Gardeners warn expensive 'compost' bags can be mostly wood filler and rob plants of nitrogen

A gardener recently took to Reddit to voice their frustrations after opening a $28 bag of compost that was mostly filled, to their eyes, with basic mulch. 

What's happening?

The poster explained the situation in the r/gardening subreddit. 

"Am I wilding for thinking that $28 is a waste of money for a bag of mulch with some compost mixed in?" they asked. 

Within a few days, the comment section filled with users comparing compost brands, sharing experiences about differences in quality, value, and price.

"It is compost but there is no compost in the world worth $28 a cubic foot," one user commented.

"That is a major rip off," another added. 

Some gardeners said the bigger concern was quality, not just price. One user wrote that, after visiting three stores, every bag labeled top, garden, or potting soil was just sawmill dust and wood chips with a little compost mixed in.

Several commenters said the better deal was often outside the bagged-soil aisle, pointing instead to local landscape yards or mulch suppliers where buying in bulk can cost far less.

Why does it matter?

Paying more for lower-quality soil products can mean wasted money and disappointing results.

A recurring worry in the thread was nitrogen loss. Gardeners said mixes that contain a lot of unfinished woody material can cause trouble for plants while that material is still decomposing. 

Many people are turning to gardening to help reduce their grocery bills, and commenters argued that poor-quality compost can make that much harder by depriving plants of the nutrients they need to grow.

What can I do?

One of the most repeated suggestions was to compare compost by volume, not just by the price on a single bag.

"$28 for 1 cubic feet???" one gardener wrote. "I get a cubic yard from my local mulch place for $37 — that's 27 cubic feet."

Shoppers can also take a close look at texture and ingredients before buying. If a bag appears to be mostly mulch or sawdust, gardeners in the thread suggested skipping it or using it more as a surface dressing rather than a true compost amendment.

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