[frangardener]

I have a patch of ground which we just haven't been able to get to to cultivate this year and it is covered in a mass of weeds which I'm only beginning to tackle in small stages now.  Many of the weeds are in flower, but they are so lush and green that I really don't want to waste them .. I'm not convinced my compost bin gets hot enough to kill weed-seeds, so is there a way I can make use of this lovely greenery without condemning myself to years more weeding?!

[compostqueen]

I'd say compost them but then my name rather implies that     I hate to see green stuff go to waste and it all goes in my many bins.  If I get my hands on couch grass rhizomes they get burned as do blighty spuds or toms (inc foliage) but I compost everything else - even if it's seeding - as segregating out seeding stuff from the not would take forever. I know the text books say don't compost them but then you have to either burn them or take them off site to the tip.  I personally don't care if all the weed seeds don't get killed off, as long as i keep my hoe moving, I don't worry.

[paintedlady]

As my beds are always covered in weed seedlings every year no matter how much I weed, what's a few more so I have to confess everything bar diseased plant material & bindweed go into the compost bin.

[nipper31]

As my beds are always covered in weed seedlings every year no matter how much I weed, what's a few more so I have to confess everything bar diseased plant material & bindweed go into the compost bin.

What about marestail?  :shock:

[frangardener]

Thanks ... that's encouraging ... I just wondered if rotting them down in a sealed plastic bag before composting might kill the seeds? ... it'd make a horrid slimy mess, of course, but it'd be worth the yuck factor if it'd work ... anyone know about this?

[SnooziSuzi]

It would stink if you put it in a bag to rot down and would take quite a while.

Why not do what is suggested in John's book and drown the weeds in a bucket of water for a week and then put them on the heap?  The more material that goes in the more it will heat up and ultimately kill off most seeds.  I haven't practiced this myself mind you  :?

[frangardener]

Thanks for that suggestion SuziSnoozi ... I may well try that.

[SnooziSuzi]

well I'll warn you now that the water will smell like raw sewage after a week but it's supposed to be good (watered down) as a natural incecticide so you can spray it on your crops to kill / reduce numbers of pests  

[compostqueen]

I've done the nasties in buckets of water. They seem to grow wonderfully for a while but they succumb eventually and you can bung em on the compost heap.  I have a on my plot at the moment a fertiliser bag full of weeds from home, but as I have ground elder at home I don't want it on my plot, so the weeds have been in the bag for probably over a year. Not checked it for ages. It's weighed down with a brick and it'll get added to a black plastic bin in the summer, with some lawn mowings to heat things up.

[frangardener]

Mmm I bet that'll be nice too when you open it up!  So that seems a good way to kill off the actual plants thoroughly, but will it kill off the seeds?

[nuts-in-may]

...and what do you all do about potatoes in compost, especially seed ones?  I just cannot get them to stop sprouting.

[compostqueen]

Look, if you want sterile, germ free, weed free compost, buy it from shops.

I personally like to make me own

[paintedlady]

What about marestail?  :shock:

Don't have it on the half plot up the hill

But   it is bad on the bottom plot - it currently gets dumped in one corner of the plot (with the bindweed) "to be dealt with later"

[compostqueen]

grass mowings in the dalek bins help it heat up, and as you don't add it in great thick layers  it doesn't smell bad at all     the heat really builds up in there and you can take the lid off and stick your hand in and just feel how hot it is.  Obviously the rate at which compost is made slows down as the weather cools

If you're worried about volunteer potatoes in there then don't put spuds in it     Diseased spuds need burning, or chucking in the council green bin as they cook their compo.  Tomato seeds seem to survive home composting and you do get those cropping up but they're easily hoiked out with the hoe or by hand if they show up