I composted wrong for 2 years until my tomato plants called me out

I started a backyard bin in Austin back in 2021, always tossing in citrus peels and onion skins without a second thought. Last spring my tomato plants went yellow and stunted, and a neighbor who actually knows soil pointed out my pile was basically a pickle, too acidic and full of stuff worms hate. Turns out I never balanced greens with browns, and I was adding way too much nitrogen-rich kitchen scraps. Now I keep a 3:1 ratio of dry leaves to food waste and my pile actually heats up in the middle. Do you think it's better to follow strict compost rules or just let the pile figure itself out over time, or am I overthinking this whole thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

corah7527d ago

Did you ever figure out the right balance for the citrus stuff, or do you just leave it out now? I feel you on the coffee grounds too, I was pouring in like a whole pot every morning and my pile was just mush... it's crazy how something that seems so natural can be so wrong. Once I started shredding cardboard and mixing it in with my veggie scraps, things finally started breaking down like they should.

ward.anna27d ago

Honestly that "basically a pickle" line hit me so hard because I did the exact same thing with my pile in Houston. I was throwing in ALL my citrus and coffee grounds for like a year and wondered why my zucchini just gave up. The 3:1 ratio thing is real, once I started actually paying attention to my browns instead of just dumping whatever, it was a total game changer. You're not overthinking it, I think most people just never realize how easy it is to mess up, but once you get it, you get it.