Compost pile very close t

Hi again Kay,
Kewl, Happy! for you. - Not using eggshells nor boxes, but everything else good to go. No worries, no tea(bags, etc.), only fine ground tea used here, including BLUEBERRY-tea how kewl is that? - Forgot to ask: How about adding soured organic Mushroom-broth with a little bit of garlic in it, to wet this stuff, before sealing bag? - Would the garlic help keep odors down, and would it be okay in the compost?
and
look his scheme worked good: Instant Organic Liquid Compost DIY & Soil pH Reduction
In One Easy Move: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQjVOFDH3S0&feature=related got a Blender, so if I were to pour this into the bags, I'd definitely would not wanna have holes, so it could not run out into unused ground, right? What do you think?

LittleGardener wrote:

walshevak wrote:Augment your black plastic bags with layers of cardboard and newspaper. Use the bags as weights to hold it down. Now that will do for your smaller area.
Try freecycle and see if someone is having carpet replace.

Hi Kay,
Thanks too for your suggestions, as I'm about to head to the dump for cardboard...
Already have tons of newspaper, but who knows how they're made, as far as the inks, etc. is that safe? - Yeah, I knew a church that replaced 1000's of feet of their carpet, but said I couldn't have it, as I'm not a member - oh well, they're not the only game in town, lol
EDIT:
Talked with a friend re this Bagged-compost method who said, "No need to make holes in the bag". - So asking what's the purpose of making the holes in Plantoids' bags?

It becomes complex ..see if this makes sense ...:_
usually you will get red worms enterin the sack and breeding , yes in part it is for oxygen .... & release of some of the more foul gasses

If there is a lot of greenery in the bag & it is sealed / folded over to keep the rain out it will become sweaty and make the contents go slimy and stinky , it will also make the contents go rotten faster and go past the state we need for using as garden compost .

ie .
We still need the fiberous content of the compost to be there to hold nutrients in the composts moisture and to have the air volumes in the compost to allow beneficial bacteria to get to work and do their thing.

We also need the ideal composted state so that as time passes the compost can slowly break down further and slowly give up more nourishment to the plants as it breaks down .

If the compost has gone too far in the bag and decayed so much alot of the value of having a decent compost will be lost and the amount of nutrients produced will be cleansed from the bed fairly quickly by rain or , watering to dilute it out the soils or being so readily available all at once it can affect the plants growing in the bed , too much nourishment is just as bad as too litttle if available at the wrong time of a plants growth cycle..


The drain holes are to allow the bag to breathe and to allow the unwanted moisture to come out the bag as it breathes thats why they are in the bottom .
As the day heats and cools the air in the bags expands and contracts as the temperaure changes this warmer drier air takes in moisture from the bag and holds it as it cools when the bag next warms up the excess moisture starts to come out the bag via the newly expanding air .
It does not happen all at once but from the bags I've been experimenting with it has happened over several months.

I'd also be wary of digging in raw veg waste , for we all know that lots of pests are attracted to rotting /decaying veg matter .. they also like to lay eggs which turn into grubs and eventually adult bugs / creepie crawlies and slippery slitherers.

As these progress their life cycles they can just as easily present you with crop damage . Damage from Eel worm , carrot root fly grubs , cabbage root grubs attack , wire worm ,centipedes , millipedes and woodlice readily come to mind

It can also happen that you unintentionally bring about the right conditions adjacent to susceptable plants for various rots and fungi on living plants such as club root disease , root cankers, onion rot , blight , blister and scabs

Hi again Plantoid,
where's the 10 thumbs-Up critter in your case. Okay, wanna make sure I got this
right:
When you say holes (now understood, thanks!) on the Bottom, does it matter where?
as I wanna lay them side-ways against 2 house walls (73-feet long total) with only one window, as their weight will also smother the weeds there for later easier planting. - IF bags must stand up, they'd lean against fences where they'll be visible from the street, & one neighbor would complain, which I do not want.
&
for the 5-6 ingredients we are to use for making compost (if my great Kitchen-scraps have become a no-no), then aside mineral-rich Rock-dust, grass, leaves, & dandelions, do I use the tea? or what 5 would you recommend for this Bag-method of ours?
&
re Fibers hold the Nutrients in the compost's moisture: but if we have holes, no less on the bottom, isn't the moisture gonna drain out of each (of like eight) bags?
okay This part, I'll get to observe:

plantoid wrote:The drain holes are to allow the bag to breathe and
to allow the unwanted moisture to come out the bag as it breathes that's why they are in the bottom. As the day heats and cools, the air in the bags expands and contracts - as the temp. changes this warmer drier air takes in moisture from the bag and holds it as it cools. When the bag next warms up the excess moisture starts to come out the bag via the newly expanding air .
From the bags I've been experimenting with, it has happened over several months.)

So I take it this doesn't take an entire year then, just maybe 4-6 months? - Does this depend on how full each bag is too? - And worms? I've only seen, what I call 'mini-snakes', those obese sluggish things, never any Red-wigglers. Should I buy some and put them in each bag? - Would they be able to survive the heatwave in there? - or would they try to escape thru the holes 1st chance asap?
so much for your kind & patient guidance, Sir
Btw: Your gladioli are gorgeous! the family across the street has some just like them & I compliment her alot, and hope to get her going on SFG... actually I'd like to show the whole neighborhood, as it would really pretty-UP this street

Questions are the answers ...

Push a sharp pointed pencil in the wall of the bag close to the floor it matters not if the bag is on the side or stood up jut make it very close or in contact with the floor so the worms can find the scent/ moist residues and climb up & into the bag one warm moist/ rainy night
Worms can usually fond their way even underneath a full sack that been stood up for a few months as they start out when just hatched and follow their tiny cute little noses & taste buds.

I put any thing that was not cooked that came out the kitchen into the bags along with anything that came out the garden unless it is a pernicious perennial weed

Pernicious prennial weed ..... One that always comes back and is hard to erradicate .. I bung these in a big covered black plastic bucket of water and by does it stink after it goes rotton . It turns an oily greenish black in about three to four weeks .
I then strain off the stinky liquid , pour it in a hole in the ground and cover it well and put the remainder into a pile till they have dried tok three very smelly days , I hosed the last lot of remains off within minutes of draining them off , so the smell went as quick as possible as it was BBQ weather & everybody and their grannies were out having BBQ's .

Then put then plant skeletons in a poly sack anong with the other stuff , for the months rot in water will fully kill off any hope of rejuvenation of the weed .

Re fibres holding nutrients . Most of the liquid in the bag will evaporate out the holes leaving the nutrients in the moist compost that remains .

Depending on sun and temperatures depends on how long things take , I've allowed five months beginning of March to end of July this year for here and its all composted down reasonably well .

Ps the gladioli are over four feet tall and have had to be supported on 3 foot bambooo canes & soft planty ties .. even then some of the taller once really need at least five foot tall canes for we had to give a few the chop as they were just over 5 feet tall and starting to snap off in the wind and rain we have had receently
All my neighbours have commented upon the amazing flower display we have theirs are not a patch on mine .. it's all down to a deep bed of well made high animal manure content MM and a decent auto watering system

plantoid wrote:Worms can usually fond their way even underneath a full sack that been stood up for a few months as they start out when just hatched and follow their tiny cute little noses & taste buds.

Excellent Pace-job here, lol

plantoid wrote:I put any thing that was not cooked, that came out the kitchen into the bags along with anything that came out the garden, unless it is a pernicious perennial weed

Um, but above you said: "be wary of digging in raw veg waste" - so can I put my
spent flowers, raw Salad-bottoms, raw organic peels, etc. raw schtuff in there, or not?

plantoid wrote:Pernicious prennial weed ... that always comes back and is hard to eradicate

what!! - see, 4 people have said, dem 2-trillion "DANDELION-seeds in your current huge-pile are fine, as the heat will KILL them in the bags". - but you're saying NOT?? now am back to square one sigh.

plantoid wrote:these in a big covered black plastic bucket of water and does it stink after it goes rotton. It turns an oily greenish black in about three to four weeks. I then strain off the stinky liquid pour it in a hole in the ground, cover it well; and put the remainder into a pile til they have dried three very smelly days. I hosed the last lot of remains off within minutes of draining them off, so the smell went as quick as possible.
Then put then plant skeletons in a poly sack along with the other stuff, for the months rot in water will fully kill off any hope of rejuvenation of the weed.

ah, you missed this part: See, I'd go out daily & dead-head as many of the dem DARN dandelion-heads by hand as i could into city garbage-can, before mowing (before i ended up in hospital thrice last year). During same time, I also made 'raw veg waste' tea in a orange Homer-bucket (with Rain-water collecting in it), until I had about 40-gallons, which a kid decided to knock over every drop, so now instead 2 feet of weeds, heavily-fertilized... are now 4 feet tall with the weeds laughing at me as I fight this losing battle. Now do you understand?
iow: For every 1 Dandelion-seed I manage to throw away, there are 9 more germinating in the ground, & soon there won't be anymore grass. - okay this is way too depressing, going to bed. Good night!

plantoid wrote:Depending on sun and temps, depends on how long things take. I've allowed five months beginning of March to end of July this year for here and its all composted down reasonably well.

Sigh, the same as it would be in our climate; we've got 2 more hot months before it gets cooler by the minute, whenever i get this project started, prolly won't be ready then until April?

You know how you mentioned just digging your scraps into the soil. I think Plantoid is saying don't do that, put the scraps into your compost bag(s). Again I think he is saying by digging your scraps into the soil, you may be inviting the insects and diseases into the soil where you don't want them. So put the scraps into the compost, not the soil. See I thought it would be ok to dig them into the soil but what Plantoid is saying makes sense to me. Great explanations of how to compost in a plastic bag Plaintoid!

Hi Tricia,
Thank you for clearing that bit up, relieved I added a heap of stuff to the pile.

That only leaves the Dandelion issue, already mixed-up with the grass & everything else, in that evergrowing... pile. - Since there's no way for me to separate them out (when mowing), will the seeds DIE in the bags, or not ?

Ya got it in one Tricia,


That only leaves dandilion heads
To really wack the dandilions use a sharp old knife and slice the dandilion off just at soil level so you have a clean cut root on view , carefully place 1/3 of a teaspoon of salt on the flesh of the cut end and it will die . you'll have a 1 1/2 inch wide dead patch that will soon re grass over .

Keep the lawn mown to about two inches high and that way you'll get the vast majority of dandilions. Those that do surface will tend to flatten out to be missed by the mower cut and salt these by hand . The shorter you cut the lawn the more it seems to turn to weeds .

Dandilion heads that are almost ready to turn from yellow to white seed heads or the ones that are still in cups but showing signs of bearing whitish partly formed seed unbrellas ..... . bung these in the water or burn them .
Keep them out your compost unless you have mastered & use the hot composting methods and even then be aware that some seeds will survive to haunt you in your garden.

Here in the UK we can get something we call " lawn sand " ..it is a weed killer mixed with sand and where a few grains of it land on a broad leafed weed it kills them off.
There are many types but all cost money and usually have some sort of unwanted side effect such as making the area more acidic or having a residual hormone weed killing content which is no good if you were thinking of using lawn clippings in your compost making.

Hi again Plantoid,
Thank you for returning, to continue your helpful discussion, which because of dandelions, may have derailed this thread from Composting. - Do we have a separate section for "weed-Control"? that this can be moved to.

plantoid wrote:"lawn sand" a weed killer mixed with sand, where a few grains of it land on a broad leafed weed it kills them off. making the area more acidic, or having a residual hormone weed killing content which is no good in your compost making.

Um, we have tons of 'Round-UP' which I detest and will NOT use (no matter how much for over 6 years 1/6th of an acre in dandelions), derailed garden-plans. Nor will use any other broadleaf herbicide. Am too environmentally-friendly.

plantoid wrote:Dandilion heads that are almost ready to turn from yellow to white seed heads..... . bung these in the water or burn them.

No burning allowed in this city, so like I said previously for the past 6 yrs. I have 'dead-headed them by hand': yes literally day in & day out, until at wit's end. Tried digging them up deeply (but there are 1000's), and they come back more GrGRrr!!

plantoid wrote:To really whack the dandilions use a sharp old knife and slice the dandilion off just at soil level so you have a clean cut root on view , carefully place 1/3 of a teaspoon of salt on the flesh of the cut end and it will die . you'll have a 1 1/2 inch wide dead patch that will soon re grass over.

How much salt will I need to eliminate 1/6 acre of practically all dandelions?
and what will all that salt do to the welcome Clover (purple & white), Yarrow & the other pretty wildflowers... I've tried to protect (by mowing around them) for keeping bees.

plantoid wrote:Keep the lawn mown to about 2 inches high and that way you'll get the vast majority of dandelions. Those that do surface will tend to flatten out to be missed by the mower cut and salt these by hand. The shorter you cut the lawn the more it seems to turn to weeds.

well, for 30yrs. I mowed huge yards by hand in a couple hrs; but since "heart-failure" last year, my heart after 200bpm fibrillated. So until June some 30yr. unemployed guy mowed the weeds, 'til he moved. Now again responsible, mowing incrementally more. Yesterday actually did 400 feet before falling down on the grass from exhaustion. BUT I'm not willing to die just to keep weeds to 2 inches. insane! You agree?

plantoid wrote: Keep them out your compost unless you have mastered & use the hot composting methods and even then be aware that some seeds will survive to haunt you in your garden.

Sigh, too late now.
As I said above, endless seeds are mixed up together in that Compost pile. Maybe that's why friend said to not make holes, so the weeds cook more; who knows. And new dandelions might be easier to eradicate, in a controlled bed; than those with the advantage of having CONTROLLED that huge area for decades. -
Too we're not allowed to use Black-plastic, as that huge an area would cause puddling;
& as dandelion-"fork" didn't work, may try:
1. one cup salt in 2 cups boiling water: maybe only good for street-cracks.
2. Soak the more tenacious ones left, with Hot white distilled vinegar in a spray bottle.
3. Cardboard/Carpet, held by rocks, to deny them Sun & rain.
4. Dig not just 3-inches, but more like 6-inches to get more of the root.

At least last year, when neighbors started having some pity, by starting to control their dandelions, hopefully someday I too can win.
question: with that nonsense dominating life, when? will someone have opportunity to actually grow foods...

It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with and your composting methods. I put all my grass clippings, dandilion weeds and all in my piles. There's nothing that says you can or can't. I very rarely have a weed come up in one of my boxes. Personal choice.

RoOsTeR wrote:I put all my grass clippings, dandilion weeds and all in my piles.
There's nothing that says you can or can't. I very rarely have a weed come up in one of my boxes. Personal choice.

What methods do you use for Composting? - in a machine, that turns? it - or covered some other way? and how long before you use it?

LG it sounds like you need to borrow a couple of sheep or a cow or a pony to graze your yard .

So called neighbours that let their weeds run to seed are the bane of many peoples lives.
I've was thinking a while back .. how high can you set the height of your grass cutter ..? It passed my mind that a high cut of 4 " followed a few days later with a 2 " cut should hit any flowering dandilions but as you have mobility and fitness probs it's most likely out the question for you'd need to keep it cut to 2 inches high .
Can you ever enjoy Dandilions as a wild flower ?

re The salt no need for boiling water just a 1/3 of tea spoon of dry salt on a cut root.
If you go that root buy a couple of pounds at a time and just do a couple of square yards a day if you can

You say you have roundup & don't want to use it... A few years ago as farmer I knew told me that roundup has less a toxic effect than salt put down on icy roads .
Seeing the bare road side edges at the time I reckon he was right for they were still devoid of growth 4 months later except for some tiny white flowering plants .

plantoid wrote:LG
sounds like you need to borrow sheep, cow, or a pony to graze your yard.

Hi Plantoid,
Actually, shoulda never bought this piece in 1st. place; and if I could move, I most certainly would, into the county... where having the animals are allowed.

plantoid wrote: So called neighbours that let their weeds run to seed are the bane of many peoples lives.

Unfortunately, we've been the worst culprit, but neighbors have enuf conscience not to complain, because for one I keep plants below a foot, and too they don't wanna be responsible for me dying of a heart-attack right in front of them.

plantoid wrote:a high cut of 4" followed a few days later with a 2" cut should hit any flowering dandilions, but as you have mobility and fitness probs it's most likely out the question for you'd need to keep it cut to 2 inches high.

Fortunately (because I was still iceskating last year) my Flexibility has only suffered abit; iow, with some practice I can again be a good little Contortionist . - It's just the heart that needs, and IS regrowing. I know that, as in April I could not mow 40 feet without fainting; yet now 200+ before collapsing, so I call it "cardio-Training" - This, in spite of (doctors insisting I'm dead, from that & cancer )

plantoid wrote: Can you ever enjoy Dandilions as a wild flower ?

that's been our lot for the past decade ; but they are on Notice! to move...; as we're tired of them in our salad. - I work towards a paradise making Grampa proud of Honeycrisp Apples, Almonds, Apricots, Beans, Broccogators, Blueberries, Blackcurrants, purple-Cabbage, Carrots, Caulidyles, Corn, English-cukes, Filberts, Kohlrabi, loose-lettuce, asian-Pears, Peas, Scallions & other onions, Yukon-gold potatoes, yellow Bell-peppers, plums, pumpkins, raspberries, Sweet-potatoes, lip-smackin' Cherry-tomatoes, watermelon, winter-squash, & yams. - And gonna try Avocados, Figs, Mangos, & Mushrooms in a greeny-house too.
iow,
not gonna be even a square-inch of room for dem 'dandelions' no mo. Good riddance!!

plantoid wrote: re The salt no need for boiling water just a 1/3 of tea spoon of dry salt on a cut root.
Buy a couple of pounds at a time and just do a couple of square yards a day if you can.

okay, if all goes well, later tonight I mow again, hoping to finish off what I started this week.
Tomorrow, I will try to finish shoving all the kitchen-scraps, spent flowers (begonias, geraniums, dahlias, etc), & grass into them bags, to lay against the house as I said before.
Then I can get out the big guns. Question: Which would be easier, & faster & more successful: the SALT-routine?, or laying down Cardboard?/Carpet?

for sticking with this, & seeing this thru to eventual definite success...

LittleGardener wrote:

Turan wrote:
Solorize your grass clippings to kill the dandolion seeds. Then use it as mulch in your garden and watch it sheet compost.

What do you mean by "Solorize, and sheet"? - Sorry for not yet following.

Sorry to not have gotten back to reply earlier. I think the answers have been covered pretty well by others but here is my 2 cents.
Solarized is using the sun to create the heat to kill the seeds in the compost versus using the composting process. Usually done by covering tightly with plastic, or put in plastic bags and left in a sunny spot.

By 'sheet' I meant to cover the top of the garden as mulch. I do this under my broccoli with the carrot tops, trimmed leaves, vegetable scraps, weed leaves, grass clippings. This slowly composts all summer. As it composts it adds nutrients to the soil and as I add more stuff on top that acts like a mulch preserving water and keeping the soil cool. I would do this around all bigger plants like tomatoes and peppers and squash but I have black plastic to try to heat the soil up for those warmth loving crops.

I hope that makes sense.

Sometimes it's just different ways people have of expressing the same thing. Yes, it makes sense. Thank you!