Compost experts - a question

[Laura Corin]

I used last year's compost (made from kitchen scraps and lawn clippings, mixed half-and-half with cardboard/newspaper and composted for over six months) as a mulch on a bed. The compost was fully degraded: smell-free, dark and crumbly. Rather than suppressing the weeds, I seem to have introduced lots of plants. I have lots of seedlings that look like tomato plants.

 

I'm assuming that my compost is wrong - maybe it didn't get hot enough? We have a cool, temperate climate here, but last winter was unusually cold, with weather below freezing for several straight months. I don't think it was too dry - we get plenty of rain.

 

What should I be doing to this year's compost? It's in a compost heap - just like the one my mother has used for decades - but will be moving to a sturdy wooden-sided bin in a month or two. Does it need a lid or a blanket? Any other options?

 

Thank you

 

Laura

[Nestof3]

This always happens to us. From what I understand, the pile needs to get hot enough to kill the seeds.

 

My husband top-dressed his lawn with my compost one year, and tomato plants were coming up everywhere. (Remember, he's in the landscape business). It was not good. :)

 

I did have my pile heat up this year, but I don't know if it was enough to kill the seeds. It makes me wonder if I even want to mess with it. I love being able to toss my kitchen scraps in there.

 

For what it's worth, Nathan transplanted a compost tomato plant this year (cherry), and we got a few tomatoes from it.

Edited September 12, 2010 by nestof3

[Peela]

I remember my dad's compost heaps always growing tomatoes :) We had them randomly popping up all over the garden.

 

Yes, it is just due to not enough heat generated to kill the seeds. You can either just tolerate them or fine tune how you build and keep your heap to make sure it generates enough heat. I am not sure it would depend so much on environmental temperature- the composting process is heat generating. It could be that you have too much green ratio to brown, or vice versa. There are also compost potentiators- herbs which accelerate composting. I seem to remember comfrey is one.

[min]

We always get tomato plants growing from compost. My BIL got a great crop off one of these volunteers last year!

Min