Composting

[davyw1]

After reading so many posts on what to compost including blighted potato tubers, weeds roots etc, i thought i would put my view up for discussion.

My view is that you should not put diseased or pest ridden material, seeding or perennial weeds on a compost heap and I have not found anywhere where it tells me to do so.
The average home or garden compost heap is seldom large enough or insulated enough to generate the heat necessary to kill the fungus spores that cause disease, pests (many of which can develop protected states to withstand high temperatures) seeds or even weed roots. Or if it does reach such temperature it will be only at the centre. And how many of you turn your compost heap inside out (outside in) systematically as it decays to ensure to ensure that all the material is cleansed by the high temperature in the centre.
The material in a compost heap must reach a temperature of 45deg before diseased spores and weed seeds or roots willed be killed.
In addition the heap must be moist but not wet and it must be well aerated and there must be a supply of nitrogen to help feed the microorganisms that carry out the process of decomposition.
If you cannot supply these conditions that will ensure high temperatures you will make compost. And it will be good up to a point - it will add humus and material nutrients to your soil but it may contain disease, weed seeds and pests.
My rule is I don't put any diseased, pest ridden material on my heap or material that might be infected. You should know not to compost brassica with club root for the fear of spreading it but what about the skin from brassiceous roots, turnip, Swedes and radishes, be safe unless you know they are not infected.
Potato peelings might spread scab and eelworm which can encyst to withstand high temperatures.

Now you know why I say be safe and burn and not compost

[davyw1]

[kt.]

I do pretty much the same .  Here is a decent government website for composting:

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/index.html

[grannyjanny]

Davy what temperature do the municipal composters get to. Do you think they get hot enough to do the job properly? We aren't able to burn so we put things in the council skips. Anything that's diseased we don't put in the green bins but I suspect others do.

[Borlotti]

I compost everything, on a big heap at the bottom of the allotment, even the mares tail, after having a bonfire and a lady came out the house backing onto the allotments and threatened me with the police, and swore at me, 'put it out now',  she was very scary, not going to risk it again, so it all goes on a heap.  Not my fault the wind changed direction, miserable old cow, but I suppose she had just put her washing out.  :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

[davyw1]

Davy what temperature do the municipal composters get to. Do you think they get hot enough to do the job properly? We aren't able to burn so we put things in the council skips. Anything that's diseased we don't put in the green bins but I suspect others do.

Far greater than we can achieve 65deg at least and because they have the use of JCBs they are turned regularly so everything i killed.

[Digeroo]

I do not compost anything I think is diseased.  I do not put in the roots of perennials or anything from potatoes.  Everything diseased goes to the council.  I hope they get things hot enough.

I have also been using recycled compost it grows tomatoes, courgettes and cucumber which were not damaged by the composting process but nothing else seems to come from it.  I have put some of my potatoes with it so it will be interesting to see if there is a problem, I expect there was plently of diseased potato hulmes sent for composting.

I am a totally failed composter.  On advice from this forum I began adding cardboard and now my beans and cougettes have the usual sticky mess with assorted bits of cardboard.  I have done very well with leaves I filled a darlek with leaves in the autumn and then gave it good supplies of nitrogen and now it is quite nice and the beans have been getting some of that as well, had expected it to take much longer.  It is growing ash seedling which is a bit of a pain.

[goodlife]

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code]miserable old cow

;D ;D ;D...oh dear... ;D ;D ;D..it so funny to see it written...I often think about it of some people,,,but don't dare to say it... ;D ;D

Anyway....I do think on the same line with davy...I'm quite selective what goes into my bins...any perennial weeds are either dried out into crisp state before either going to compost bin or burned..diseased stuff goes into bags and taken to skip..veg peelings go into wormery and only after they are fully digested by worms the lovely stuff from their bottoms goes into plant production... ;) I have 8 of those plastic bins and they are constantly "cooking"..this time of the year I have such amount of stuff to process..once I have one area sorted out from couch grass then I'll build proper bin... ;D...I love compost..can't get enough of the stuff... ;D..oh nearly forgot to mention...I'm proud owner of bumblebee nest in one of my bins..so at the moment only 7 are functional... ::)

[redimp]

I do pretty much the same .  Here is a decent government website for composting:

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/index.html

Ah Recycle Now - wonder how long it is before that quango is in the firing line.  And the Potato Council....

PS - I compost everything except diseased onions and I have no problems.

[Unwashed]

I compost everything except diseased onions and I have no problems.

That's me too.

[lincsyokel2]

It all depends if you are hot composting or cold composting. If you have  half a ton of horse poo and half a ton of straw and other crap, its pretty much ok to shove anything it, nothing will survive alive out the other side apart from the composting bacteria.

[powerspade]

I get a fair rate of heat from my compost area, I have two bays made of corrugated sheets 8ft long by 3ft high I produce about 4-5 tons a year. Every Wednesday I`m on patrol picking up kitchen scraps from my neighbours also from the first leaf fall in the Autumn I get into my local woods and collect 4 large sacks of leaves at least 3 times a week. To me good compost is rocket fuel for the plants

[tonybloke]

[attachment=1]

these are my mates compost bins, where he composts everything including bindweed!

[goodlife]

Gosh Powerspade..I'm almost as bad as you.. ;D My neighbours are chucking their grass clippings etc. in bags over fence for me to compost..we mow avenues around lottie to get greens in bin..I bring sacks of leaves from work..all 'bedding' from chicken shed and pen goes in too.. ;D
This time of the year getting compost to cook is no problem, there is plenty of stuff around..but in winter when there is no greenery about..it is cold composting I'm afraid..and that is when I'm really careful what goes in...
My little car is like skip...It is in constant state of shipping stuff about..I almost never come home from work with something 'free' with me..and most of the time it is destined to compost bin.
I have been promised some corrugated iron sheets for to make compost bins too...I just have to wait that the chap retire from lottie first.. ::) And looking at how he is still able to 'throw' the spade about..it will be few years yet... ::)

[antipodes]

the only things I don't put in are potato haulms and tomato vines. All the rest goes in, and any weeds are first black binned and left to sludge up, as I have loads of bindweed.
I have just one bin, a big wooden one and all my organic waste from home also goes in there, as well as newspaper and a little cardboard.

[Old bird]

I collect loads of stuff from all over the place and my car too is like a compost heap most of the time!!

I get commercial gardeners leaving me grass clippings - i take the compost from two kitchens at work home with me along with bags of shredded paper which doubles as laying medium for the chickens and also to bulk out the compost bins I collect coffee grounds from a cafe - nearly 3 buckets a week - I collect seaweed from the beach which is one of the best "activators" around and also I collect manure from a local horse riding establishment.  I have four large bins I don't put any "twiggy" bits or potatoes or onions and definitely not bindweed - but pretty much everything else goes in and - touching wood - i have never had a problem that it hasn't worked or killed the nasty weeds.

I put the bindweed out for the dustbin as I would loathe to find it in "bought" compost.

O B

[aquilegia]

To those of you who collect grass etc from others, how do you make sure it's not been sprayed with herbicide/pesticide and is safe to use for growing edibles?

I'd love to do that, but don't want the chemicals.

back to original topic, I compost everything apart from things riddled with nasty pests (eg - the coddling moth nests I chopped off my apple tree), but I will compost things like the tips of broad bean plants that are covered in black fly (there will always be more black fly). I don't compost cooch grass and other perennial roots, although I will be using them to make a liquid feed. I do compost potatoes and tomato plants.

Other than that, I just judge it as it happens!

[Baccy Man]

To those of you who collect grass etc from others, how do you make sure it's not been sprayed with herbicide/pesticide and is safe to use for growing edibles?

I ask what fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides etc... a person uses. With grass clippings specifically I always ask about whether or not feed & weed type products have been used recently & if they have then which product as many contain clopyralid which is particulary undesirable in a compost heap.
Although I am normally happy to compost any organic matter I am cautious about what I accept from other people, if I am not happy to use a product they are using then I probably don't want it in my compost heap either.

[goodlife]

Those who I collect from, I have trained them not to use anything undesirable.. ;) ..and if every now and then I give some spare eggs from my girls I'll tell them than my girls  love to eat and scratch about their grass clippings..and that's why their yolks are so yellow....so non of my neighbours do use anything on their lawns now.. ;D ;D ;D..everybody turned organic instantly.. ;D as to other stuff..well I only take when I know where it comes from..