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Mulching compost serves to improve the
soil in the ways already mentioned but it cannot be considered the
perfectly balanced plant food as many people assume it to be.
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Mulching compost can only return to the
soil those elements contained in the plant material used in the
composting, therefore, if this plant material was grown on deficient
soils, the compost will be similarly deficient. This is why some
gardeners add light sprinklings or watering with complete plant food
when making a compost heap. These additions also speed decomposition.
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Exponents of organic gardening prefer to
use completely natural additives such as blood and bone or animal
manures, but the latter, with the exception of fowl manure, may be
short of the phosphorus needed in most home garden soils.
How to make good mulching compost?
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So much has been written about the making
of mulching compost that it often sounds a solemn and complicated
ritual, but there are many ways to achieve good results. Any pile of
spent plant life just moistened and heaped will naturally decompose to
a valuable soil additive, though the moist centre will be ready to use
perhaps months before the drier outer layer.
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However, better mulching compost comes
more rapidly when available material can be collected, moistened and
mixed together in a large enough quantity to encourage the generation
of heat.
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The heat generated as decomposition
begins can be sufficient to kill most weed seeds and fungus or virus
diseases that may be present in some of the plant material used.
Therefore, if using a free-standing heap in the open (the type many
compost enthusiasts still prefer) it needs to be at least 1.5m in width
and height, and preferably a little longer.
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Both air and moisture u needed for a
health beneficial type of decomposition.
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