You must have been doing some mindreading this morning too as I have been randomly wondering about these same concerns. Is stuff with PM issues or any mold safe? I’ve got a bank that was kind of washing away in one place out back and I’ve thrown anything questionable there as kind of an in place pile. It’s a very valid question you raise.
I do try to avoid putting diseased plant material in my compost piles. I do use IMO5 in all my compost piles and from what I understand the OHN in the IMO5 will kill just about anything that could cause an issue. Here is a great source of information on Botrytis. https://www.microscopemaster.com/Botrytis.html
That's an interesting read, Tim. Thanks! I guess I must take a more laissez faire approach to composting than others.
Question regarding chicken manure. Someone local is willing to give me several bags of chicken poo from her hen houses. She said she uses "sweet barn lime" on the poop boards which I've read is to manage the smell. Does this impact the manure in any way I should be concerned about? Should I even use this for composting?
I'm not sure it's actually lime. Here is an article on Zeolite that you may find interesting. Critical Review on Zeolite Clinoptilolite Safety and Medical Applications in vivo
Watch out for our snake friends when gathering leaves as I grabbed up another one today while getting mulch for the pumpkins. I’m getting good at this but it was a small one that I couldn’t make out what kind. It now resides in the tote I was planting. I generally take the rake and stir stuff to run them away since copperheads love that leaf cover but I didn’t need much and just took a bucket and grabbed the stuff by hand. My grandpa got popped by one when I was a kid as he was turning a boat over to put it in water and it was nasty.
I learned something while trying to show my son a baby copperhead. Small copperheads are much more dangerous than fully grown ones. The reason for this is they have not learned how to regulate their venom. You get the full dose with the little ones. Be careful my friend.
They also aren’t as prone to run away as big ones. I used to photograph them for an outdoor publication I worked with and in general, they don’t run away like most snakes will but given the opportunity they will. I’m not sure what this was and just seen the tail and was excited to find a worm. It moved a bit in the bucket and I realized it wasn’t a worm. I’m going to use these grabbers every time now.
That's pretty cool about being a photographer. The little copperhead we were chasing was by far the fastest snake I've ever seen. We only have non-venomous snakes in my immediate area now. In the hill towns we have copperheads and timber rattlesnakes.
We have a few timber rattlers too and we have one of interest and dangerous is the Coral. They are kind of worm like, and prefer the old rotting log type areas that we call the fungal web. Not too many encounters but they are toxic and pretty colors that are dangerous to a kid that may think it’s a worm. They don’t have viper type fangs either. I had a copperhead once that I was photographing that struck, then took off in my direction and went right by my leg heading for a bush. I was lucky that he just wanted to escape rather than bite. It was a cool job tho.
I will hot compost anything, no matter how scary. I would be nervous about leaving stuff like that in a big cold pile. Even though it doesn’t happen, I would be afraid insects could help spread it around or something. WE all know that bugs that like composting dead stuff, generally have no interest in living healthy things. Cheers Os
Dear All, I've had nothing but trouble since I started adding my own homemade compost to the easy soil mix for beginners recipe in the stickies. After reading through a thread today, the Alabama, snake, or jumping worm was mentioned as being a scourge for soils. I always thought the worms the were attracted to my composted were quite large (smaller than night crawlers) and very active. When I turn the compost and you drop a shovel full the worms jump all over the place upon being disturbed. My composter is a simple 3 foot tall 10 foot piece of 1/2" chicken wire that is turned into a cylinder. Mostly forest leaves, fruit, and grass. Location is southeast USA around 30 degrees latitude. Do you all think these crazy worms are the source of my problem?
I don't believe the Asian jumping worm is your problem. They are a good composters. The harm they do in our forests is because they compost leaf litter faster than it can be used and it washes away before being utilized by the donor.
The first time I made compost and used it in my soil mix it was a complete utter disaster. It was only partially composted. It’s hard to tell w/out much experience. I’ve been making my own for 10-12 years and I almost always test it first w/ a tomato or potato plant. Without testing first it’s usually OK to use as a topdress, but not worth the chance in a soil mix. RD
Now I know what I did wrong, 2nd batch of lettuce and spinach never came up. Got 3rd round of spinach and lettuce in yesterday,2nd of kale chard and peas. I did screen this batch of compost tho.thnx.edit. beer is for slugs RD
Yep. It’s usually a year old before I use it. Even if I’m all gung-ho mixing all the time for a fast batch. If I really want to use my compost and know it’s not really finished I use it for squash, seems like they almost prefer it. Potatoes are right up there too. I should have put some beer out…lost a couple acorn squash too them. RD
Good points as always RD. I usually figure a year and then watch it disappear. This Giobin is only about a ft or so deep now. I will sneak a bit out for quick mulch at times but I’m always collecting stuff for mulch too. That batch I made with the load of greens in the middle that OS and I looked at has broken down really well but I’m just letting it age also.
It’s early yet but I’m starting to see a leaf or two on the ground. They are usually green ones that I toss in the worm bins. I’ve got the rake collection and plastic grabbers in go mode with plans for several compost piles. It would be unsightly since the garden bed is in front but I’m thinking of putting a Giobin or wire composter there to have it near.
That’s a winner in my book. Fill it in the bed, turn it in the bed, and rake the finished stuff into place. Save yourself a lot of mileage. Cheers Os