Brooklyn Queens Land Trust

My girl's is a compost maniac and she bugged me to use worm compost because it would be good for my plants. Three weeks ago, she went overseas with the air force and I now am responsible for HER plants. I tried taking worm compost and put it in her plants. Why?... because I'm new to gardening; need her plants to survive; I want to share in one of her interests; and I want her to be impressed. Well, heck! You might know what to do with this rock hard dirt now surrounding her plants, but I don't. What will happen is I try and put this stuff in the ground? Should I dump it out and buy potting soil instead? It is like concrete. Well maybe not that hard but close. Please help me. I'm writing everywhere...blogs, chat groups. If I kill something, she'll know, even if I buy all new plants. She cannot come home to dead plants or I'm hamburger! She is a crack shot now!

By Trevor

worm composting

Trevor,

Certainly, you want to keep the girl happy! And you want to keep her plants happy, too. If they're indoor plants, commercial potting soil is amended with good stuff and processed to avoid bad stuff.

If outdoors, plants could use some help with potting soil. And compost. And, especially, water.

''Red wrigglers,'' not earthworms, are the good guys you want. Google up ''vermiculture'' for more detail. If you're in NYC, Union Square farmers market usually has an info table.

Good luck with the air command!

Pat

By pat