On 1 Feb 2005 11:15:08 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

~
~In article ,
(jane) writes:
~| ~
~| ~ The claim above doesn't say one week at 55 degrees is long enough to
~| ~create compost. It says that one week of sustained 55 degrees in the
~| ~compost process, will ensure JK plant-parts can't regenerate.
~|
~| Which it doesn't sound like the Welsh process can, sadly. I know we've
~| had discussions in urg before on whether commercial composting can
~| kill such things: now we know they may not be able to, so I shall make
~| a point of never buying anything from the local recycling centre until
~| all of them have to be operating to EU guidelines ie hot enough.
~
~Aargh! NO!!!
~
~What I am trying to get across is that ALMOST ANY relevant composting
~process will eliminate weed roots, including Japanese knotweed - you
~needn't worry about things like that. Much more serious concerns
~are resistant spores and seeds, which are NOT necessarily killed by
~longer, cooler composting.

I am certainly not disputing the spore/seed problem. And I wish my
ordinary type of allotment cold heap *could* kill off weed seeds! Is
there a better way of destroying spores than a bonfire?
Or is this still not guaranteed? (I suspect not - fungi can be tough.)
I had smut on my sweetcorn in 2003 (it likes it hot) so have had to
quarantine a couple of areas of land and remove the haulms in bin
liners. But where does one put them? I went to the recycling facility,
but they couldn't tell me if their heaps were hot...

Would you want to risk the possibility that the roots *could* survive?

I have dreadful problems with bindweed and couch roots. They too get
removed offsite in bags simply because I know from bitter experience
they can survive my cold heap (and invade it!). Hence my doubt about
the commercial cold process...

Perhaps we should start a new thread on better hot home composting
techniques! I'm all ears... (though please can the chaps note that for
us ladies, providing recycled beer activation doesn't happen when up
the allotments!)


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!