User:Nnp11/final article

These are my recommendations for revising the article: Compost.


 * I added more to the last sentence in the "Uses" section.
 * I added more to the "Regulations" section under "Uses".
 * I added more to the last sentence and replaced the citation in the "Composting technologies" section.

Copied content from Compost; see that page's history for attribution.

Uses
Compost can be used as an additive to soil, or other matrices such as coir and peat, as a tilth improver, supplying humus and nutrients. It provides a rich growing medium as absorbent material (porous). This material contains moisture and soluble minerals, which provides support and nutrients. Although it is rarely used alone, plants can flourish from mixed soil, sand, grit, bark chips, vermiculite, perlite, or clay granules to produce loam. Compost can be tilled directly into the soil or growing medium to boost the level of organic matter and the overall fertility of the soil. Compost that is ready to be used as an additive is dark brown or even black with an earthy smell.

Generally, direct seeding into a compost is not recommended due to the speed with which it may dry and the possible presence of phytotoxins in immature compost that may inhibit germination,  and the possible tie up of nitrogen by incompletely decomposed lignin. It is very common to see blends of 20–30% compost used for transplanting seedlings at cotyledon stage or later.

Compost can be used to increase plant immunity by activating plant induced systemic resistance (ISR) and promote growth in several crops.

Regulations
There are process and product guidelines in Europe that date to the early 1980s (Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland) and only more recently in the UK and the US. In both these countries, private trade associations within the industry have established loose standards, some say as a stop-gap measure to discourage independent government agencies from establishing tougher consumer-friendly standards.

The USA is the only Western country that does not distinguish sludge-source compost from green-composts, and by default in the USA 50% of states expect composts to comply in some manner with the federal EPA 503 rule promulgated in 1984 for sludge products.

Compost is regulated in Canada, '''and provinces such as Quebec have their "Guidelines for the Beneficial Use of Fertilizing Residuals". '''

Many countries such as Wales and some individual cities such as Seattle and San Francisco require food and yard waste to be sorted for composting (San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance).

Compost tea
Compost teas are defined as water extracts leached from composted materials. Compost teas are generally produced from adding one volume of compost to 4–10 volumes of water, but there has also been debate about the benefits of aerating the mixture. Field studies have shown the benefits of adding compost teas to crops due to the adding of organic matter, increased nutrient availability and increased microbial activity. They have also been shown to have an effect on plant pathogens '''and diseases due to innovative tailored formulates. '''

