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Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

Hi guys, I'm back from Halloween and finally able to get time to pop on here!!!
We have a local nursery that has started carrying mushroom compost, does anyone have experience- good or bad with using this? When should it be applied if its a good thing?

11/6/2013 7:26:46 AM

Home of happy lil plants

general consensus is....Rather salty, mainly spent due to heavy feeing mushrooms, some say good some say bad, I say not going to be cost effective vs another type of compost... unless we are talking pennies on thedollar then go for it

11/6/2013 3:56:26 PM

South Hero, VT

From the limited research I've done, I can only agree with Spence's reply.

Spend your $$$ on something better like crab shell compost.

11/6/2013 6:35:45 PM

Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

Thanks guys!!! I thought it sounded a little too good to be true, the way the garden center spoke of it there should be gold nuggets buried in it somewhere!! Thanks again!

11/7/2013 6:12:49 AM

Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

Thankfully I had only gotten one load....I put it in the low spot that seems to stay wet more than anywhere else, if nothing else it will raise that area some!! :}:}

11/7/2013 6:16:18 AM

Georgetown, Ontario

The best thing to do would be to have it tested. A bunch of very successful growers in my area have been using it for quite some time. I've been using mushroom compost for three years and the place where I get it has very good quality stuff. The price is right - it's free if you pick it up yourself. It's a mix of horse and chicken manure, peat, and straw that is partially composted then used for one batch of mushrooms and discarded. It's not salty at all as a lot of people think. My sodium levels in my soil have gone down every year and last year I had to actually add sea salt to my soil to bring the minerals in balance. It's also full of nutrients because if you fill a pot with the straight compost and stick a plant in it grows like stink. I would suggest you find out where its coming from and have it tested. Most labs that test soil will also test compost. Most mushroom farms give it away for free so if its close by its a great deal but only if its good quality. It can vary greatly based on how they compost it, whats in it or if they sterilize it.

11/7/2013 7:12:16 AM

Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

Maybe they would tell me where they are getting it. I used to buy mushrooms for the government so there are a few mushroom producers that I can call....however by the time I paid for gas to get to PA and back, well, you see the problem.

11/7/2013 2:13:18 PM