Green compost

[Dave2002]

I find the concept of green compost interesting - but does it work in practice? I bought some seeds for this purpose a few weeks ago, and some seedlings have indeed sprung up, but now they seem to have come to a halt. Mostly the weeds do well in some areas, so should I just use those as green compost? One slight surprise though is curly kale. We had some plants a few years ago - they never really came to much, but some seeds seem to have escaped and in one area these are doing really well, and actually keeping up with or overtaking the weeds.

Also, is the main purpose of green compost to condition the soil - to stop it from compacting and becoming hard, or to make sure that there is more than a surface layer - or is the point to extract nutrients and essential substances from the soil so that they can be put back in when the green compost is either dug back in or composted itself?

Lastly, should the green compost be fertilised - and if so - how? I imagined the intention was to avoid the use of synthetic products, but maybe there isn't such a purist school of thought about this.

[ardcarp]

Is this the same as what is referred to sometimes as 'green manure'? If so we dabbled for the first time this year with Phacelia. Its description is almost too good to be true. You can sprinkle the seeds straight onto the soil; it germinates quickly and largely smothers any weeds, For maximum 'compost' effect you're supposed to dig it in before it flowers. However, the flowers are a mass of blue which attract bees in large numbers. So we bottled out of the main 'manure' function. They are now going to seed and will re-sow themselves next year...when we have to decide whether to enjoy the flowers and bees again or to dig them in early.

https://beehappyplants.co.uk/bee-plants/phacelia/

[gradus]

On first reading I thought the thread was about the compost made by, or on behalf of local authorities and in E Suffolk sold at around £3 a bag,- it works pretty well as a compost mulch/soil improver.
My problem with Phacelia etc is the digging in bit which runs counter to the no-dig system I'm trying to follow. I suppose leaving it on the surface or hoeing after cutting would achieve a similar result without disturbing the soil with a spade/fork.

[oddoneout]

Green manure was discussed recently
http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...-Weeders-Awake about#10 onwards

[Serial_Apologist]

Is this the same as what is referred to sometimes as 'green manure'? If so we dabbled for the first time this year with Phacelia. Its description is almost too good to be true. You can sprinkle the seeds straight onto the soil; it germinates quickly and largely smothers any weeds, For maximum 'compost' effect you're supposed to dig it in before it flowers. However, the flowers are a mass of blue which attract bees in large numbers. So we bottled out of the main 'manure' function. They are now going to seed and will re-sow themselves next year...when we have to decide whether to enjoy the flowers and bees again or to dig them in early.

https://beehappyplants.co.uk/bee-plants/phacelia/

At first glance one compromise solution might be to let half the patch of Phacelia flower and dig the other half in, thereby serving the composing function and providing a visiting arena for pollinators.

[Serial_Apologist]

On first reading I thought the thread was about the compost made by, or on behalf of local authorities and in E Suffolk sold at around £3 a bag,- it works pretty well as a compost mulch/soil improver.
My problem with Phacelia etc is the digging in bit which runs counter to the no-dig system I'm trying to follow. I suppose leaving it on the surface or hoeing after cutting would achieve a similar result without disturbing the soil with a spade/fork.

I suppose it depends how compacted the soil is from earlier heavy plant whether or not the soil can be allowed to provide an undisturbed germination bed, or whether it first needs aeriating.

[ardcarp]

I lightly dug over a general purpose area (bonfires, etc) before sprinkling the seed. Digging was easy because the land was dry We did water quite heavily every evening until the seeds had germinated, but when the Phacelia was a few inches tall, it just looked after itself.

[gradus]

I suppose it depends how compacted the soil is from earlier heavy plant whether or not the soil can be allowed to provide an undisturbed germination bed, or whether it first needs aeriating.

I think that's right, new home owners often complain about the compaction of soil by builders plant and equipment but for previously grassed areas that have just had human feet to contend with, I think digging can be left to the - suitably encouraged by compost mulching - worms.