How to compost corn cobbs
 

Can corn cobbs be composted?

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?

corn cobs and cockroaches survive nuclear blasts.

fryman wrote:
Can corn cobbs be composted?

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?

"fryman" wrote in message
oups.com...
Can corn cobbs be composted?

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?


They decompose just fine, but like all other vegetable matter, they'll break
down faster if you cut them into smaller chunks. Just use your regular
chef's knife to chop them up. They'll be slippery, though, so be careful.
This is a good time to REALLY sharpen your chef's knife, if you've been
putting it off for 19 years.

Doug Kanter wrote:
They decompose just fine, but like all other vegetable matter, they'll
break down faster if you cut them into smaller chunks. Just use your
regular chef's knife to chop them up. They'll be slippery, though, so be
careful. This is a good time to REALLY sharpen your chef's knife, if
you've been putting it off for 19 years.

Personally, I wouldn't use my good chef's knives to cut corn cobs any more
than I'd use them to prune a tree.

I have a 6hp chipper/shredder, and even it slows when a corn cob hits the
blades. But figure on four or five years for the cob to break down to the
point that you have to think about what that chunk in the compost is if you
don't shred it.

If you don't have a chipper/shredder, it's easier to just throw them in the
garbage, and let the archeologists dig them up next century.

--
Warren H.

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Back, more than 50 years ago, when we lived on a farm we used ground
corn cobs as mulch around tomato plants. They helped retain moisture
and did eventually decompose.

If you have a chipper shredder think that would work about the same as
the old feed grinders we used way back when.

Marv-Montezuma, IA
http://community.webshots.com/user/vmwood


fryman wrote:
Can corn cobbs be composted?

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?

fryman said:

Can corn cobbs be composted?

Yes.

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

In a hot, active pile, yes, or nearly so.

(The only things that don't disintegrate until after many, many cycles
through the pile are pinecones, big chunks or wood and the stems of
mature squash and pumpkins. I'm not sure that squash stems ever
break down...)


Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?

Maybe a little. I never do more than snap them in half, and don't
always do that.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

"Warren" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
They decompose just fine, but like all other vegetable matter, they'll
break down faster if you cut them into smaller chunks. Just use your
regular chef's knife to chop them up. They'll be slippery, though, so be
careful. This is a good time to REALLY sharpen your chef's knife, if
you've been putting it off for 19 years.

Personally, I wouldn't use my good chef's knives to cut corn cobs any more
than I'd use them to prune a tree.

Why? I use mine to slice through whole chickens, and after a touch-up with
the steel, it's ready to go again. It's a Wusthoff classic. If yours are
bothered (much) by corn cobs, is it possible you're putting too fine an edge
on it? And edge more appropriate to a filet knife than a general purpose
chef's knife?

I agree with Pat Kiewicz. Corn cobs disappear just fine in my compost pile,
and I do not chop them up first. Actually after only a short time in the
pile they soften up, and you realize that despite their initial firmness,
there isn't really much to them.

Andrew


"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
fryman said:

Can corn cobbs be composted?

Yes.

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

In a hot, active pile, yes, or nearly so.

(The only things that don't disintegrate until after many, many cycles
through the pile are pinecones, big chunks or wood and the stems of
mature squash and pumpkins. I'm not sure that squash stems ever
break down...)


Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?

Maybe a little. I never do more than snap them in half, and don't
always do that.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

.... and chestnut shells. Pound per pound, they survive longer than
large hardwood chips and pinecones. Sterilized corn cobs, by the way,
are a great substrate for mushroom growing, what with having brown and
green components in just one package, a large surface, and high
resistance to bacterial decomposition.

I agree, although I break my cobs and after a couple of weeks, when the cobs
are soft, I break them further by hand. But I do this with all stuff I put
in my pile. Everything composts better when it's broken into smaller
pieces.
_________________
John Henry Wheeler
Washington, DC
USDA Zone 7
"Andrew Ostrander" wrote in message
...
I agree with Pat Kiewicz. Corn cobs disappear just fine in my compost
pile,
and I do not chop them up first. Actually after only a short time in the
pile they soften up, and you realize that despite their initial firmness,
there isn't really much to them.

Andrew


"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
fryman said:

Can corn cobbs be composted?

Yes.

Do they disintegrate as rapidly as other, less "hard" plant materials?

In a hot, active pile, yes, or nearly so.

(The only things that don't disintegrate until after many, many cycles
through the pile are pinecones, big chunks or wood and the stems of
mature squash and pumpkins. I'm not sure that squash stems ever
break down...)


Does it make any difference if the cobbs are cut into smaller pieces?

Maybe a little. I never do more than snap them in half, and don't
always do that.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)