Destroying weed seeds.

[john gault]

You always hear about needing to get a really hot pile in order to kill weed seeds. However, many of us can't get the heat that high without a lot of effort; I don't even try anymore. But I do believe I kill a lot of weed seeds in my compost.

I believe that the moisture content is enough to soften the husk, combine that with the insects and microorganisms that eat everything do the rest to breakdown the husk. (The insects probably don't eat the husks, but many of them do munch on the sprouts).

But of course many of those seeds that are close to the top of the pile end up sprouting along with a lot of other things like watermelons, potatoes, garlic... and even various weeds. But I just turn that stuff into the pile and that not only kills them, it contributes to the compost. Afterall, newly sprouted plants don't produce seeds.

So I think the hole thing about heat needed to kill weeds is an overstatement. As with anything else: There's more than one way to skin a cat.
Thoughts

[toxcrusadr]

I have not seen any controlled studies on the subject. That would be interesting. For example, making cold piles and hot piles with the same number of seeds in both, do the same turning, watering, etc. and let them cook the same amount of time, and then test the compost for sprouting. If anyone knows of such a study I would be very interested in hearing about it.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't run a very hot pile, mostly just warm. I have squash and tomato plants pop up almost anywhere I use the compost and once a green pepper plant, but never any other weeds. And I would know since the volunteer squash and tomatoes mark the spots!

To me the volunteer veggies are not a problem - there's not too many of them and they are very easy to pull if you don't want them.

As long as you pull your weeds before they go to seed, you will never have a problem; but I know at times I have put weed seeds in there and still not had a problem.

[farmerlon]

I say NEVER put weed seeds in the compost pile.
I run a hot compost pile, turned frequently, monitored, an all that; then, I only use the compost when it is mature. Lots of seeds will survive.
I don't have any problem pulling out the volunteer veggies that sprout from the compost after it has been applied to the garden. But, oh my, I could only imagine the trouble if there were weed seeds in there.

Your theory sounds reasonable; but, from my experience, I will have to say that it won't work. So, I can't recommend that anyone knowingly add weed seeds to their compost.
Weeds are fine to compost, but not if they have gone to seed (in my opinion).

[Bobberman]

Why not make two compost a weed one and a better compost! The weed compost add alot of grass clippings to really mak it hot! The better comost will have young weeds and better materials! The weed compost can be used as a base in a raised bed being at the very bottom with the better compost at the top! Also after weeds are burned the ash is great for your compost!

[rot]

..
I'm with Gault and farmerlon.

I avoid weed seeds and the flower heads in my bins and don't see much of a problem. Any place I spread finished compost, the weeds come out of the ground easily enough anyways.

We've got bird feeders and I'll sweep up the spent hulls and put them in the bin and man they stick around.

When I don't feed the hulls in the bin and the squirrels deposit bird seed in the top of the bin, I'll get sprouts and I just turn and they die, but I never find any hulls then either. I'm concluding that the hulls are are least partially consumed in the sprouting process.

Plan 9 From Outer Space: Germinate any and all seeds in damp paper towels or a shallow pan of water before chucking into the bin. the next time the bin is turned, all will be dead, if not already, and then consumed in the compost. Shoot, some folks just drown weeds in a bucket of water or something before depositing into the bin.

to sense
..

[greenstubbs]

My question is, why would anybody throw weeds or something in that could cause problems later because they've gone [or could go] to seed? A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this case!

[rainbowgardener]

My question is, why would anybody throw weeds or something in that could cause problems later because they've gone [or could go] to seed? A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this case!

Because it doesn't cause problems later. If I'd ever had a big problem with weeds from my compost, that would cause me to be careful. Years of experience tells me at least in my garden with my compost, it is not an issue. And I'm human with a job and a life, so occasionally some weeds get by me and go to seed. Am I going to just throw them out? Nope.

And I'm certainly not going to bother starting a whole other pile to deal with the non-issue...

[john gault]

I'm actually in awe of some of the weeds that grow in my worst sections of the yard. I mean how do they do it, the ground seems like it's nothing but sand and they still grow in drought conditions being beaten down by full-sun conditions. So I'm thinking maybe that stuff makes good compost.

Maybe I will start a second weed-only compost pile just to see what I get from it.

[Bobberman]

I cut a big 5 foot weed down tonight that was loaded with berries. I think its a ink plant. It had three stems that weighted over a pound each! The seeds were in the berries but the stems would be great in the compost without the berries. The best thing with weeds is they pull alot of goot minerals from deep soil and would be a asset to any compost. Weeds pulled early have no seeds and if cut or torn out by the roots die quick in the compost! Dandyllines may be a exception but the leaves without the roots work great!

[rainbowgardener]

By ink plant do you mean pokeberry?

[url=https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.flowershopnetwork.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/poke-berry.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.flowershopnetwork.com/blog/poke-weed-polk-salad/&h=1944&w=2592&sz=1252&tbnid=5yruMQj4ZoVmZM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpokeberry%2Bplant%2Bimages%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=pokeberry+plant+images&docid=6ipDJWESe0yyUM&sa=X&ei=-H5bTv-fO9DegQf-o5W2DA&ved=0CCYQ9QEwBA&dur=2957]pokeberry plant pic[/url]

I have a pokeberry forest in my yard, probably 9 feet tall and at least that much across in the "canopy." Birds like those berries (though the seeds in them are toxic to humans) and I think the plant is beautiful, especially with the berries.

It makes sense to call it ink plant though - it is said that the Declaration of Independence was written in pokeberry ink.

[toxcrusadr]

You know, there are so may different kinds of weeds, and on top of that, everyone has a different yard and manages their yard and compost differently. So I suspect everyone is right here.

For example, I'm a very busy working person with many activities when I get home, and the weeds often go to seed before I can get to them. I have a plethora of weeds. If the seeds are really numerous, I put them out at the curb for the city compost system to deal with. But some still go in, and I get weeds everywhere. I don't know if it's the compost or not, because based on my experience, I can't really say whether all my weeds are coming from the other weeds or from the compost! Some of y'all would proabably be appalled at my yard. So I'm not going to try to tell anyone How It Is.

[Bobberman]

That is it pokeberry!It grew behind my greenhouse! It did have pretty berries but I thought they were poison so I cut it down! Thanks Rainbow!

[toxcrusadr]

Pokeweed is actually edible when very young - the spring shoots. In the South it's referred to as Poke Sallat. I think the berries are eaten by birds but certainly not tasty for humans.

[vermontkingdom]

I'm too much of a compost enthusiast (nut) to throw away any organic matter. I recently weeded an area of the garden that I had neglected and there were various large seeded weeds growing. I pulled them along with lots of other nonseeded weeds and put them in the center of my active compost bin. The temperature in there this morning is running 145 degrees and will do so for a few days so I doubt any of those weed seeds will be a future problem. Perhaps I'm wrong and they will be but I just can't bring myself to trash any organics. (You can't teach an old dog new tricks.)