TIL my compost pile was killing my garden for 2 years

I live in Portland, and last spring I finally figured out why my tomato plants kept dying. I had a big compost bin in the corner that I never turned, just added kitchen scraps for 2 years. Turns out it went anaerobic and was leaking this nasty runoff right into my vegetable bed. I tested the soil pH and it was way off, like 4.5 or something. My neighbor who gardens said I basically poisoned my own plot. Anyone else accidentally wreck their garden with bad compost?

3 comments

3 Comments

west.henry28d ago

Happens more than people realize lol. It's like when you try too hard to fix something and just make it worse. Sometimes the best thing you can do is step back and let stuff do its thing.

joelwells28d ago

30 years of watching people try to fix their own cars taught me that sometimes you gotta jump in and fix it, not leave it alone. @west.henry I get where you're coming from, but if you step back too long on something like engine knocking or brake fade, you're gonna blow a gasket or total the thing. There's a difference between overthinking a small tweak and ignoring a real problem that needs hands-on attention right then. Most folks I know end up paying double cuz they waited, not cuz they jumped too fast.

danielw8828d ago

Ha! That sounds rough but kind of familiar. I did something similar a few years back with a cheap tumbler composter I got from a yard sale. Never drained the tap at the bottom, just kept spinning it and dumping it on my raised beds. @joelwells would probably laugh because I ignored the problem until my zucchini plants turned yellow and stopped growing. Turns out the compost was rotting wet and had all this ammonia smell that was burning the roots. I ended up having to pull out half the soil and start over.