutrient-dense salad greens and loose, crumbly soil that roots thrive in.
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Peas: The compost’s moisture retention keeps pea roots consistently damp for optimal growth.
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Carrots: Loose, fertile soil amended with mushroom compost helps grow straight, robust carrots.
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Cucumbers: Mushroom compost provides ideal growing conditions for vigorous vines and excellent cucumber yields.
Best Flowers for Mushroom Compost
Many flowering plants, perennials, and bedding plants grow beautifully in mushroom compost enriched beds. Some top options include:
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Marigolds: Compost-fed marigolds produce abundant blooms on sturdy plants with vigorous growth.
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Zinnias: These colorful annuals stay vibrantly healthy with mushroom compost feeding their soil.
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Dahlias: Mushroom compost helps dahlias grow strong stems that support abundant flower heads.
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Lavender: This fragrant herb thrives in the compost’s well-draining yet moisture retentive soil.
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Roses: Mixed into rose beds, mushroom compost fuels beautiful blooms and healthy bush growth.
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Daisies: These cheerful flowers thrive with steady compost-provided nutrition.
Best Herbs for Mushroom Compost
Most culinary and medicinal herbs grow beautifully when planted in soil amended with mushroom compost. Some excellent matches include:
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Basil: Mushroom compost helps basil plants stay robust and productive through the hot summer.
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Oregano: This tough herb produces abundantly in compost-enriched soil with good drainage.
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Thyme: Compost feeds thyme’s growth and provides the dry conditions this herb prefers.
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Parsley: The compost’s slow nutrient release produces parsley with deep green leaves.
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Chives: These perennial herbs come back reliably year after year in mushroom compost beds.
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Mint: Fast-growing mint thrives with mushroom compost and spreads vigorously through enriched soil.
How to Use Mushroom Compost
When using mushroom compost in your garden:
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Mix it thoroughly into soil before planting. Aim for a ratio of 1 part compost to 2-3 parts garden soil.
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For new beds, mix 3-4 inches of compost into the top 6 inches of native soil.
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For plantings holes, mix a few shovelfuls of compost into the soil.
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To fertilize established plants, mix 1-2 inches of compost into the top layer of soil around them.
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Allow fresh mushroom compost to cure for 2-3 months before using on seeds or seedlings.
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Test your soil’s pH before adding compost. Most plants that like it prefer a pH between 6.0-7.5.
With the right application for your soil and plants, mushroom compost provides an outstanding boost for garden growth and production. Take advantage of this organic fertilizer to reap the rewards of healthy, thriving plants.
What is Mushroom Compost Good For?
Mushroom compost improves water retention, improves soil structure, has a mild nitrogen content which means it provides a slow uptake for plants but low enough to discourage weed growth, attracts earthworms, effectively insulates cooling or warming roots according to the season, and is an excellent slow release fertilizer.
Why should you use mushroom compost?
Use mushroom compost to improve your soil so that it provides the air, moisture and nutrients that plants need to grow well.
Mushroom compost is high in organic matter, which enhances all soils, from heavy clay to light, free draining sand. Organic matter improves the structure and aeration of soil, at the same time creating greater moisture-retaining and drainage capability. Traditionally, manure or compost would be incorporated into soils through single- or double-digging. More recent no-dig approaches advocate preserving the existing soil structure, spreading the compost as a thick mulch over the flower or vegetable bed and allowing it to be gradually drawn into the soil through the action of soil organisms such as worms, beetles and millipedes.
Mushroom compost also provides the nutrients that plants need to grow well. The three main plant nutrients found in the soil are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, while magnesium, calcium and sulphur are also important. These nutrients work together to help plants grow strongly and produce flowers and fruit. They are particularly important on the vegetable patch as vegetable crops need a lot of nutrients. Invertebrates, bacteria and fungi in the soil work together to break down organic matter such as dead plant material and manure to make these nutrients available to plant roots. Mushroom compost is slightly alkaline, with a pH of 6.5-7, which is suitable for a wide range of ornamental plants. It is also good for a wide range of vegetables, including brassicas (vegetables in the cabbage family), as the higher pH defends against club root, and tomatoes, as the higher calcium levels act against blossom end rot).
Mushroom compost may be lower in nitrogen that other composts, as this nutrient will have been depleted by the mushrooms that were grown on it. However, lower nitrogen levels, will promote the production of flowers and fruit, as high nitrogen can stimulate the plant to put its energy into leaf production.
Plants That Do Not Like Mushroom Compost – Quick Guide
FAQ
What grows best in mushroom compost?
Suitable vegetables: Mushroom compost is generally well-suited for growing vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, which can tolerate higher salt …Apr 26, 2023
Which plants do not like mushroom compost?
4. Do not apply hot compost (meaning mushroom compost or other nutrient rich sources) to woodland (eg ferns) or silver-leaved plants (lavender), because they are not used to having that level of nitrogen shock. Instead, use leaf litter for the woodland.
Can you grow plants directly in mushroom compost?
Q: Can I plant directly into mushroom compost? A: It depends on what you are planting. Direct seeding of wildflowers, turfgrass, radish, carrots, herbs, lettuce are known to do quite well. Transplanting of hops, tomatoes, peppers, kohlrabi, cucumber plants have also been possible.
Do hydrangeas like mushroom compost?
We use 10-10-10. Ideally if you have composted horse manure, cow manure, any kind of organic matter like mushroom compost, it makes no difference. Use it.