All plants in your yard need soil with a proper amount of essential nutrients, vitamins, and other all-around good stuff to thrive and grow beautifully, so purchasing the wrong additives can do your veggies, flowers, and bushes more harm than good.
However, the best compost for garden soil exists, and we’re here to recommend them to you.
Here are the best composts for garden soil you can buy in 2023:
- Best Compost Starter: Jobe's Organics Compost Starter
- Best For Compost Tea: Wiggle Worm WWSB30LB Unco Industries Builder Worm Castings
- Best For Composting Toilets: Hoffman 15503 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss
- All-purpose Compost: Dr. Earth 803 Compost
- Best Organic Compost: Blue Ribbon Organics Organic Compost
Best Compost Starter: Jobe's Organics Compost Starter
- Speed up the composting process
- Ideal for compost piles
- OMRI listed for organic gardening by USDA
- Improve soil conditions
- Help resist disease, insects, and drought during the growing season
- Long waiting time than advertised
No list of the best compost for garden can be complete without the Jobe's Organics Compost Starter which is popular among farmers and organic professionals.
Instead of tossing whatever organic nutrient content in a mixture and want it to work, Jobe’s Organics adds Biozome to create the best soil conditions to encourage plants to grow healthily.
The proprietary microorganism archaea in this unique family of completely organic fertilizer formulas can aggressively break down organic materials for faster improvement in the ground’s nutrient levels.
Some users still complained that it takes time to see the magical changes, though.
| Jobe's Organics Compost Starter Specifications | |
|---|---|
Capacity | N/A |
Highlight Features | Organic compost starter with Biozome Microbe Additive Certified organic means no synthetic chemicals Easy-pour bag |
Jobe's Organics Compost Starter is the key to nutrient-rich soil and healthy plants.
Best For Compost Tea: Wiggle Worm WWSB30LB Unco Industries Builder Worm Castings
- Made in the USA
- OMRI listed
- Organic and odorless
- Perfectly balanced for immediate and long term absorption
- Lightweight & versatile
- Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use
- Last a long time
- Perform better when supplementing with another fertilizer
The miracles of the Wiggle Worm WWSB30LB Unco Industries Builder Worm Castings are easily witnessed in the healthy growth and good yields of your vegetables, flowers, and houseplants.
This fertilizer’s outstanding results must be associated with the manure’s water-soluble nature. Not only do these nutrients help your gardens explode with veggies, bushes, and flowers within a matter of weeks, but they also aid them in such a long run regarding their survival.
The downside, though, is that it performs that great only when supplementing with another fertilizer.
| Wiggle Worm WWSB30LB Unco Industries Builder Worm Castings Specifications | |
|---|---|
Capacity | N/A |
Highlight Features | An organic fertilizer featuring pure earthworm castings |
Being the Mother Nature's best kept growing secret, the Wiggle Worm WWSB30LB Unco Industries Builder Worm Castings are the top pick for those considering home gardening as their therapeutic hobby.
Best For Composting Toilets: Hoffman 15503 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss
- Increase the sandy soil's capacity to hold moisture and nutrients
- Blend with perlite & peat moss for the custom soilless mix
- 99.8 percent organic
- Reduce heavy metals’ bioavailability
- Reduce odor
- Light on labor
- Absorbent
- Too finely chopped
If you are interested in organic vegetable gardening, chances are you’ve heard about the Hoffman 15503 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss at least once, the thing that "happens" since the peat moss harvested from peat bogs break down into a rich, dark, humus-like material.
Canadian Sphagnum peat moss is very absorbent and can retain up to 20 times its weight in moisture.
Also, it does an excellent job of slowly releasing water as your plants need it & drying out feces inside the composting toilet. That way, it protects soil & potting mixes from hardening and adds natural beneficial materials to it while reducing the carbon footprint.
All of the organic ingredients are chopped up into much finer pieces, which can seamlessly stay in a pot, but too finely chopped to be held in a wire basket.
| Hoffman 15503 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Specifications | |
|---|---|
Capacity | 1-1/2 cubic feet (42.5 liters) |
Highlight Features | Canadian sphagnum peat moss Premium grade of horticultural 99.8 percent organic |
If the bucket solution is heavy on labor, yet you are interested in a composting toilet’s ecology; then the Hoffman 15503 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss is an easy & efficient way to go.
All-purpose Compost: Dr. Earth 803 Compost
- 100-percent natural & organic
- Made in the USA
- Use to mulch, break up clay and improve texture
- Perform well in various projects in your gardens
- Non-GMO project verified
- Registered OIM
- Manure & odor-free
- Huge useless rocks inside the compost
Organic with 100% natural hand-crafted blend, the Dr. Earth 803 All-purpose Compost guarantees these baby plants in your gardens get off to a flying start.
From soybean meal, worm castings, fish bone meal, and alfalfa meal to aloe vera & yucca extract, forest humus, peat moss, and fir bark as well as oyster shell & dolomite limes, it contains a ton of organic matter that benefits the soil & exudes plant nutrients.
It is the infusion with a vast array of biological inoculant that allows for much greater vigor and adaptability.
However, aside from these green & brown materials, there are also huge useless rocks inside the compost bag, which makes gardeners & farmers disappointed.
| Dr. Earth 803 Compost Specifications | |
|---|---|
Capacity | 1-1/2 cubic feet (42.5 liters) |
Highlight Features | Rich in green-fed earthworm castings Valley grown alfalfa meal Cold water kelp meal and a plethora of organic nutrients Hand-crafted blend Beneficial soil microbes plus Mycorrhizae aloe vera & yucca extract ProMoisture hydrate. |
The Dr. Earth 803 All-purpose Compost shows nature’s intelligence in covering the seed, retaining moisture, controlling weeds, breaking up clay soil, and improving soil texture.
Best Organic Compost: Blue Ribbon Organics Organic Compost
- Made in the USA
- Improve soil structure & aeration
- Promote water retention
- Composted in a DNR-licensed facility
- Meet OMRI standard for organic production, for both gardeners and farmers
- Safe for people, pets, and plants at any concentration
- Pair wonderfully with worm castings & other soil builders
- Come at a hefty price tag
Made from all-natural, organic materials – nothing less, nothing more, this organic compost by Blue Ribbon Organics can add nutrients to your soil and improve its structure.
The secret key to lush disease-resistant plants with high-yielding crops is a broad spectrum of necessary nutrients. And that’s exactly what this OMRI-certified compost has to offer.
It is made from composted brush, vegetables, garden debris, cut firewood, horse bedding, grass clippings, wood chips, and other natural materials that help your plants to thrive.
To make your own soil mix, add equal parts compost, peat moss, and horticultural coarse grade vermiculite.
Though the Blue Ribbon Organics Organic Compost is way better than any bagged compost products available at a local big box store, it comes at a hefty price tag.
| Blue Ribbon Organics Organic Compost Specifications | |
|---|---|
Capacity | 1 cubic feet (28 liters) |
Highlight Features | pH range from 7.5 - 7.9 Compost made from recycled materials 25 pounds of compost. |
An easy-to-handle mix like the Blue Ribbon Organics Organic Compost is the secret crop fertilizer and single soil amendment for your plants’ healthy growth.
How To Choose The Best Compost For Garden Soil?
Capacity
- Though it is advisable to make your own compost if possible, for most gardeners, it is much easier to buy pre-packaged compost.
- Buying compost in bags at a local garden center is good, but going for bulk is better. That’s budget-friendlier and you will have to bring in more than a yard.
Odor-free
- Ask any farmers, home gardener, or organic professionals, and they might tell you that the worst & most uncomfortable part of any gardening process is the compost’s unpleasant strong aroma.
- Go with the model without any odor, which can transform your time spent on gardening into the one pleasant on your nose.
Manure vs. Organic Compost
- When it comes to the best additives for soil enrichment, manure from livestock is the first option to come to home gardeners’ mind.
- However, this can end up unintended affecting the soil’s nutrient content. For example, chicken manure possesses high nitrogen content while dairy cattle manure contains a low nutrient analysis.
Which Brands Make The Best Compost For Garden Soil?
Wiggle Worm
- Proudly locally owned & operated, Wiggle worm has been working directly with gardeners & farmers to make sure that their plants’ requirements in terms of nutrients and microbes are satisfied.
- From certified organic worm castings to custom composting machinery, this worm composting business makes short work out of garden work.
Blue Ribbon Organics
- Blue ribbon organics has something special and unique that its competitors just cannot offer. 100% local food & soil source is this family-owned & - run brand’s best recipe.
Jobe’s Company
- Jobe’s Company has been famous for creating high-class products for home and improvement, and the original line of Jobe’s® brand of fertilizers, compost, and plant spikes, not surprisingly, falls in line with that reputation.
- Any of the 200 garden products by this Texas-based manufacturer available at local stores across North America can bring the soil back to life.
FAQs
When should you put compost on your garden?
Late autumn is considered as the best time to spread your compost over your garden bed, and cover it with a layer of winter mulch, such as shredded/chopped leaves and straw.
By spring, soil organisms will have broken the compost down into the soil & made them biologically active, thus helping build up richer fertile soil.
Also, you can dig in soil amendments roughly 14 days before the spring planting time.
Can you have too much compost in your garden?
Compost provides soils and gardens with both organic matter & natural nutrients essential for plant growth, but too much of it could become toxic.
Can I plant directly into compost?
Compost mixed with topsoil & water can do the magic, as it aids in moisture retention in sandy soil and good drainage in heavy solid soil. Therefore, planting directly in pure compost may sound tempting but is not the best planting method at all.
Is compost or fertilizer better?
What makes compost and fertilizer different from each other? While the former enhances the natural soil & promote the growth of healthy microbe to create a favorable environment for plants, the latter works to feed them.
To create your own compost, the plant remnants added to the mixture must be void of soil-borne pathogens which might cause an infestation in healthy plants. Also, expect to wait for one month or two for the decomposed organic matter to fully break down and great composting efforts’ results witnessed.
Though most types of fertilizers can effectively and quickly amend the soil for healthy plants’ growth, some might contain synthetic chemicals while others might overload the garden beds with nutrients.
What is the best ratio of compost to soil?
Mix equal parts sharp sand, compost, and garden soil for the classic soil-based mix. Also, you can cover your perennial flower gardens with a compost layer no thicker than 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
Sandy soil should incorporate 2 parts compost and 1 part soil for the addition of organic matter essential for your veggies & flowers to thrive. If soil in the raised bed is heavy clay, lighten the soil by perlite instead of sand.
Is compost good for vegetable garden?
Compost is good for vegetable gardens. However, since all of the decomposed remains of organic materials will contribute to improving crop yield, you should not cover your vegetable garden with a thick layer of it.
Ideally, spread a layer of 1 inch or two of compost over your soil once in early spring and again after the harvesting season.
Conclusion
Now, there you’ve got the list of the best compost for garden! By purchasing one of the models above, you're investing in not only the veggies but also your health & body.
