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Post by daylilydude on May 31, 2018 6:01:12 GMT -5
How long do you compost weeds before you know for sure that when you spread it that the weeds won't come back from the compost?
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Post by paulf on May 31, 2018 8:06:06 GMT -5
This is a tricky question, mostly because composting can be tricky. Compost can be a very important part of any gardener's success. Or it can be a real pain in the patootie. Time is not the real question, but temperature is. Weed seeds will survive a long time if just piled up in a heap if the compost does not achieve a temperature of 140 degrees F. At this temp., 99% of all weed seeds will be killed in just a few hours.
The pile must be turned so all parts get into the heated portion. Of course, the ratio of green to browns must be right, enough water added to aid the process but not so much as to douse the heating process, etc., etc., etc.
I have been told by my State Extension friends that about 80% of all composers do not get to the 140Degree F temperature...me included.
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Post by brownrexx on May 31, 2018 8:42:43 GMT -5
My pile does not get hot enough to compost seeds so I usually try to pull weeds before they go to seed. However sometimes in the flower beds I have to pull a whole pile of chickweed which goes to seed almost as soon as it emerges from the ground. I don't add this to the compost because I don't want all of those seeds to end up in my garden so I dump them in an area at the edge of the woods where we can dump sticks and such.
If you really want to heat up a compost pile, add either some manure or grass clippings. Both of these items get really HOT.
The time I actually saw my compost smoking was after I brought home and added some horse manure.
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Post by farmerjack41 on May 31, 2018 8:50:00 GMT -5
No weeds in the compost here. They go in a pile along with brush, etc. , when I get a load it goes to the county compost area. Sadly their compost piles do not heat up as they should. Mostly sold as bedding for dairy cattle.
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Post by octave1 on May 31, 2018 9:03:57 GMT -5
I separate dandelion from all the other weeds, and dispose of them. Everything else gets chopped up and goes into the compost. I love dandelion, but I have a million of them growing all over my yard already, and I don't want them to take hold of the garden as well. brownrexx, you should see how steamy a compost pile becomes when you add a large bagful of grass clippings, and stir.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 31, 2018 9:06:07 GMT -5
Yep, what paulf said. You need a good-sized pile (about 3'x3'x 3'), in addition to the right mix of materials, to have a chance to reach 140F+. It can be hard for folks with small gardens to get enough material at once to make a pile that size. You can sometimes achieve high compost temperatures with smaller amounts of materials if you use a black composter set in the sun in hot weather. There are also "compost accelerators" that are supposed to help, but I've also read that they really don't live up to the advertising hype. Regardless, if you're going to compost weeds that have mature seeds, you probably ought to have a compost thermometer so you can be sure that your pile or composter is getting hot enough.
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Post by brownrexx on May 31, 2018 9:08:28 GMT -5
I saw an interesting quote somewhere which said
One year's seeds is seven year's weeds!
I keep this in mind and try to keep my weeds from going to seed as much as possible.
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Post by guruofgardens on May 31, 2018 13:51:06 GMT -5
We certainly try and not compost the weeds, but many times they get put into the bucket with other flower deadheading. I do put dandelions into an old plastic soil bags so the heads won't disperse. Hopefully they won't spread.
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Post by paulf on May 31, 2018 14:19:16 GMT -5
We have decided to let the dandelions have at it in the yard. The bees love them early in the year. And by now all we have are the green leaves and anything green in the lawn is better than brown.
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Post by bestofour on Jun 1, 2018 11:07:47 GMT -5
I try not to compost weeds.
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Post by carolyn on Jun 1, 2018 13:47:38 GMT -5
I compost weeds but I try not to compost weeds with seed heads. seeds can last in the compost for years if it wasn't hot enough compost.
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