Can I Compost Weeds?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- Weeds can be one of the worst things to put in your compost pile.
It can also be one of the best.
In this video, I'll explain when it's ok to compost weeds, and give you some tips on how to do it without damaging your compost or your garden.
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You're making suggestions here that I haven't seen anywhere else. There are hundreds (it seems) of videos on composting but nobody else I've seen has talked about micro-ensiling, which is what the shredded weeds in a black plastic bag will do. Why didn't I think of that? I'm surrounded by farms that ensile (ferment) grass every year, yet in never occurred to me to do it with weeds. I'm in the north of Scotland, at a latitude level with central Canada, and trying to keep a compost pile hot is a major struggle - impossible in winter without special containers. So this summer I'm going to try your suggestion.
Thank you very much for sharing.
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Great. Happy to have inspired you. Let us know how it goes for you.
Yes! Hot composting, I love that. Regarding pests, if you're really worried, have an enclosed bin, I have an enclosed bin where things can't get into it, that way it can just rot down without anything digging into it or pulling it apart.
This is the best video out there on this topic, very informative - thank you!
Agreed because I get a lot of weeds in my flower bed.
You fool me there at first! love your style of teaching! Ty!
Great info. Thank you so much!
That student, suggesting a glass cold frame, has the best idea! Don't like the idea of heating up a plastic bag as it is well known that certain plastics leach out their chemicals when warmed up.
love your ideas and suggestions
She presents her information very good
Finally truthful information on composting without the hype! I put finished compost on the lawn and had so many weeds. Your information on the weeds with seeds is invaluable! Thanks..
Check out Charles dowding
Yeah, there's so much hype in the compost world....
I kept an OLD big barbecue grill and in a full aluminum tray put all weeds and placed into barbecue and cooked them 15 min temp on barbecue was 350 F did about 8 loads and at end each smelled like cooked green beans. I now see this was overkill and I like your ideas because they need no propane. I just didt have time to have all those bags or garbage cans all over place. I like last idea of heat oven, I have to find a metal box big enough to put over my fire pit to cook weeds cause I have a town wood dump near me where I can get free wood from town dumping trees that have come down in storms etc.
You are awesome. Thanks
I blend all my food scraps & have a massive pile of weeds to pull. Any advice on how to properly blend weeds, such as cutting off the roots, isolating them from my other compost piles, or can we just mix with other things I blend down into mush & bury?
Love the idea of heating up weeds in a cold frame!
I loved that idea when I heard it, too, Cathy! I've got a glass door ready to be repurposed as a cold frame by winter/weed cooker by summer when Colby has time to help me build it. :)
I love that the cold frames are being used when they are not busy being cold frames. Awesome idea!
You can ferment weeds in a big 50 gallon barrel and then delute it with water
Thankyou!
I just put my weeds into my raised garden to compost. It hasn't seeded yet so I think it's ok.
I have a bucket full of weeds I've planned to use as compost but didn't even consider the seeds surviving without treatment. Do we just add any kind of alcohol into the bucket? Is 70% strong enough?
When you say weeds are ok to compost, are you including common grass weeds like clover, dandelions, crab grass etc ?
Thank you
I love your videos !
Looking for the answer to this. I need to know too😭
Absolutely, why couldn't you?
Foxtails! What to do with a big pile of foxtails I pulled from my yard (lots of seeds). I don’t have space for hot compost and chopping it up with a lawnmower looks like it would just spread the seed everywhere. I’m trying to be careful not to spread the seeds.
I'd do liquid fertilizer first using weeds, then use the left over for solid compost with regular compost or leftovers as mulch. So I can get most out of it.
Great video Amy, thumbs up!
Im going to be making my compost a bit bigger using skids as enclosure. I started to pick up my neighbours grass clippings but they also have a bag full of dandelions (weed). Im very sure I can add them to my pile right?? Just making sure. Thanks
Yes, you can add dandelions (however we don't consider it a weed) to your pile, but only if you are doing "hot" composting. Your pile needs to reach 140 degrees and stay hot for several days to kill many weed seeds. Dandelions are unique in that they can go to seed even after being picked. They also have a very long taproot, and they will pop up again (and again and again) if the root isn't completely removed and destroyed along with the seeds. Yikes. That's why in the video, we show some alternative ways (solarizing in a plastic bag and fermenting) to kill off weed seeds (works for roots too) before adding it to the compost.
Personally, We don't worry too much about dandelions growing in our garden (within reason). They are an excellent source of food for wildlife (bees, butterflies, and other pollinators) and they are great in teas, salads, and as medicine. Dandelions are more nutritious than many of the vegetables in your garden. Some even dry the roots and use it as an alternative to coffee (we haven't tried this)
But alas. . . . .many people don't want them around (which is why they are categorized as weeds) so yes, you can compost them as long as you take the steps to manage the process in your compost. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
@@GardensThatMatter Thank you so much for your quick reply. i'm glad i asked you that question. I pulled them out from the bag yesterday so they can be dried with the sunlight today (picked them up from our streets). i'm thinking if they are dried and toasty I can add them as my browns to the pile? I will put them in a bag and place under the sun next time. Yep, I will update you as I go along. You're my inspiration for trying this composting. Thank You.
The fermented weed liquid that you said you could put on your garden, would that have more harmful bacteria, microbes etc created by the anaerobic enviornment than instead of the beneficial bacteria, microbes, etc that normally comes from a non anaerobic growing enviornment
I got 50 bags of weeds....and wondering what I should do with them....just throw em away?
GOOD.
Thanks.
Thanks for this information! I'm in Spain so I think the black binbag will reach nuclear temperatures in the sun. Could this also be used to break down grass? I'm starting a plot from nothing, so I'm having to get rid of a lot of grass and I heard that just chucking it in a compost bin would not be effective.
Thanks for any extra tips!!
Hi Micky. Yes, you can compost grass in a bin, but it will need to be mixed with brown material (leaves, straw, etc), and turned often.
What about the green from willow tree i have no grass and I really don't talk to the neighbors they keep to themselves and don't seem to be very open to getting 2 know there neighbors or id ask them its the only green i got besides weeds
Very interesting, thank-you! How about moss? can that be composted?
Yes. Really anything organic can be composted. Thanks for the question and for watching our videos.
Why would you compost moss🧐
@@scoobyjew5187 What else should I do with it?Burn it?
What type of acids/alcohols are u talking about? Do we add those or that's just naturally going to happen?
Hi Teresa. I think you are referring to the part about putting weeds in a plastic bag to solarize before putting in your compost. The acids/alcohols will occur naturally as they break down in an anaerobic setting (with little or no oxygen).
Our biggest weed problem in compost comes from tomato/pumpkin seeds etc from our kitchen bin. Our tumble compost does not get to the right temps to deal with seeds. I'm just wondering, before I add my kitchen scraps to the compost can I pour over some boiling water and cover to kill the seeds before adding to compost? Will that degrade any important nutrients or have any other negative impact? Love your videos!!!
Hi Alex. We agree. We rarely put tomatoes, pumpkin or any other squash seeds in our compost. We feed them to our chickens. And yes, tumblers often can't reach the temperature needed to kill off seeds because the volume isn't large enough. Honestly, I have never tried boiling water to kill seeds and I haven't seen any research to support this method. But it is a great question, one that I would like to research.
In your compost, though, the heat is not caused by environment (climate), the heat is generated by a chemical process from the bacteria eating the material and rapidly reproducing. That's why a tumbler often won't heat up enough. The volume isn't large enough to support a large population of bacteria. But the high temperature caused by the bacterial energy is what sterilizes seeds. So, it makes sense that heating the seeds up by boiling water (I guess heating them up in oven or microwave makes sense too) would kill them, but like I said before, I don't have any research to support this idea. I don't think putting boiling water on your scraps would deplete any nutrients. We often put cooked (cooked at high temps) food scraps in the compost. A lot of the nutrients in compost are the excrement from the bacteria and other organisms that are breaking down the material. (think worm castings)
If I do find some research to support the boiling idea, I will let you know. If you find some, please let me know too, this is a very interesting idea. Thanks for the question. Sorry I can't give you a better answer.
did you ever get a chance to try this out?@@GardensThatMatter
What is a weed? It is a plant that is growing where you don't want it to grow. So, if you are growing corn, then the corn stalk is not a weed. If you are growing soybeans, then the volunteer corn in the soybean patch is a weed.
I am new to all of this, and I have one question.
It has been raining in my town recently, which is a rare sight in this part of the state. This rain helps the weeds grow, and taking advantage of the rain, I am pulling them out one by one before they grow too big.
Now, out of habit, I just leave the piles of weeds out on the ground and leave them there to dry out.
Once they are completely dry and brittle, can I use these within my compost bin?
Yes, normal weeds can go into your compost after they are dried and dead. Sometimes, though, really pernicious weeds and grasses (sedges) will still grow from their root nodules (even though you think they are dead). That's why we explain fermenting the weeds in a bucket or trashcan prior to putting them into your compost. The part about fermenting starts around 4:27 of the video. Thanks for the question and I hope this helps. Have you watched our Quick Start to Composting Series here on our channel? Being familiar with the fundamentals of composting helps you feel confident about putting weeds (and other materials) into your bin. Here's a link to the playlist in case you haven't seen it. th-cam.com/play/PLSGk426DySd9a6BG3bHm42yb5dGhEc73a.html
Can I just put the weeds in a big bowl with water and then throw it in the microwave to make them usable for composting? Like maybe just to the point of boiling. I think/hope they'd still be considered greens at that point, but maybe that's not enough to neutralize them for composting
Love from india 👍❤️
🙌🏼💖
What if the weeds have died completely and dried? Can I use any of it or should I throw it away this season.
It's good to include the dry stuff.
is english ivy ok to compost?
I follow the method of composting everything.
Be careful using GRASS ( or BITTER melon) as compost.
For vegies, your vegies will have yukky or bitter taste as grass is bitter itself. Not all vegies plant experience this problem However, more obvious sign of yukky or bitter taste can be experienced from salad, cucumber, asparagus and peach plants...
I recommend to use GRASS as compost on flower plants only as we don't eat them.
You mentioned shredding the weeds how do u do that without a expensive machine
lawnmower
@@danoneill8751 still an expensive machine
@@franxiety4613 good point. I would claim "but many already have one" except actually the weeds can be shockingly tough and blunt the blades pretty quick and necessitate more sharpening. Since first writing that I now only use the mower on very light weeds and am sav8ng for a second hand shredder.
I heard lawn mower
Machete
That's not a weed, its a dandelion there very healthy to eat or make tea.
People have food growing all over their yard, and they don't even know it
Hot compost with burn it all if it gets hot enough
Why my weeds compost are smell like 💩but I didn’t add any manures, also why so many flies attracted to them 🤷🏼♂️
you need more carbon
This isn’t the weed I was looking for…
NO such thing as a weed! Every plant has a purpose for God NEVER makes junk!
Weeds only came after Adam and Eve ate the apple
Burn then a little first, burn everything till they aree a little crispy
Weed tea.
dry the weeds in the sun, and bury them deep.
😧
No, you should smoke it
Amy... Do pushups