Any Trash Talkers? (aka Composting)

BunsenBurner
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 17:02:13 +0000

To kill weed seeds, your compost pile needs to reach very high temperatures, which is pretty much impossible for home composting. Even commercial composters don’t get rid of all weed seeds!

To kill weed seeds during the composting process, the pile should reach 140? F for at least two weeks. Some of the more resistant species may not be killed even by this treatment. For a small compost pile achieving a high sustained temperature may require insulating the pile (e.g., with loose, straw over plastic). If the weather is warm and sunny, the heat generated by biological activity can be supplemented with solar energy by covering the pile with clear plastic. Since the outside of the pile is unlikely to attain the required temperature for a sustained period in any case, thoroughly mixing the pile several times will probably be necessary. For a very small pile (e.g., < 1 cubic yard) attaining a high enough temperature for a long enough time to kill most weed seeds may be impossible.