Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:

Paddy wrote:

We are taking over an allotment plot soon that has been fallow for
a year.
Which weeds can be added to the compost heap and which must be
excluded? TIA

If there is enough bulk for the heap to heat up you really can afford to
put anything on (unlikely to be so effective at this time of year). You
might get it to go though with a few cubic metres of material.

I'd recommend burning or dustbinning anything with a tap-root:
dandelions, docks. Or you could collect them in a closed plastic bag
and leave them aside for six months or so, then add them to the heap
when you're sure they're dead. You'll get a lot of seeds in your
compost heap if the allotment's been fallow for a year, so it's good
idea to try to get a good hot heap going.

I try not to add ripe seed heads of pernicious weeds like thistle,
dandelion and weed roots like bindweed or groundelder (unless they have
been dessicated in the sun for a couple of weeks).

If there's any ragwort on the plot, I'd burn or bin it: if you leave
it lying about it may well seed when your back's turned. Any nettle
or bindweed roots need to be burnt, or exposed to the weather till
they're dead: don't pop them straight in the compost heap, or they'll
grow if the heap doesn't heat up properly.


I run a cool heap, and put all of that on; effectively none survives.
As somone else says, it is a good idea to put the roots of weeds
that will regrow from the root away from the edges, but that is all
I do (and not always even that). Even if the heap is cool, the
very corrosive conditions of an active heap are inimicable to plant
roots.

Try telling that to the pumpkin plant I threw on the back of my hot
compost heap this year! I admit that after it reached a certain size I
tried to keep the hot zone away from it. But it thrived despite being
periodically bhalf buried and had a larger pumpkin than the ones I
planted in the veg patch.

With regard to pernicious weeds (e.g. nettles, goosefoot) with RIPE
seeds, I would burn them, as those seds can survive. Ragweed may
be another, but there is no problem composting it before the seeds
are ripe - they will not ripen in the compost.

Indeed. Though I have been surprised what will grow on a compost heap.
Nettles invade mine from the field behind and some buddlea prunings have
been known to root down and grow instead of rotting.

Regards,
Martin Brown