A couple months ago I purchased a smallish (about half the size of potting soil bag) bag of compost. I added to my regular potting soil, it was like potting soil consistency with some chunks of wood (it had worms also). A couple days ago I bought a different brand that is much larger. It's full of roots, hay and other grassy roots, not broken down at all! I didn't think that is standardly what compost is? Was this bad compost? (Both from Walmart). I'm confused. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Valerie ps I did not take pictures.

Hi Valerie, @vajmisc

I wouldn't expect commercial finished compost to be anything but well decomposed organic matter, usually dark brown with an earthy smell. Normally it would be sifted to a fairly uniform consistency, no chunks. Certainly no worms! I'd return that asap!

The second bag sounds like it hasn't been composted at all. Another one I would return.

Pat

They both sound substandard, I agree on returning.

vajmisc said: I didn't think that is standardly what compost is?

I'm sorry about your compost!

The (future) solution might be to buy only compost from producers that have agreed to a 'standard,' or even certify it.
And that is voluntary on the producers part. The only federally mandated requirement that I know is if it has an included 'fertilizer' claim- as fertilizer (and compost with fertilizer claims) must test, document and label those claims.

If you buy compost as a 'soil ammendment' though, it is probably unregulated unless your state has mandated regulation, so - "you get what you get," so to speak.

Unless-
Look for a compost that is 'certified for organic gardening,' (or stated as NOP compliant* see note one, below) by one of the certifying organizations, a well-known one is the OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute)* see note 2 below

OMRI compost standards said:
Organic Compost Standard
In OMRI's review, suppliers must: 1) declare the composting method and the type and source of feedstocks; 2) submit compost logs that document daily temperature readings and frequency of turnings; 3) provide lab analyses that report certain heavy metal content (As, Cd and Pb) and pathogen levels (fecal coliform and salmonella); and 4) describe how foreign contaminants are removed.
https://www.omri.org/compost-s...

*Note one
"NOP is a federal regulatory program that develops and enforces consistent national standards for organically produced agricultural products sold in the United States."
https://www.ams.usda.gov/about...

*Note 2
"OMRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides an independent review of products, such as fertilizers, pest controls, livestock health care products, and numerous other inputs that are intended for use in certified organic production and processing."
https://www.omri.org/

Does this help?

You didn't include brands of what you purchased that had those contents, it might be important, some compost advise humus and compost, some are just chunkier than others, different shreds.

Hi, good point about the brand names Kittriana. I don't know the 1st, I didn't keep the bag. This 2nd one is Garden something, I'll look in the morning. This compost wasn't chunky, it was completely made up of root balls & hay.
I did not know the info Kenisaac gave me, thank you. I'm not real familiar with compost other than broad strokes,I know the basics. I will definitely keep a better eye on what I'm buying. There really aren't many choices available, this is only the 2nd time I've seen compost available commercially.
Question: why is earth worms in the compost bad? I thought they are added to help break down the materials & add fertilizer in casings?

Replying for the updates.

gerald786smi said: Replying for the updates.

@gerald786smi, you can click on the "watch" at the top of any thread to follow for updates

My opinion on worms. They cannot live or will not necessarily stay in a potted plant long term, so they're pointless there. In the natural garden, they will or won't be found there depending on many different factors and those change thru the year. They are not essential to a garden. They don't 'cause' composting, they eat products of food rotting or of the compost process. I find worms at various times in my outdoor compost.

My daughter showed me her bag of 'indoor' potting mix, a yellow bag but not a familiar brand.
Edit, almost positive it was this Kelogg
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ke...

Bag says forest products, etc I think it was very much forest products. Aka partially composted shredded tree waste.
Texture was weird, dried to sort of fibrous hard clumps, she said when pots were watered they leaked brown. I think, as others here on site have complained, that the bagged garden product market has become hit with inferior products.

I suspect they run out of materials. Worms can BE bad because, just like roly polys their diet consists of decaying plant materials. If an imbalance of available food happens, they will eat the tiny roots of any plants nearby, you won't see it on the plant as the plant generally stays healthy, but it won't have roots to support the leaves. Open ground isn't as bad as container plants or plants buried in pots, but that is why. Besides, there are different types of worms, and you might be seeing planarians instead.

That's what I was thinking Kittriana, so they just chucked in whatever they had regardless of if it was decomposed. This is the brand, it says regionally formulated but not region? Good to know about the worms, I only saw 2 in the 1st bag, so wasn't too worried. I'm pretty sure they were regular earthworms like you see after it rains. …So the question is what to use as soil amendments if I can't trust compost?

It might help you to go to the main forum page and scroll down to the forum called.... Soil and Compost. It has a lot of good threads to read.

Is why many went to making their own composts, but try that suggestion of Debbies

@vajmisc
One reason to be concerned about worms that look like regular earthworms is that some bad ones aren't: "jumping worms".

These are very bad news. They can be moved around in soil unseen because of their eggs and cocoons. The latter are persistent in a dormant state for a long time.

Everyone needs to be careful about moving soil, potted plants, etc., keeping an eye out for these! They are showing up in new locations because people are unaware of them. Unfortunately, some who have them think they are "no big deal". If you live in a wooded area or near one and they reach it, they can be especially destructive. There's no known way to get them out of the invaded ecosystems.

https://extension.umn.edu/iden...

Pat

Oh yes! do be careful. Asian jumping worms are literally* attracted to soil high in organic matter. Real compost is 100% organic matter, and they especially like the barely decomposed stuff, like natural mulches.

You can't identify a worm as a jumping worm until it reaches maturity, and jumping worms get big, like night crawlers. But at 70°F and warmer, they squirm a lot more than regular worms. Don't just throw the infested "compost" in the garbage: you will infest the landfill where it is dumped. if you can put the bag in the freezer, that will kill all the hatched jumping worms, but not the eggs. After freezing, dry it out to bone dry, then seal it so can't re-wet, and that's the best you can do.


*Our Minnesota arboretum has jumping worms in some places. They bought yards of mulch known to be jumping worm free, and put it in the middle of their tarred parking lot to keep it that way. Jumping worms (that were in the ground previously) crossed the bare tar and infested the pile!

I did go thru the threads in the compost forum to see if my questions had already been addressed but didn't see anything specific to this. Thank you for the suggestions.

@vajmisc

You asked about what to use to add organic matter to your soil, if not purchased compost.

Brown sphagnum moss is an old standard that is generally uniform in size and free of organisms of any kind. It's sold in compressed bales of 2-3 cubic feet. For use, it needs to be loosened. It is difficult to wet at first. I usually moisten it in the bag before using it by either cutting openings in the bag to allow rain to wet it, or run water in with a hose if I need it soon. Then I "fluff" it with my hands before adding it the soil or potting mix. Sphagnum is getting harder to find and more expensive. It's "mined" from peat bogs which are ancient deposits. It's developed a reputation as unsustainable and detrimental to the environment for this reason.

A more recent product is coir, which is fibre from coconut husks. It's also called coco peat or coir peat especially when it is processed into a well-ground form suitable for potting mix or soil amendment. Like sphagnum, this is also sold in dry compressed blocks or bales. When moistened it expands when "fluffed", much like peat. Its pH tends to be in the neutral range, whereas peat is usually acidic. There may be an outside chance of weed seeds but coir is otherwise free of organisms.

If available in your locale, finely ground pine bark can be used as a soil amendment. Many of the particles will be woody and resistant to rapid decay but they will eventually decompose. The finer particles behave more like peat. This is also an excellent surface mulch for garden beds.

None of the above have nutrients sufficient for plant growth. Those must come from the existing soil or added fertilizers.

You could add alfalfa pellets as a source of both nutrients and organic matter. They're fairly expensive.I don't use them but many gardeners do, usually by mixing a few in with the soil added to fill the hole when planting, I think.

Pat

Thank you Pat. I did add sphagnum moss to my soil as I had it. Was using to top my houseplants. I added mostly to help hold moisture in the soil. I'll look for the others.

vajmisc said: A couple months ago I purchased a smallish (about half the size of potting soil bag) bag of compost. I added to my regular potting soil, it was like potting soil consistency with some chunks of wood (it had worms also). A couple days ago I bought a different brand that is much larger. It's full of roots, hay and other grassy roots, not broken down at all! I didn't think that is standardly what compost is? Was this bad compost? (Both from Walmart). I'm confused. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Valerie ps I did not take pictures.

To cut to the chase; you get what you paid for, BUT , nowadays, some times, supposed top rank products are no better than bottom shelf bargains.