Ripe compost soil smells of forest soil, trickles promisingly through your hands and makes gardeners' hearts beat faster. Here you can find out where you can buy the black gold of the hobby gardener cheaply. This guide tells you how to make your own compost, how to use it properly and how to store it. Proven instructions explain how to fertilize your lawn with compost and how to fill the raised bed correctly.

Compost soil is full of life and nutrients

Table of Contents

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  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Where buy?
  3. What uses?
  4. Compost soil as lawn fertilizer?
  5. How to fill a raised bed?
  6. Make your own compost
  7. Store compost properly
  8. frequently asked Questions

    9. the essentials in brief

    • Compost soil is very nutritious and can be used as fertilizer for lawns or vegetable beds
    • You can easily make your own compost with a compost heap
    • Compost is one of the most important components in a raised bed

    Where is the best place to buy compost?

    Vendors and products need to be carefully selected. After all, you entrusted your lovingly tended ornamental and vegetable plants to compost soil. The following table lists in alphabetical order recommended sources for buying compost soil of the best quality at a reasonable price:

    providers Price loose goods Packaged goods price Shipping yes/no
    Amazon from 0.11 EUR (1 l) from EUR 5.50 (20 l) Yes
    Dehner garden centers no option from EUR 6.99 (40 l) Yes
    eBay from 0.11 EUR (1 l) from EUR 5.50 (20 l) Yes
    compost plants from EUR 26.00 (1 m³) from EUR 2.40 (40 l) Yes
    Obi hardware stores from 0.18 EUR (1 l) from EUR 9.99 (60 l) Yes
    Recycling centers (e.g. BSR) from 14.50 EUR (1 m³) from EUR 4.50 (45 l) no

    If you decide to buy by mail order, there will be additional costs. Composting plants deliver large quantities in big bags by truck to your front door. As a rule, the price for a big bag with a volume of 1 cubic meter is 15 euros plus 3.50 euros per cubic meter for unloading by crane. Some providers also charge a surcharge of up to 20 percent for filling big bags. Therefore, when purchasing compost soil by mail order, please inquire about any additional delivery charges.

    If you like it local, you can buy compost in the flower shop around the corner

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    Observe the RAL quality mark for compost

    The RAL quality mark for compost serves as an excellent guide when purchasing. The Federal Quality Association for Compost e.V. (BGK) is responsible for the award. Manufacturers of compost subject their products to voluntary quality assurance based on a regular test procedure. Qualified laboratories scrutinize compost soil for safe use as a natural fertilizer and soil conditioner. In this context, the entire manufacturing process from waste to the finished product is examined. If you want to be on the safe side when buying compost soil, you should choose a product with the RAL compost quality mark.

    Where can I use compost? - An overview

    Compost soil is rich in natural nutrients, activates soil life, optimizes soil structure, prevents erosion and protects plants against diseases. These outstanding properties make compost the ideal natural fertilizer and soil conditioner for the hobby garden. The following overview summarizes common options for sensible use:

    • starting fertilizer: Enrichment of the soil when growing, planting beds and tubs
    • nutrient supply: regular administration as a natural fertilizer
    • soil conditioner: loosen up, refine and ennoble problematic soil structure

    One of the special advantages of using it is that compost soil replaces all peat products. It is thanks to the organic substrate that the overexploitation of irretrievable raised bogs can be stopped. For this reason, when buying compost soil, please give preference to peat-free branded goods and ignore cheap goods containing peat.

    Use neat or stretch - How to do it right

    Compost can be used pure or mixed with other soil, sand or granules

    Compost comes with a concentrated load of valuable nutrients that are not suitable for every use in a concentrated form. Here you can find out under what conditions you should use pure compost or stretch it:

    • Cultivation and seed soil: 1 part compost soil, 9 parts sand or coconut soil
    • potting soil: 3 parts excavation of the planting pit, 1 part compost soil
    • natural fertilizer: Spread pure several times per season, rake in 2-5 cm high and superficially
    • pot substrate: 1 part garden soil, 1 part compost soil, possibly some sand, expanded clay (19.73€) or lava granules

    If you are laying out a new vegetable bed, the following applies to the use of compost soil: clog it up and don't mess it up. Please apply 15 to 20 liters of pure compost per square meter of bed area so that young crops have ideal starting conditions. The subsequent nutrient supply depends on whether you fertilize heavy consumers (8 l/m²), medium-heavy consumers (6 l/m²) or weak consumers (4 l/m²).

    How do I fertilize a lawn with compost soil?

    Compost soil is the perfect fertilizer for vegetable beds and lawns

    Store-bought or home-made compost transforms stunted lawns into a lush green carpet. Justified concerns about conventional lawn fertilizers with unnatural, chemically toxic ingredients catapult natural fertilizers to the top of the ranking for environmentally friendly lawn care. Important preparatory work ensures that compost meets expectations as a lawn fertilizer. This includes throwing the organic material through a sieve to remove coarse components. The following instructions explain how to properly fertilize your lawn with compost soil:

    1. Sieve compost (pass-through sieve with a mesh size of 10-15 cm)
    2. Mow the lawn as usual
    3. apply the sifted compost using a wheelbarrow and shovel
    4. recommended quantity: 1-2 l/m², or 1-2 cm high
    5. distribute evenly with a rake
    6. sprinkle lawn

    The time window is open twice a year to spoil the lawn with compost soil. In March/April, the natural nutrients stimulate the growth of the green area. In August/September, a layer of compost prepares the lawn for the hardships of the coming winter. Ideally, you should not shower the natural fertilizer with water in autumn, but with comfrey liquid manure. Comfrey contains plenty of potassium, which strengthens the frost hardiness of noble grasses.

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    Knowledgeable hobby gardeners optimize the lawn's ability to absorb the beneficial effects of compost soil. For this purpose, the green area is scarified in advance. Rotating knives scratch the turf a few millimeters deep and comb out any annoying thatch.

    How do I fill the raised bed with compost?

    Compost soil is essential for raised beds

    For the competent filling of a raised bed, compost takes on a key function, supplemented with other important components. The composition depends on the planned planting. Crops have a higher nutrient requirement than flowers and grasses. The following brief instructions explain how to properly fill a raised bed for growing vegetables:

    • floor: cover with vole wire
    • first layer: 20 cm high coarse material (wood cuttings)
    • second layer: 10 cm chopped twigs, crushed autumn leaves
    • third layer: 20 cm coarse, unscreened, semi-mature compost
    • fourth layer: 30 cm sieved, mature compost soil

    If the raised bed is reserved for more undemanding ornamental plants, the perfect filling is reduced to two layers over the indispensable vole wire. Fill in mature, sieved compost soil on a 20 centimeter high layer of gravel or crushed stone. The organic components of the compost sag by 10 to 20 centimeters every year. For your next spring schedule, please make a note of filling up the raised bed with fresh compost.

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    Compost has a neutral pH

    Experts from the Federal Quality Association for Compost e.V. do away with the prejudice that compost makes the garden soil acidic. The opposite was scientifically proven in a twelve-year field test by the Agricultural Technology Center Karlsruhe (LTZ). The knowledge is substantiated by thousands of test procedures on compost samples in the course of the RAL quality assurance under the direction of the BGK. The bottom line for the use of compost soil in the hobby garden is that the pH value is in the neutral to slightly alkaline range at an average of 7.0 to 7.5.

    Make compost yourself - how does it work?

    The cheap purchase of compost soil usually fails due to the high weight and the associated delivery costs. Hobby gardeners are easy on the wallet and simply produce the natural fertilizer and soil conditioner themselves. A semi-shady to shady location with unpaved ground and a distance of at least 50 centimeters to the neighboring property is well suited. Ideally, there is a water connection nearby.

    The best time to start is in autumn because there is plenty of plant material available at this time. Chopped branches, autumn leaves and other leftovers are well suited. Uncooked kitchen waste, stable and cage manure, tea bags, coffee filters and dried lawn clippings also contribute to rich compost soil. Stack the materials alternately, supplemented with 10 kilos of rock dust per cubic meter against unpleasant odours. Meat, leftover food, textiles, metal, plastic and weeds have no place in the compost heap.

    In no time at all, soil creatures have discovered the new food source, settle down and decompose the organic materials into valuable compost soil. In case of drought, pour water over the compost heap so that the microorganisms do not die of thirst. The rotting process takes between 6 and 12 months. You speed up the process by turning or mixing the material twice a year.

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    The right compost bin for every garden

    The own production of compost does not have to fail due to lack of space. There is a wide range of affordable compost bins to choose from for every garden size. The best options are summarized in the following overview:

    • compost heap: for large areas and high volumes of waste
    • slat composter: traditional wooden construction for the average allotment garden
    • Wire mesh composter: available in many sizes, longer shelf life than slatted composters
    • quick composter: little space required, rapid decomposition until mature compost soil
    • worm composter: ideal for balconies, patios and small gardens

    Storing compost soil - how do I do it right?

    Full life reigns in finished compost soil. Proper storage is important to ensure that the natural fertilizer retains its premium quality over a longer period of time. Continuous rain and a dense snow cover are poison for the organic material. This is how you store compost in an exemplary manner:

    1. choose a rainproof location with ground contact
    2. weed weed
    3. Pour compost into the heap
    4. cover with tar paper, black foil or similar waterproof material
    5. Fasten the side edges of the cover with stones so that they are windproof

    Compost should not be stored in bags for long periods of time. Under unfavorable storage conditions, there is a risk that the soil will start to sweat. As a result, mold and rot develop, which significantly affects the quality. It is worth the effort to open the sacks to heap the compost soil in a rain-protected location.

    frequently asked Questions

    Where can I get compost soil for free?

    We have identified two sources for you for free compost soil. Regularly browse classified ads on Ebay, Findix, Quoka and similar portals. Anyone who stays on the ball here will discover in good time when private gardeners are offering excess compost soil for free. Depending on the annual amount of green waste, numerous recycling centers in Germany and Austria offer free compost soil for self-collection in the spring in order to make space on the composting site before the start of the season.

    What is the difference between organic compost and other types of compost?

    Experts generally distinguish between organic compost and green compost. The main source of organic compost is the organic waste bin, which is available almost everywhere in German and Austrian households. Green waste compost is made from green waste that recycling and recycling centers accept. Due to its composition, organic compost is significantly more nutritious than green compost.

    Should I sterilize compost before using it?

    Origin and quality determine whether or not compost should be sterilized before use. If you are holding a product with the RAL quality mark for compost (BGK), no measures are required to make the soil germ-free. One of the many test criteria is proof from the manufacturer that strict hygiene regulations are being observed. If the compost comes from your own production, we recommend sterilizing the soil with the help of a thermal treatment at around 100 degrees Celsius.

    I underestimated the weight of compost so my raised bed is too heavy for the balcony. What can I do?

    A standard raised bed for the balcony is not a heavyweight at around 15 kilograms. If, on the other hand, compost soil is used as a filling, the weight can reach serious dimensions. So that you can still garden at table height on your balcony, simply pull an intermediate floor into the raised bed. Place your ornamental, vegetable and herb plants in pots on the ground. The area under the intermediate floor remains empty.

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    Balcony gardeners outsmart the lack of space and produce compost soil themselves. The horticultural stroke of genius succeeds with the help of a worm farm. It is a wooden box with four chambers. In it, organic waste is collected and gradually processed by compost worms into worm compost and worm tea. You can buy the first generation of hard-working inhabitants of a worm farm cheaply in certified specialist shops.

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