Topic: Composting weeds

[Them be Plants]

I keep reading that you can compost some weeds. I am however unable to find a list that recomends which weeds you can safely compost. i have lots of thistles on my plot that I am slowly clearing can these be composted if I remove the root?

So can any of you help with a list of weeds that you find ok to compost.

Pete

[shirlton]

The only weeds we compost are what we call muck weeds.The annual weeds but only before they have set seed.. We dont compost hardy weeds like Docks and bindweed but I know some who do.

[OllieC]

Pretty much the same as Shirl...

You need to have a good heap if you're going to kill weed seeds - if, like mine, you haven't got to them in time & they're in flower, I bag 'em up & will burn them later.

If you have a good heap going, you can compost most things. We're not very organised & don't have much waste (in my case the chickens eat most things that we can't), then you avoid composting seeds & roots - the heap doesn't get hot enough to kill them. Lots of weeds such as sow thistles & dandelions will still set seeds from the flower head so watch out for that too!

[Baccy Man]

I compost all weeds including the roots & any seedheads that form. I get the odd tomato seed that survives the composting process but none of the weeds do.

[OllieC]

I compost all weeds including the roots & any seedheads that form. I get the odd tomato seed that survives the composting process but none of the weeds do.

I'm just guessing here (haha), but is your compost heap quite well managed? i.e. fairly large, covered, kept fairly moist & turned over from time to time?

[Baccy Man]

Composting, bioremediation, mycoremediation, phytoremediation etc... borders on being an obsession for me so yes I would describe it as well managed.

[shirlton]

I rest my case ;D

[Garjan]

Yesterday someone told me not to put the flowerheads of annuals and other weeds on the compost heap as they will set seeds. Spreading the compost would consequently mean spreading the seeds all over the allotment.

To check this information I used the search function and found this thread. You lot never disappoint me with your knowledge and experiences   :-*.

Now what would you do with an enormous amount of compost that contains probably a lot of weed seeds?
I had a slipped disc last year and upon returning to the allotment I was confronted with weeds as high as my waist. I put it all on the heap, but I am not as good in managing a compost heap as Baccy man.
Should I discard all my compost? Or do you think that I will grow more weeds next year, but should be able to keep on top of it if I weed regularly?
It feels like such a waste to shovel out all this rich stuff!

[daileg]

i have two separate compost heaps 1st for general composting leaf foilage and 2nd for the weeds ill leave this die back then burn the lot when the barrel gets full thus elimanating any weed seed to the best of my ability

[small]

I shove everything except couch on my heaps.  I don't always get terribly good compost, and I'm sure some weed seeds remain, but there are so many seeds blowing in from neighbouring fields that I don't think it matters, I'm constantly weeding anyway.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Dig the compost in well. I put a layer of grass cuttings over it, and the weed seedlings don't make it through. I compost couch and everything; couch has never survived yet.

[Emagggie]

I remember asking a similar question TBP, now I put everything except mares tail on the heap at present. This I was advised to chuck in to a bucket of water to make a ....can't remember whether it was a fungicide or a feed :-[. I did this and now no-one stops by for a chat--- it STINKS...oh how it stinks and I think I shall have to bury it.

[tomatoada]

I compost everything in my 3 dialecks.  I do layers of weeds, grass cuttings, household waste and shredded paper.  I always have a bag of grass cuttings ready to feed in.  In Winter I use more paper.  I leave it for a year and have the most wonderful compost.  I would not put Mares Tail in, but there isn't any on our site.  The stuff sinks down  quite quickly and it is surprising how much they hold.  I think you take your choice on how you do compost.   

[delboy]

I'm just as fixated(OCD?)as Baccy Man when it comes to composting and manure heaps.

Turning them and adjusting the contents is a great joy.

I have to own up to being pathetic sometimes and not spreading the heaps on to the ground that needs it, in order to build up a perfect pile..

My OH shakes her head a lot(d**n botanist)...

[GodfreyRob]

I compost the tops of all the weeds I can get my hands on before they flower, docks, dandelions, whatever. If they have flowered then I put them in the bottom of a heap if I am just starting one (so the seeds get the maximum rotting treatment) otherwise its the bin. Going round with a pair of shears harvests me a good 'crop' every month in the summer.
Couch roots for the bin but everything else in the heap.

[Garjan]

Thanks for all your replies!

I think I will dig the lot in and hope for the best. At least I will not have to discard it all.