On Sun, 05 Jul 2015 10:34:49 +0100,
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 04/07/15 21:30, Alan Holmes wrote:

Avoid weed bulbs (Spanish bluebell, muscari, some alliums, etc) unless
you crush them first. Avoid roots of deep-seated weeds like bindweed.
Avoid long-lived weed seeds such as poppies. It might be possible to
compost all of these if they are buried deep enough and the compost heap
gets hot enough.

“Hot” is the word.
Thistle and dock will wait for ages to get a chance to sprout. I do not
know your English word for rumex acidus, but this is the only “weed"
root that I voluntarily tolerate on my compost (and about everywhere
else, too). (Want some?)

On the other hand, if the resulting compost contains a nicely balanced
mixture of all kinds of elements, some species will stay incognito.
A huge amount of thistle growing simultaneously on your beds indicate a
lack of phosphate. So it could be a hint on how to improve your compost
and, subsequently, your soil. I'd like to have a comprehensive guide on
these “indicator-plants” but instead pick up these informations one by
one on a diversity of occasions... If you have access to this kind of
intelligence, PSE share ! (before they classify it).

TIA,

Michael
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