What is humus?
Is Humus good for your garden?
Humus is the stable, long lasting remnant of decaying organic material.
Yes it is definitely good for the garden - It improves soil structure, helps with nutrient uptake and increases water retention. The more high quality, well decomposed compost you can add to your soil, the higher the water retention and the more drought resistant your garden.
Are humus and compost different?
Yes. 'Mature compost' is not 'humus', although it will contain humus. The more humus in your compost the better for your plants, soil and the environment. Soil science indicates humus is one of the most important items in soil fertility. Nutrients from decay end up in the soil at some stage and these nutrients are retained and made available for plants via humus.
In gardening, the term 'humus' is often used to mean compost. In soil science, humus is a distinct fraction of the soil organic matter (SOM). Humus is the common group name for the humic substances, ie fulvic acid, humic acid and humic. The properties of humic substances include:
Other names for Humus
There are numerous names to describe groups of materials that contain humus (or more correctly humic substances) The list includes: humates, humic acid, leonardite, brown coal, lignite, slack lignite, oxidized lignite, weathered lignite, humalite, fulvic acid, fulvates, ulmic acid, humic shale, carbonaceous shale, colloidal minerals, humin, concentrated humus, soil organic matter, peat, humus acid, humus coal.