Mushroom Compost

Use it as mulch, use it as a growing medium, use it to enhance your soil quality!

WHAT IS MUSHROOM COMPOST?
Did you know that mushroom compost is not composted or broken-down mushrooms, but in fact the growing medium in which mushrooms are cultivated?!

HOW IS MUSHROOM COMPOST MADE?
Mushrooms are usually grown in composted bales of straw or hay, mixed with poultry or horse manure and can have additives like peat moss, lime, gypsum, potash, cottonseed meal, soybean meal, corn hulls etc. This compost is broken down at high temperatures over many weeks, killing weed seeds or pathogens that may be present.

Once mushrooms grown in this composted medium are harvested, it is then called mushroom compost!

HOW TO USE IT IN THE GARDEN:
Mushroom compost has plenty of nutrients left over that make it ideal for a vegetable garden. The best way to use it is to apply a few inches in fall and let it cure or further break down over winter.

When using it as a growing medium, mix no more than 25% mushroom compost with existing soil.

It is excellent when used as mulch to suppress weeds. I use it to mulch around my garlic plants in fall, with great success!

WORD OF CAUTION:
Since it’s high in soluble salts, it may not be the ideal growing medium for blueberries or azaleas.

Also, try to find out the source of mushroom compost, to ensure that it is organic and that animal manures used are free of antibiotics.