Tried growing tomatoes in pure compost instead of soil mix, total disaster

I read a bunch of posts saying compost is gold for plants so I figured why not go all in. Filled a 20 gallon grow bag with straight up homemade compost for my beefsteak tomatoes. They grew huge and leafy at first but then all the blossoms dropped off and the leaves curled up bad. After some digging I learned it was too much nitrogen and poor drainage. I guess you really gotta mix it with regular soil or at least something to balance it out. Anybody else make this mistake or find a good ratio that works?

2 comments

2 Comments

dixon.spencer16d ago

Compost is gold" is misleading for sure. Straight compost is just too hot, you gotta cut it at least 50/50 with soil.

blairtaylor16d ago

Yeah but what ratio actually works for you?