[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Wood shavings in compost



I have been composting horse manure mixed with straw and wood shavings
(pine). Does anyone know the pros and cons of wood shavings in compost. I
have noticed that it takes longer for it to break down.
R

I use a similar stable bedding in my compost and for sheetmulch. The wood,
since it has a high C/N ratio (about 400-800 to 1) requires a lot more
nitrogen than most other compost materials to become a balanced food for the
microbes that create compost (20:1 or so is ideal). So you'll need to use
more green or nitrogenous materials than if you composted with, say, straw
(80:1) or leaves (50:1). Lots of grass clippings, urine, or kitchen scraps
would help. Rock dust or greensand are also useful to provide the minerals
that are lacking in wood.

Wood is high in lignin, a highly crosslinked carbohydrate that is difficult
for bacteria to break down--that's another reason why it composts so slowly.
Fungi are the best organisms to break down lignins, so you could inoculate
your pile with some soil from  woody forest debris (forest soils support
high fungal populations, rather than bacterial). Elaine Ingham's site,
http://www.soilfoodweb.com has more information on supporting fungal growth
in compost.

The only cons that come to mind offhand are that woody debris takes longer
to break down (you know this; and it can be a plus in sandy soil) and it
requires more minerals and N than other materials to balance all that
carbon. One pro is that it makes great compost for orchards, which prefer
more fungi in their soil (because of the woody litter).

Toby  

--------
Attachment
1.8 KBytes
--------