Topic: bindweed in the bin

[gwynnethmary]

I have inherited a plastic dalek bin (without a lid but I can fix that easily).  The last person to work the allotment has thrown in clumps of earth with bindweed intwined in it (still green).  Should I just continue adding suitable composting material and cover it, or do I need to empty it out and get rid of the bindweed?

[jimtheworzel]

get rid of it or it will seed and cover your allot ment in bineweed

that you dont want.

[thifasmom]

i think in a hot heap anything can be added, but in a cold heap like mine ie turned once a year or less if i had my way. not at all. i have bind weed growing quite actively at the bottom of my heap from the foot path to the back of my garden. if i didn't sift my compost diligently i would reintroduce it to me beds.

[Digeroo]

Bad sign.  Bindweed in the bin means bindweed in the plot.  Be brutal.

[gwynnethmary]

Thanks folks- I thought that was the case but was hoping to be wrong!

[thifasmom]

if there is good rotted down compost already in the bin nothing wrong with sifting out the bad from the good and restarting a new heap. then you can burn/ drown the unwanted stuff.

[Unwashed]

The bindweed's not the problem, you need to get rid of the earth, then it'll all rot down no trouble.

[chriscross1966]

if there is good rotted down compost already in the bin nothing wrong with sifting out the bad from the good and restarting a new heap. then you can burn/ drown the unwanted stuff.

Burn or drown..... I'll be runnign my incinerator every time I'm on the plot this winter to try and get rid of all the b indweed root I hauled out of it this year.... and there's mroe left in the ground but by the end of the season I wasn't seeing it in my two exposed beds and the covered ones (grew a lot through weed fabric this year) seem to have concentrated the bindweed in rootballs basically on the surface.... not much else survived being under fabric that was under squash/potatos/sweetcorn/courgettes.....

chrisc

[thifasmom]

if there is good rotted down compost already in the bin nothing wrong with sifting out the bad from the good and restarting a new heap. then you can burn/ drown the unwanted stuff.

Burn or drown..... I'll be runnign my incinerator every time I'm on the plot this winter to try and get rid of all the b indweed root I hauled out of it this year.... and there's mroe left in the ground but by the end of the season I wasn't seeing it in my two exposed beds and the covered ones (grew a lot through weed fabric this year) seem to have concentrated the bindweed in rootballs basically on the surface.... not much else survived being under fabric that was under squash/potatos/sweetcorn/courgettes.....

chrisc

i wasn't talking about the plot as a whole but about what was asked IE the bindweed in the compost bin.

when my garden was being brought under some sense of control i had lots of bindweed to clear along with other pernicious weeds. we had bonfires regularly to deal with lots of burnable wood rubbish, so the pernicious weeds would automatically end up on the bonfire heap. now the garden is under control, i drown the manageable pernicious weeds before adding them to the compost bins.

[Digeroo]

I like the thought of drowning the bindweed.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Keep the bin covered, the bindweed will be compost in a year's time. I put it in mine all the time.

[thifasmom]

Keep the bin covered, the bindweed will be compost in a year's time. I put it in mine all the time.

maybe because mine are actually growing into the bin this doesn't work for me :-\ :(.

[chriscross1966]

..... we had bonfires regularly to deal with lots of burnable wood rubbish, so the pernicious weeds would automatically end up on the bonfire heap. now the garden is under control, i drown the manageable pernicious weeds before adding them to the compost bins. [/color]

Good point... I'm hoping I'll have disposed of my "start-up" surge by spring and can consider the bindweed under control.... ATM I reckoin I've got a couple of builders bags of the stuff to get rid of.....

chrisc

[gwynnethmary]

I took a good look at the contents of the bin today, and basically it's just clumps of soil with weeds in it.  Ther's also a good bit of junk behind it that needs sorting out,that I can't access because of the bin, so I think it'll be a matter of turning the bin over, sorting out what's in it, making a new lid, and starting again.  Thanks for all the replies folks- I love A4A!

[delboy]

I just put all the bindweed and other weeds, with the earth attached, into compost bags and then stack em up and leave for 18 months to two years.

The dark and the damp seem to work and I'm left with friable compost.

Just a thought.

Bramble roots on the other hand...