To find out which plants can be planted directly on the compost, you have to look at the plants' nutrient needs. Not every type of vegetable can tolerate the high availability of nutrients. You should also pay attention to the quality of the substrate.
Which plants can be planted directly in the compost?
Heavy feeders such as peppers, potatoes, corn, tomatoes or pumpkins can be planted directly in the compost. They have a high nutrient requirement and benefit from being planted directly in nutrient-rich compost.
Nutrient requirements
The plants are divided into weak feeders, medium feeders and heavy feeders depending on their nutrient requirements. The need for nitrogen is crucial for this classification.
Weak eater
The weak feeders that remove only a small amount of nutrients from the soil include bush and broad beans, cress and lamb's lettuce, radishes, summer and winter purslane and strawberries. Numerous wild herbs that grow naturally in poor soil have low nutrient requirements. They do not require compost fertilization and should not be planted directly on the compost.
Middle eaters
Various vegetables such as kohlrabi, carrots, beetroot, radishes and spinach are among the medium-food sources. They have moderate nutrient requirements and require organic fertilizer during the growing season. Nettle manure is ideal. Fertilize the medium feeders, which also include onions, fennel, garlic and endive, with mature compost soil in the fall. These species are not suitable for planting on compost.
Other medium feeders are:
- Salad
- Black salsify
- pole beans
- Chard
Heavy eaters
These plants require lots of nutrients throughout the growing season. They remove a lot of nitrogen from the soil, which must be added to the substrate through balancing measures. If you plant heavy feeders such as peppers, potatoes, corn, tomatoes or pumpkins in the bed, you should fertilize the bed extensively with compost in autumn. Before winter, sow plants that enrich nitrogen in the soil. Next year the plants are dug up so that they additionally fertilize the soil. Heavy feeders are suitable for direct planting in compost.
Compost for growing plants
Fresh compost soil is not suitable for growing plants. The high nutrient content causes the seedlings to shoot up and develop thin stems and leaves. The rotting processes in the compost are not yet complete. A lot of heat is generated so that the seedlings burn. For cultivation, use stale compost soil in which the rotting processes have been completed. Soil that has been stored for at least a year provides seedlings with ideal growing conditions. Make sure to keep the substrate evenly moist.