Soil scientists studying the role of compost in horticulture have found that, while compost is useful for building soil structure, it does not supply large enough quantities of the nutrients essential for plant growth to make it a replacement for fertilizer
Many home gardeners, however, have found they can grow healthy and highly productive plants in soil that lacked essential nutrients by enriching the soil with nothing but compost
Compost used in research projects is usually made from leaves and grass clippings only, whereas compost used in home gardens is generally made from a wide variety of ingredients.