Topic: using half-done leaf litter/compost

[aquilegia]

I'm getting a bit desperate for mulching material.

My compost is not ready yet. Would it be ok to use half-rotted compost or leaf litter as a mulch?

(I'm on heavy clay soil, if that makes a difference)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I do it all the time, since I have access to almost unlimited supplies. As long as the mulch isn't too thick, it's fine. If it gets too thick, it can cause your plants to rot off.

[grawrc]

leaf-mould is spot on if you have it. Or grass cuttings (bit early though)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Fresh grass cuttings are fine. Half-rotted ones need to be handled with particular care, as they form a nasty stodgy mass of rooting  material which can be lethal; if it's in this condition, try to keep the mulch away from direct contact with stems, unless you're using it on something really tough. I tend to use it on potatoes, round bushes, and on beds where nothing's going to be growing for a while. That being said, I have access to a mountain of rotting grass cuttings, and used carefully, they're invaluable.

[supersprout]

Hi acqui :), imho, trust your instincts, go ahead and use what you have, if you feel your soil needs it. As you're forking the compost on, I imagine you would tug out undigested bits (e.g. perennial roots, melon rinds) or anything that's gooey or smells horrible. Large undigested bits might go straight in the runner bean trench to provide moisture over the summer?
Everyone on my plot uses fresh spent hops (just out of the vat!) because we have an inexhaustible supply here, and where they've been used the soil is really well conditioned. I often use fresh leaves as a mulch over winter (they just disappear :o), and so do professional growers (I've seen this done with garlic). Don't see why half-done leaf mould should be any different.

[grawrc]

No me neither

[MrsKP]

spookily, i started another thread today on the same theme, my "raised beds" ended up being about 9" deep with only 2" above the ground and i was running a bit low on compost.  this is my first year and have needed to import a hellovalotof compost.  so i cheated and chucked a black sack of not very well composted leaf mould in over a gravel and sand base.

i was hoping that i'd more good than harm but i didn't want to fry the poor wee seedlings by accident.

so, we agree this can't do any harm then, aye ?

 ::)

[derbex]

I hope not, as I've just bunged a load at the bottom of my dug out greenhouse bed.

I don't think leafmold will -there's not a lot of nitrogen in the leaves to harm the seedlings. Compost might -but as a mulch, in my experience you're ok. Mind you I generally plant out from modules.

Jeremy