Compost for fertile soil: Talborne Organics recommends the use of compost wherever possible, however compost should not be confused with fertiliser, nor should it replace fertiliser. Compost for soil conditioning:  Compost is a soil improver as it provides valuable fertility enhancement in soil: Adds carbon to build up humus levels in the soil. This is where the food chain starts as carbon is used as food for beneficial microbes. Compost moderates soil temperature and improves the water and nutrient holding capacity of the soil. Adds biological life and thereby a diverse and beneficial soil life ecosystem, which is an unpaid work force working symbiotically to feed and protect your crop against damagers like pathogenic fungi which cause root rots like phytophthora, and root knot nematode which causes great crop losses. Compost is very low in nutrients: Although compost does contain plant nutrients, it only contains a small quantity. To apply enough compost to satiate a high yielding crop’s requirement is impractical, thus organic fertilisers in solid or liquid form are used together with compost for best results.