Topic: What's sour compost?

[wahaj]

I get it on a lot of my pots that are in my mini greenhouse..and some of the pots in the house.

what is it? and why does it happen? is it bad for the plants? and how can i avoid it?

thanks :)

[supersprout]

can you describe it wahaj? ::)

[wahaj]

can you describe it wahaj? ::)

oh.....sorry! i thought it was a common term? i've heard people use it all the time so i thought they knew what they meant lol.

um....it's like the top of the compost tightens up and because a bit dry and forms one clump...and it gets like little white and green patches on it that look like mould or algae...


oh...i seem to have found something :
http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/envirohort/factsheets2/landsmaint/jul94pr5.html


i've read through it...and i sort of get it....but i'm still a bit confused as to why i have it...and what i should do to get rid of if.

[supersprout]

thank you wahaj, but I've never had it! over to someone who's had a greenhouse more than a year ;) ::)
just read your link - eeeeewwww - sour mulch!
should give emagggie some ammo against the ammonia brigade :o

I suppose if you mulch you don't get so many problems at the soil surface?

[Kepouros]

What you describe could be any one or more of several things.

If the compost in the pots is soil based the white patches could be simple efflorescence of the unused salts in the soil drying out on the surface.  Failing that (or if the compost is soilless) they are probably either fungal or algal or one of the forms of lichen - lichen is itself a mixture of fungus and algae growing together in symbiosis and can appear as white or brown or green depending on how damp or wet it is.

  The green patches will be either algae or lichen or liverwort, depending on their form. Algae appears as a simple green layer, while liverwort has tiny green plate-like leaves similar in shape to the human liver (hence its name).

With the exception of efflorescence all are symbolic of damp and stagnant conditions - often contributed to by too frequent watering.

Try very gently scraping off the surface of the compost, remove all the debris, and then gently break up the surface of the compost with a kitchen fork without actually disturbing the plant.  Don`t water again until the pot has dried out, then top up with fresh compost.

[wahaj]

What you describe could be any one or more of several things.

If the compost in the pots is soil based the white patches could be simple efflorescence of the unused salts in the soil drying out on the surface.  Failing that (or if the compost is soilless) they are probably either fungal or algal or one of the forms of lichen - lichen is itself a mixture of fungus and algae growing together in symbiosis and can appear as white or brown or green depending on how damp or wet it is.

  The green patches will be either algae or lichen or liverwort, depending on their form. Algae appears as a simple green layer, while liverwort has tiny green plate-like leaves similar in shape to the human liver (hence its name).

With the exception of efflorescence all are symbolic of damp and stagnant conditions - often contributed to by too frequent watering.

Try very gently scraping off the surface of the compost, remove all the debris, and then gently break up the surface of the compost with a kitchen fork without actually disturbing the plant.  Don`t water again until the pot has dried out, then top up with fresh compost.

lovely. that sounds wonderful :)