Can compost go bad?

 

I came across a clear plastic bag of compost that's probably a few years
old.  Would it still be good.  Instinct says yes, but I don't want to put it
around my plants and make them sick.

 

I put grass clippings in plastic bags and age them a few years to make
wonderful compost.

FDR wrote:

 

If these clippings are from your own lawn, why don't you use a mulching mower and
just leave them where they are cut?  If you are removing them from the lawn to
use

elsewhere, you are depleting the energy of the lawn and defeating your purpose.

                                               Sherwin D.

James wrote:

 



you can make bad compost but good compost will not go sour when aged. A good
compost mix will reach a point where it stops breaking down. It is then
almost soil like. By itself it will be fine. If you made compost with the
wrong things (such as chemical laced ingredients) then the end result may be
deterimental to plants. Crap compost that sits around for ages in the
weather should not be a problem as the elements will undo much of the
damage. If you got it right from the start it will be good now.

rob

 

It may have lost some of its nutritional value, but age will not make it any
less effective as a soil conditioner.
_________________
John Henry Wheeler
Washington, DC
USDA Zone 7