Banana peels and Coffee grounds on roses
 

Brooklyn1 wrote:
....
As with all organic matter coffee grounds need to be composted prior
to adding to the soil. Most books on composting explain not to
compost banana skins,

the skins are easily taken care of, the tougher
stem part is what takes more time, but it will
eventually break apart into fiberous strands.
why is that a problem? a small piece of woody
material is not going to cause major disease
problems or attract much.


like corn cobs/husks they won't compost for many
years, and then they add very little.

sometimes what you are after with compost is
organic material that adds air spaces for a heavy
soil like clay. in that case chopped up corn cobs
are great. and from my observation (direct and
with a written record) it takes less than a year
for worms to do the job even on the fiberous stems.


Placing uncomposted garbage on
or in your garden soil will only attract vermin and harbor all manner
of plant diseases.

bury it deep enough and these troubles are eliminated.


If you are looking for a compost shortcut/work
around other than obtaining already composted material there is none.

worms do a great job, chopping and drying stems
of lettuces, brocolli, ... and slicing and drying
carrot tops, potatoes, other root veggies, drying
potato peels before adding them to the mix will
make their eventual consumption go much faster than
incorporating them fresh.

things like banana peels, melon rinds. apple cores,
all good to go in straight up. worms call those
frosting...


songbird

Banana peels and Coffee grounds on roses
 

Higgs Boson wrote:

The compost, whether my former home-made, or now the City's compost,
is used for plant and soil health.

I'd be very wary of city compost (it's likely not compost but shredded
brush only partially composted). Typically what the towns trim and
shred contains damaging organisms and chemical pollutants. Years ago
I accepted a 10 cuyd truckload of "compost" from the local utility
company, was only partially composted (was free but I had to accept
the entire truckload dumped at the foot of my driveway, took me the
better part of a week to wheelbarrow it all to my beds before I could
use my driveway. The next spring I was inundated with hoards of
insects/larvae, and fungus I had never seen before. It may have been
free initially but there was a hefty price tag attached. I would
never accept plant matter from municipalities again.

Banana peels and Coffee grounds on roses
 

In article ,
songbird wrote:

Brooklyn1 wrote:
...
As with all organic matter coffee grounds need to be composted prior
to adding to the soil. Most books on composting explain not to
compost banana skins,

the skins are easily taken care of, the tougher
stem part is what takes more time, but it will
eventually break apart into fiberous strands.
why is that a problem? a small piece of woody
material is not going to cause major disease
problems or attract much.


like corn cobs/husks they won't compost for many
years, and then they add very little.
If you use the sheet mulching (lasagna) style of gardening, it isn't a
problem. It's all good.

sometimes what you are after with compost is
organic material that adds air spaces for a heavy
soil like clay. in that case chopped up corn cobs
are great. and from my observation (direct and
with a written record) it takes less than a year
for worms to do the job even on the fiberous stems.


Placing uncomposted garbage on
or in your garden soil will only attract vermin and harbor all manner
of plant diseases.

bury it deep enough and these troubles are eliminated.
IIRC Rodale used trenches about 8" - 10" deep for kitchen waste.



If you are looking for a compost shortcut/work
around other than obtaining already composted material there is none.

worms do a great job, chopping and drying stems
of lettuces, brocolli, ... and slicing and drying
carrot tops, potatoes, other root veggies, drying
potato peels before adding them to the mix will
make their eventual consumption go much faster than
incorporating them fresh.

things like banana peels, melon rinds. apple cores,
all good to go in straight up. worms call those
frosting...


songbird

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