[viettaclark]

Just wondered if the bark and leaf chippings from my sycamore which was felled today will spontaneously combust.
I saved all this lovely chipping material for mulch and got the blokes to pile it up yesterday. When I came to shovel it into a couple of 1 ton builder's sacks today it was really HOT just below the surface. Will it be ok?
And will my spuds be ok? I put a 2/3 inch layer in their trench to cover the growing shoots and put topsoil over that. Will it burn them?
Will I wake up to find the builder's sacks melted away?
Why does it get hot so quickly and how long will it go on?

[Swing Swang]

Two thirds of one inch of rotting material won't get very hot. Even two to three inches underground (which will act as a heat sink) will be fine.

Remember that decomposting material will take up nitrogen from the soil, so you might want to take this into account when considering what fertilisers your potatoes need. P and K are more important than N for spuds so a sprinkle of a balanced fertiliser might be good insurance. Just mu gut feel, others may feel differntly.

Never heard of compost spontaneously combusting (although it's possible for damp straw to do this) so you should be OK.

[Coach]

At least you can harvest roast taters!

[viettaclark]

 

[Yorkie]

Never heard of compost spontaneously combusting (although it's possible for damp straw to do this) so you should be OK.

Can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but we did have several compost piles spontaneously combust on the allotment site (the fire brigade was sure it wasn't arson) 

The spuds will be fine.  If you are seriously concerned about the bigger pile, spread it out more thinly, or turn it every couple of days to disperse the heat.

[arugula]

Never heard of compost spontaneously combusting (although it's possible for damp straw to do this) so you should be OK.

Can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but we did have several compost piles spontaneously combust on the allotment site (the fire brigade was sure it wasn't arson) 

One of our daleks, a couple of years ago, melted its own lid. 

[Yorkie]

  Now that's impressive 

[viettaclark]

Now it's in the ton sacks it's difficult to spread!!! I could probably give it a bit of a stir with the compost aerator but won't that increase the problem?
Why does it produce all this heat so quickly? It's just chipped green wood and soft new leaves. Is all the energy stored in the tree now being released? I hope it doesn't start burning. Surely it's too damp with all that green? I couldn't possibly move the bags and they're under a tree next to a big pile of wood and the wooden fence.
A rather large bonfire......

[mike1987]

keep it damp and you should be fine its not uncomen for compost heaps to catch fire if the surface is dry