The Official, "Will It Compost" thread...

[rainbowgardener]

Great thread, thanks for starting it, ridiculous.

I don't have much to add to all rot's wisdom, but I second the notion of breaking things down to make them compost accessible. I have a little chipper/shredder that I run tough vines and woody plants through, before composting. Stuff that would probably stay in the compost pile a year if thrown in whole, breaks down rapidly that way. Same principle would apply to your candy, though you might need a food processor rather than a chipper/ shredder to do it.

[Ridiculous]

Great thread, thanks for starting it, ridiculous.

I don't have much to add to all rot's wisdom, but I second the notion of breaking things down to make them compost accessible. I have a little chipper/shredder that I run tough vines and woody plants through, before composting. Stuff that would probably stay in the compost pile a year if thrown in whole, breaks down rapidly that way. Same principle would apply to your candy, though you might need a food processor rather than a chipper/ shredder to do it.

hey you got it RG! I'm glad you like it. I was just wanting one location where that if you're in doubt, it can be posted here!

what kind of shredder/chipper do you have? I've been thinking about trying to find one but don't know what to look for...

[Ridiculous]

What about spent matchsticks? I snap off the ignition material and put the wood in the bin just to be safe, but something tells me it wouldn't be bad to put the whole match in.

good question. the stick itself I'm sure is just a-ok...but like you said, what about the ignition part??

I'd be curious too, hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Neat thread, Rid...

Oils are a no-go. I'm not saying they won't break down; eventually it would. It's just SO damaging to fugal structures that it makes your compost lose almost all fungal values, and that's a HUGE part of why compost is so valuable. Save the oil and find someone running a vehicle on it. Or convert your own car. But not in the compost... AS, the Paul Stamets experiment was with an already soaked pile and surface innoculums; had he poured the oil all over the shrooms it is pretty mortal...

Matchsticks. The wood is fine, the sulfur is fine (but would drop pH some). Don't know about those strike anywhere types (although I think white phosphorus is part of the mix which should be great). I'd say okay, but I need more info on components...

Candy is dandy, but rots usual wisdom is noted...

HG

[applestar]

That's true... I was thinking more along the lines of disposing the oil in a pit or a trench in an established bed, then covering with substrate mixed with spawn; or starting a new bed on top of an oil spread ground, though. If such a practice would work, then you could have your own used oil disposal site. Once the shrooms have digested the oil and depleted the nutrients in the location, you can move the bed elsewhere and use the remediated site for planting.

[Ridiculous]

That's true... I was thinking more along the lines of disposing the oil in a pit or a trench in an established bed, then covering with substrate mixed with spawn; or starting a new bed on top of an oil spread ground, though. If such a practice would work, then you could have your own used oil disposal site. Once the shrooms have digested the oil and depleted the nutrients in the location, you can move the bed elsewhere and use the remediated site for planting.

interesting theory....

[Ridiculous]

ok everyone,

got another doozy for ya

I've got two items in question...

first one is dryer sheets. again, I google search and get answers saying yes and no. I hat that it just confuses the junk outta me. so tell me once and for all. dryer sheets...yes or no???

and the second item is...old socks with holes in em?? I found nothing on this one. just wondering. you can't tell that today is laundry day can you??

[rainbowgardener]

No idea about the dryer sheets. Re the socks, depends on what they are made of. If it is natural fibers, cotton, wool, silk, etc, sure. As before, they will break down faster if you take a scissors to them first. If they are synthetics, nylon, rayon, then no, they are indestructible.

I once decided it would be good to dump the contents of my vacuum cleaner bag into the compost pile, all that dust and dirt, you know. Very bad idea. Our red wall to wall carpet is some kind of indestructible synthetic fiber. Had those red fibers floating around the yard for years!

[Kisal]

Dryer sheets are usually made of non-woven polyester, which is a man-made fiber. I don't think they would compost well.

[Ridiculous]

well as far as I know, my socks are 100% cotton so I'll probably try em out


and I'm about the dryer sheets. I've been throwing em in the bucket. I guess I'll have to pull em out when I dump it...oh well.


thanks guys!

[applestar]

I believe you're thinking of dryer LINT. Same applies -- if the lint is from drying mostly 100% natural fiber clothes, then the lint CAN go in the compost pile. Some people put them out for the nesting birds, but there's some evidence that the lint causes respiratory distress for the chicks (perhaps esp. when it's mixed synthetic fiber)

[Ridiculous]

I believe you're thinking of dryer LINT. Same applies -- if the lint is from drying mostly 100% natural fiber clothes, then the lint CAN go in the compost pile. Some people put them out for the nesting birds, but there's some evidence that the lint causes respiratory distress for the chicks (perhaps esp. when it's mixed synthetic fiber)

that's interesting...

[Halfway]

On hair (either pet or human);

I don't compost it, but let it fly in the breeze.

Our German Sheperd produces incredible amounts of hair during shedding and that is prior to the birdies building nests. We let the big clumps fly in the breeze.

Of the 50 plus bird nests we found the first year of doing this, EVERY ONE was a bout 30 percent or better dog hair!!!!!

No reason to stop so we have fun each year watching the dog hair results in the nests.

[rot]

..

I'll have to leave more dog fur for the birds. That stuff just clumps up and takes forever to break down. Of course I've thrown in a lot of dog fur at once so I shouldn't be surprised.

I wouldn't compost dryer sheets because of the smell. I can't walk down the laundry isle in the super market anymore. The artificial scents just me itch.

I threw a pair of jeans in my slow pile last year. I'm still feeding that bin so it'll be a while before I find out how it's doing. I wouldn't blink over cotton socks. I'd just expect it to take a while.

to sense

..

[Toil]

I will strongly concur with the statement on hair and fur. Not worth it! I shaved off my beard like 6 months ago and it looks as fresh as when I had it on.

and thanks for the birds tip. I will make sure to give it to them.

[The Helpful Gardener]

If they are synthetics, nylon, rayon, then no, they are indestructible.

Up until very recently I thought so too. But it turns out they found a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon-eating_bacteria]nylon eating bacteria in Japan[/url]. You heard right. Stopped me cold for a sec too. Get your hands on this and you can compost nylon.

Gamechanger!

Ain't nature amazing?

HG

[vermontkingdom]

I have a fairly large compost pile (4 x 8 x 5) and just about everything goes in it except synthetics (veggie oil, hair, lint, bones, etc.) I put bones, leaves, brush, etc through the chipper.

I don't put veggie oils in the compost pile during the winter but, during the growing season when the pile is really cooking, I've not experienced any problem with it readily breaking down along with everything else.

It's really pretty amazing at how well nature's microbes take advantage of whatever carbon sources are available.

[rot]

..

A reliable [good, stable link] list of ingredients with values

https://compost.css.cornell.edu/OnFarmHandbook/apa.taba1.html

..

[nes]

I'm sure popcorn would eventually de-grade but for Christmas 2009 my son & I (okay he was like 8 months old, I did, he watched...) made garland from popcorn to hang on the tree outside our home hoping the birdies would come by... it hung there for 8 months until I finally gave up & took it out of the tree :S.

I don't know why but it didn't degrade AT ALL.
(and this was real popcorn, with just kernels, popped on the stove )

Totally OT: but on the dryer sheets, I found out recently you can substitute aluminum foil balls (regular al. foil balled up) in your dryer to get ride of static!!! I've been telling everyone I know. Our house is quite dry & 2-3 aluminum balls (reused a hundred times by now!) will remove static except if I have 2-3 fleecy things in at once, in which case dryer sheets don't do it then either. And they don't smell!!!!
(Sorry - I'm very exuberant by about my balls )

[applestar]

I AM TOO! Definitely trying the aluminum ball trick (2~3 balls as you said) next time I need to anti-static the dryer.

(I wish I knew this back when I was washing the Mother-Ease all-in-one diapers. The nylon layer caused static, and I refused to use dryer sheets.)

[rainbowgardener]

So party at my house last night (yes on Thursday! letter writing party for the Sierra Club Clean Energy campaign). Cleaning up this AM, there's 1/4 c of white wine in the bottom of the bottle. Didn't feel like drinking it, not enough to save, so it went in the compost bucket... it is made from grapes!

Did I just do something really bad and sterilize all the good bacteria cultures I want or are they just all having fun in there now?

[nutcr0cker]

A thick sludgy misture of oil and spices will that cause any harm to the Bokashi bacteria?

[The Helpful Gardener]

RBG, the wine will likely set back some of the biology...

but I hesitate to say no. Alcohols naturally occur, and there must be some coping mechanisms out there. Diluted with water, and allowed to sit a wee bit (gassing much of it off, methinks) makes that a fine (if somewhat sad) addition to the pile... And invite me and Rog to the parties and you won't have this issue EVER again...

NC, yours is a much trickier case and I need more info; what oils? What spices?

HG

[Ridiculous]

just wanted to say that I'm glad to see people are posting questions!

is this thread 'sticky worthy' yet??

[Tigerlilylynn]

I haven't started a pile yet, still trying to figure out if I'd have enough material to warrant the space. Veggie peels would be a big part of the greens for this house but I'm wondering if peels from store bought potatoes and waxy cucumbers would be ill advised. Any opinions?

[GeorgiaGirl]

I was thinking about dumping a bunch of dead bugs into the compost pile... from the Roomba (mini-vacuum cleaner) receptacle that I keep in the basement.

One basement room has French doors and several windows, and there are always new dead bugs that the Roomba picks up.

The only other junk in the Roomba receptacle is dust, which I assume is tiny organic dirt from outside and maybe dead skin cells... all compostable, right?

[rot]

..
We've been composting the cucumber peels and potato peels just fine.
..
Dead bugs are OK by me except for those that were killed by some pesticide.

How well does that roomba work? We've been considering one.
..

There greater the diversity of ingredients that go in, the greater the diversity of nutrients that comes out.

..

[GeorgiaGirl]

Dead bugs are OK by me except for those that were killed by some pesticide.

No pesticides here. They come in to get out of the cold then die of starvation!

I LOVE my Roomba. Loved it so much I bought a second one to keep downstairs in the buggy basement room (I programmed it to run automatically once per week, then it returns to its docking station -- too bad I can't program it to walk outside to the compost bin and empty itself). I can vouch for it on hardwood or tile floors... on carpet it leaves curving "lines" that I don't like so much. But it definitely cleans. I have a lot of dirt that gets trotted inside by three very busy puppies.

I typically run the Roomba a couple of times a week and use my regular vacuum cleaner once every one-two weeks. Truthfully, the Roomba gets the floor cleaner than my expensive upright vacuum cleaner! Plus it goes all under the bed and places I can't reach well.

[rot]

..
Thanks for the roomba info. The puppies reference is important because we are wondering about pet fur too.

Now to save our pennies.
..

[The Helpful Gardener]

We need keep in mind that some of our indoor cleaning chemicals, volatile organic compounds from paints and carpets, and other indoor chemicals do not have the benefit of UV degradation, or the natural action of rain and weather, to break down these otherwise inocuous compounds.

I do not think that these issues should cause trouble in compost, but it is worth trying to cut down on the indoor pollutants if you are going to be adding this to compost later to be used for food production. We are still finding that low levels of toxins can be cumulative, especially to those in "windows of vunerability", our children and grandchildren.

HG

[rainbowgardener]

Also see my post on p2 of this thread. The vacuum cleaner picks up lots of carpet fibers. OK if the carpet is natural fibers (wool, sisal, etc). My carpets are synthetic and the fibers are indestructible (I know HG says there are now nylon eating bacteria, but apparently there are not any of those in my compost pile! ). I had carpet fibers floating around for years after the one time I dumped my vacuum cleaner bag into the compost pile (very identifiable since our carpet is RED!)

I agree the potato peels and cucumber peels are just fine. Potato peels make great soup stock. When I cook, I take the potato peels, onion skins, garlic skins and ends, etc and simmer it into soup stock. THEN I strain the peels back out and put them in the compost bucket.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Good point, RBG.

We need to think about the entire cycle to make good compost, from inputs, to management, to application. If we start doing better inside, it is only to the benefit of our own health there, and eventually the health of the ecosystem outside as we move these things to our landscapes.

HG

[GeorgiaGirl]

We need keep in mind that some of our indoor cleaning chemicals, volatile organic compounds from paints and carpets, and other indoor chemicals do not have the benefit of UV degradation, or the natural action of rain and weather, to break down these otherwise inocuous compounds.

Definitely. I guess I assumed all of us here use natural cleaning solutions like baking soda, not the toxic chemical garbage sold in stores.

Also see my post on p2 of this thread. The vacuum cleaner picks up lots of carpet fibers. OK if the carpet is natural fibers (wool, sisal, etc). My carpets are synthetic and the fibers are indestructible (I know HG says there are now nylon eating bacteria, but apparently there are not any of those in my compost pile! ). I had carpet fibers floating around for years after the one time I dumped my vacuum cleaner bag into the compost pile (very identifiable since our carpet is RED!)

Oh goodness, I would never dream of dumping a vacuum cleaner bag into the compost if I had carpet -- I'm laughing at the idea of red carpet fibers in there! (not laughing AT you; laughing WITH you! ) We got rid of our carpet a long time ago in favor of hardwood, for health reasons. Nasty stuff... I don't want it off-gassing for my family to inhale, and I definitely wouldn't want it in my precious compost!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Julia it is good to see you have already given this thought, but I learned a long time back it is better to give the warning, as even when it doesn't apply particularly, someone will read it and learn.

HG

[GeorgiaGirl]

Most definitely, HG!

[lyra1977]

What about used kleenex? I have allergies and so there would be plenty of them We have the plain, unscented type but I can't find anywhere on the box where it says what they are made from to be sure there isn't anything weird. Might they have chlorine from bleaching and would that be a problem?

And my husband makes wine and often does the initial fermentation on the skins, so would the grape skins then be OK to compost or not since they would have some alcohol in them?

Also, I have been reading a gardening book and am getting confused about annual vs. perennial weeds. I am a brand new gardener and have no idea which are which. I DO know what the words mean, just not which weeds are which. I gather, though, that I must not EVER but dandelion roots in the compost

[rot]

..

I now save tissue in a bucket and throw that in to the compost. I'll get a lot when I have a cold. I haven't found any remnants while turning. They seem to break down rapidly for me.

Grape skins with a little alcohol? I'd throw them in but at what quantities? I don't think you're going to go wrong if you follow the 10 percent rule.

Someone else can explain annuals vs perennials. I can't seem to keep them straight.

Leave the dandelion roots out in the sun for a little while and they will be fine in the bin. Dandelions are pernicious in that if you don't kill the entire tap root, they will come back. The thing to really avoid is the flower heads. Put some of those pretty yellow flowers in a closed up container and in a few days you will have bunches of seeds.

to sense

..

[lyra1977]

rot, thanks for the tips! My husband makes quite a bit of wine, actually. Over 100 gallons a year. So I'll keep the 10% rule in mind.

Good to know about drying the dandelion roots first! As far as the heads are concerned, maybe they should go in the fireplace! I hate, loath and despise those suckers.

[rot]

..

I'm betting that if you leave the grape skins outside exposed a bit for a day or two all the alcohol would out gas.

I would expect the grape skins to be largely green but just a little slow to decay. Well blended with just some browns and it should be a non-issue.

..

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yup, right on rot. Plus alcohol is just more sugar once it starts to break down; long chain carbs that will feed a bunch of critters.

HG