In order to find out which plants can be planted directly on top of the compost, you need to look at the nutrient requirements of the plants. Not every type of vegetable tolerates the high availability of nutrients. You should also pay attention to the quality of the substrate.
Potatoes can be planted directly in compost
nutritional needs
Depending on their nutrient requirements, the plants are divided into weak consumers, medium consumers and heavy consumers. The need for nitrogen is crucial for this classification.
weak feeder
The weak consumers, which remove only a few nutrients from the soil, include French and broad beans, cress and lamb's lettuce, radishes, summer and winter purslane and strawberries. Numerous wild herbs that grow in nature on poor soil have a low nutrient requirement. They do not require compost fertilization and should not be planted directly onto compost.
medium eater
Various vegetables such as kohlrabi, carrots, beetroot, radishes or spinach are among the medium eaters. They have moderate nutritional needs and require an organic fertilizer during the growing season. Nettle manure is ideal. Give the medium feeders, which also include onions, fennel, garlic and endives, fertilization with mature compost soil in the fall. These species are not suitable for planting on the compost.
Other middle consumers are:
- salad
- salsify
- pole beans
- chard
heavy feeder
These plants require a lot of nutrients throughout the growing season. They remove a lot of nitrogen from the soil, which has to 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 generously fertilize the bed with compost in the fall. Before winter, sow plants that will enrich the soil with nitrogen. The next year the plants are dug up so that they additionally fertilize the soil. Heavy feeders are suitable for direct planting in the compost.
compost for growing plants
Fresh compost is not suitable for growing plants. The high nutrient content causes the seedlings to shoot up and develop thin stems and leaves. In the compost, the rotting processes are not yet complete. A lot of heat builds up, so the seedlings burn. Use stale compost soil for cultivation, in which the rotting processes are complete. Soil that has been stored for at least a year provides the seedlings with ideal growing conditions. Be sure to keep the substrate evenly moist.