[compost_tea] Re: wood chips and compost

From: skyjs <skyjs_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 02 Oct 2011 03:25:56 -0000

Linda Chalker-Scott in Washington State has made similar studies and presen=
tations and come to the same result. I have been doing this for years and =
it works great. I don't put the wood directly into my compost because I wa=
nt it to get hot=full of microbes for compost tea. I do use it for mulch.=
  It makes for more life in the soil. You should see the earthworms under t=
he cardboard that the wood mulch is on. I agree :leave it on the surface. =
If you live in an area like I do in which there are many trees, tree compan=
ies are constantly cutting the trees and looking for places to put them whe=
n chipped. Call them and get on their list. There are happy to be able to =
dump 9 yards of wood chips on your driveway. If there are green leaves, you=
 can just leave them for a couple of weeks. Sometimes mine are a bit hot. =
I let that happen for a week or two and then place it down on top of cardbo=
ard/newspaper starting about this time of year, so they'll be wet and stay =
in place/not fly away. Over time it makes your yard amenable to microbiolog=
y and natural fertility. It gives the compost tea something to live in whe=
n you spray/drench it.
John S
PDX OR

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Stephen Steyn" <ssteyn_at_...> wrote:
>
> Tim:
>
> I Think there are a number of woods that contain oils that prevent growth
> for a while at any rate. I'm thinking of eucalyptus, pine etc. The produc=
ts
> may be in the leaves rather than the woods I guess. The effect is not of
> long duration I think and so shouldn't be a concern. I think chips work b=
est
> when spread over the surface of soils. They even make an excellent drivew=
ay,
> as do peach pips. - and they're biodegradable
>
> SS
>
>
>
> From: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com [mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Timothy Clark
> Sent: 26 September 2011 18:44
> To: compost tea group
> Subject: RE: [compost_tea] wood chips and compost
>
>
>
>
>
> Black walnut is the only hardwood that I am aware of that serves as a
> natural inhibitor of plant growth: allelopathy. We use fir and hardwood f=
or
> composting as well as making a super bedding for red wrigglers. We have
> limited experiments composting and testing on plant growth with the black
> walnut.
>
>
> http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/430/430-021/430-021.html
>
> Tim Clark
>
> _____
>
> To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
> From: home_at_...
> Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:29:49 +0200
> Subject: [compost_tea] wood chips and compost
>
>
>
> My compost contains a lot of rotten veg & fruit. In moderation I use bot=
h
> hardwood shavings & pine wood-chips in my compost; I find the wood shavin=
gs
> suitably hold on to the valuable juices rather than it leaching out. I
> top-off the heaps after the first turn, with a coating/plastering of mud
> (red soil) and wood chips. I read somewhere that there are particular
> microbes that live in clay soils that are capable of reducing ammonia
> losses. The wood-chips come out when sieving and simply get reused.
>
> Contrary to many publications I have also used pine sawdust in my
> Vermiculture process; by pre-composting it and offering it up with regula=
r
> feedstock in balanced proportions.
>
>
>
> Ian Carruthers
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<snip>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> "> Compost should be made from just about anything you can get for
> nothing. Wood chips are great because they form a mulch and don't break d=
own
> too quickly- thereby protecting your tree or shrub's roots from the
> greatest anti-microbial agent of all - the sun. So, use it to spread over=
 an
> > application of compost and you'll get a lot of benefit - especially if
> you have lots of evaporation. Soon you'll have lots of earthworms
>




Received on Sat Oct 01 2011 - 23:38:31 EDT

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