soil and compost question

[bmortell]

I made about a cubic yard of compost last year and its only maybe 60-70% finished now. and I made 6" raised beds in my garden. I mixed 6 inches of the existing soil with the compost for foot deep mixture of the 2. do you think being unfinished is gonna cause problems that I might need to counter by fertilizing differently for nitrogen or should it be fine. mostly leftover bits of half broken down hay in the compost making it look unfinished

[trails4u]

Hard to say without testing... My daughter did a science fair experiment 2 years ago, testing growing lettuce with different composts, two of them homegrown. Not to bore you with the gory details, but what we ultimately learned was that the nutrient content in the homegrown composts was completely off the charts.

Short story....I think (based on our science, YMMV) you should have a very nutrient rich base from which to garden...

[dale2242]

You should have no problems.
The organic materials in your compose will continue to break down in your beds.
I would go ahead and plant it.

[NyFirefighter357]

I made about a cubic yard of compost last year and its only maybe 60-70% finished now. and I made 6" raised beds in my garden. I mixed 6 inches of the existing soil with the compost for foot deep mixture of the 2. do you think being unfinished is gonna cause problems that I might need to counter by fertilizing differently for nitrogen or should it be fine. mostly leftover bits of half broken down hay in the compost making it look unfinished

You will be fine, it will break down further through the growing season.

You should "turn" your compost regularly and keep it damp. It should decompose in 2-3 months

Check the following links about composting:

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/trouble.html

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/outdoorbest.html

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/smallscale.htm

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/outdoors.html

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/29111/Composting%20at%20Home%20REVISED.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/11313

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I can't really tell you what to do with your soil, that is something you will have to figure out...But I will tell you about my garden, take from it what you will.

I am lucky, that the area where I live is known for very fertile soil. Most gardeners don't fertilize, as it's not needed. With that said, every year, I work in a lot of mulched tree leaves, some are partially composted, some not at all. So, when I do that, I do sprinkle some 10-10-10 and work that in as well, because there is reportedly some Nitrogen loss due to the decomposing, But I use much less than the recommended doses.

[country gent]

Take samples of you mixed soil to a fertilizer center ( where farmers buy) and have them test it see for sure what it needs.

A simple way to take these samples is a piece of 1" copper tubing. Push this in the bed about 5-6" and push the slug out with a wood dowel. Sample several places and blend this together. Have it tested and then you know what to buy

[bmortell]

I read someplace to just do growing sample tests with the mixture vs a control potting soil. so I took a large 6 cell pot filled a 3 row with my mix and the other with potting soil put 3 radishes in each cell to thin to the healthiest. watered one of each with plain water the next 2 with 4-3-3 liquid seaweed liquid fish, then last one of each with a high nitrogen liquid fertilizer and I should get some results from that then ill know if I need to fertilize the raised beds with some degree of correctness.

and for my compost pile I picked a wheel barrow full of these flower type plants that spread rampantly to mix with my remaining compost as I think it just slowed to a stop from having too much brown hay. and I should have proper compost some time in the growing season now. thanks for the replies

[poppy42]

I made about a cubic yard of compost last year and its only maybe 60-70% finished now. and I made 6" raised beds in my garden. I mixed 6 inches of the existing soil with the compost for foot deep mixture of the 2. do you think being unfinished is gonna cause problems that I might need to counter by fertilizing differently for nitrogen or should it be fine. mostly leftover bits of half broken down hay in the compost making it look unfinished
As long as it’s all plant material and mostly composted you’ll be fine use it with confidence and fertilizers normal