Mushroom Compost for Bulking

[Cece]

Hi

Im just enquiring if anyone has any experience using spent mushroom compost with FYM to bulk it up?

I'm told mushroom compost contains all sorts of minerals good and bad but i was thinking of dumping it in a corner and innoculating good compost and manure into it which in theory should break it down and mean eventually theres a nice amount to spread.

Any opinions on this? or is mushroom compost just full of too many chemicals etc?

Thanks

 

[KMA]

chemicals? man made or natural.

I'd have thought it would be a pretty good addition to soil, after all it's just very well rotted FYM isn't it?

 

[Cece]

Man made I would have thought.

There would be natural minerals in there of course but i was afraid the added chemicals would make it bad for land, soil etc

 

[corkman2013]

Man made I would have thought.

There would be natural minerals in there of course but i was afraid the added chemicals would make it bad for land, soil etc

What chemicals,

 

[Cece]

pesticides etc

 

[KMA]

Didn't think they used any pesticides in mushroom growing. The only thing that might be carried over from FYM would be the likes of some pyrethroid type cattle wormers like Ivermectin but they would be so degraded and dilute as to not be measurable athough they do, very slightly, slow down the rate that cow pats are broken down on pasture when animals have just been treated.

Reckon you should have a look at some of the more commonly used pesticide labels and see just how quickly broken down ineffective even the 'systemic' ones become, it might surprise you.

I'd have no problem adding the likes of mushroom compost to my beds. Sewage sludge with the possibility of heavy metal and hormone contamination is another issue though.

 

[Cece]

yeah i suppose theres a far amount in fym. i was told there are salts in there also but i suppose from point of view i would like to leave it and innoculate it further it breaking down.

 

[Chasingmytail]

mushroom compost is classed as nectar in the gardening world. Not sure any pesticides in mushrooms - what are you going to kill mould? Its quite pricey hence mixing it with homemade compost.

 

[Cece]

i was hoping to use it to bulk up manure to a compost. make it go further. 10t to an acre wouldnt go far with the amount of fym we get.

 

[KMA]

compost is just vegetable matter that has rotted down FYM is just vegetable matter that has been through an animals gut if you shove the stuff in a heap for a couple of years and turn it regularly you end up with pretty much the same stuff - compost.

FYM is currently spread on the field straight away whereas it would be much better to stick it in a big heap for a couple of years to let the heat build up and help kill any weeds. You just need to turn it every few weeks to allow the air so the microbes keep working breaking the material down and generating heat as a by-product which kills the weed seeds.

 

[Cece]

Thanks for all the replies. ive been informed that its ok to use it in conventional farms in ireland anyway but with organics you can't because it contains poultry and pig manure...