Mushroom Compost

Mushroom compost is an easy and inexpensive way to refresh soil. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Mushroom Compost

If there is one product to stockpile over winter it is mushroom compost. Mushroom compost is the easiest way to refresh potted soil and give your indoor plants a mid-winter pick me up without having to repot the plants.

A number of studies are confirming that mycelium, or the underground fungus network that lives in soil, is critical to the health of soil residents including plants.

To keep soil alive and healthy, gardeners feed the soil residents with compost, recycling kitchen scraps back into soil. As I like to say, we are all connected.

Enter mushroom compost, a product I discovered this year with the help of a local garden center. Although I still produce my own compost, I discovered mushroom compost is also handy to easily refresh potted soil.

This geranium has lived in my office for a good 8 years, getting new soil every spring. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

This lovely geranium was an end of the season purchase a good 7 years or more ago. I moved it to my office so that I could keep it watered over winter and it has never left. I know when the soil needs help when the leaves start to dry up and the plant no longer flowers.

I remove the top 3-4 inches of potted plant soil and replace it with a mix of half new potting soil and 1/4 to half mushroom compost.

I have also just mixed the mushroom compost into the top two inches of existing potted soil and use mushroom compost when I plant shrubs and trees. I want to give those roots a good start.

The started using mushroom compost this summer on my deck plants. The new infusion of fresh soil and fungi compost has given my potted plants a wonderful new lease on life. I am stockpiling a supply for use mid winter. I will also be using mushroom compost in spring when I plant vegetables in pots.

There are a number of granulated products on the market that will do the same thing. These bags, at less than $4 a bag, are not only a good value but easy to store for later use.

Charlotte