burati
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:43 am
Location: New Jersey

Will seeds in compost germinate

I've been composting since last summer. Been doing it in a garbage can, and getting good results. Every few months (not through the winter though) I would sift it into a bin and set aside until ready for use. I'm starting my veggie garden soon, and plan on using my saved compost from the last year. My question is, being that I've been throwing all types of veggie scraps, WITH THEIR SEEDS, into the bin to compost, when I throw that compost into my garden soil, will those seeds germinate and start growing, making my garden an unorganized over planted mess? I've also been throwing some yard scraps from random weedings through last summer too.

I only ask this because about a month ago I grabbed a few handfuls of that compost to fill in pots of a house plant I was repotting, and now I have a large sprout in that pot of something I can't tell what it is yet, but definitely not a weed, and smells like a cucumber. There were also other smaller sprouts that I just pick as soon as I saw them.

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applestar
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Posts: 30540
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Tomatoes and Squash/Pumpkin are notorious "weeds" that survive lukewarm composting process and sprout. I also occasionally get apple and peach/nectarine seedlings. I once had wax begonia sprout in my indoor container -- it was so tiny that I let it grow just to see what it was. It's a good way to learn what seedlings grow into what plant and translated to weed ID in the outdoor garden.

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smokensqueal
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Posts: 392
Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:36 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO Metro area

I don't know how warm or not warm my compost pile gets but I know it doesn't get all the seeds or weeds. I'll find stuff sprouting all the time from and in my compost. At first I thought that was a problem but since it's in the compost it's easily pulled. So I don't worry about it.

csibona
Full Member
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:53 pm
Location: Denver, CO

Squash seem to thrive in my compost.



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