Hi folks, how are you doing? hope everyone is doing fine :)
I´ve been doing my own compost since last year, and I notice that the end result (after I add it to my plants ) is more like small hard as rock chunks of composts, instead of a normal soil consistency...
Every place I read about compost they say that the end result must look,feel and smell like soil.. In my case it smells like soil and has the same colour as normal soil... but when it dries it gets extreamly solid , like if it was a rock.... will try to add some pictures to clarify this.
Any idea of what could I be doing wrong?
Its a home plastic compost bin, with draining/ventilation holes. I only compost raw vegetables, fruits, cardboard, white paperand coffee . nothing more than that..

I have never seen anything like that.

I've had that happen when I let it dry out before it's completely decomposed. Here where it's hot and arid, we talk about the THREE requirements for compost: brown, green and blue (water).

It is not totally composted; I have cold compost piles and I let is sit for years till that bottom is totally composted.
Mine is 90 percent leaves and garden residue, with coffee grounds and fruit peels occasionally.
I would try adding coffee grounds, if you drink coffee.
What you could also do, if you have room, is take the compost from the first container and put it all into a second bin , wire with open sides works well, and let it sit there for a year or two., it will/should be very fine and loose by then.
Time improves compost, plus the weight, and heat caused by the weight, a larger pile has makes composting without turning work, but it has to be kept moist.

Welcome
That's news to me also.

I suspect it is lacking the fibrous bulk that you find in a lot of compost that has tree leaves, garden waste, horse manure, lawn clippings etc . I think it's fine to use but isn't adding the kind of cellulose bulk and longer term soil structure conditioning you see more often.

and I think once it gets rained on and in the ground, it'll soften and blend.

Looks like soil with high clay content to me?

alejandro said: I notice that the end result (after I add it to my plants ) is more like small hard as rock chunks of composts, instead of a normal soil consistency...

Every place I read about compost they say that the end result must look,feel and smell like soil..

In my case it smells like soil and has the same colour as normal soil... but when it dries it gets extreamly solid , like if it was a rock....
Any idea of what could I be doing wrong?

Seems like I've seen similar... And yes, I think the suggestions about clay and dryness are about right.

I'd use it.

I disbelieve that you did anything wrong, time spent on top of the soil will eventually convert this mixture in appearance to more what you expected.

I wouldn't worry about this... it will work just as well as the so-called 'perfect' compost.