Composting pine needles and leaves?
AZtransplant2005
18 years ago
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brenda_near_eno
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Composted pine needles: god or bad? Disadvantages?
Comments (2)Use the needles as mulch, or leave them where they fall! People pay big bucks for "pine straw". They compost nicely, but a bit slowly, by themselves if you keep them moist. Mixing them with grass clippings is one way to speed up the needles and keep the grass from going stinky....See MoreQuestion About Composting Silky Oak, Pine Needles and Juniper.
Comments (11)FYI.... seems to very much depend on the % of HCN... I dont know much about it, but some interesting reading... --------------------- ----------------------- EFFECT ON PLANT LIFE Seeds HCN applied in dosages effective ageinst insects does not affect the viability of seeds that are normally dry, with moisture contents suitable for storage. In a comprehensive study, the results of which were published between 1959 and 1961, Strong and Lindgren studied the effect of HCN in insecticidal concentrations on the germination of a wide range of seeds, including grain seeds, flax and small legumes. The variable factors considered were moisture content (8 to 14 percent), repeat fumigations and postfumigation storage. It wes concluded that germination of wheat, barley, oats, rice and flax seeds wes not impaired by one or two famigations with HCN. With the small legumes with a range of 5.8 to 12.2 percent moisture content (Ranger alfalfa, alsike clover, Ladino clover, Kenland red clever and Viking birdsfoot trefoil), all were tolerant to HCN in one or two fumigations, except aisike clover for which there was positive indication of impairment of germination. Among 80 varieties of grain, vegetable and flower seeds tested by Lindgren et al (1955), six showed evidence of reduced germination. These were pole beans, burnet, California black mustard, smilo, marigold and snapdragon. It may be concluded that HCN is a safe fumigant to use for seed treatment, especially for cereal grains under normal conditions, but with flower and vegetable seeds preliminary trials with local varieties are advisable. Growing Plants and Trees A considerable amount of injury, either temporary or permanent, may be sustained by actively growing plants fumigated with HCN. Because this gas is very soluble in water, special precautions have to be taken to reduce the amount of moisture on leaves and stems and in pots or soil balls of actively growing plants. Therefore, the plants should not be watered for one or more days before treatment. After treatment with HCN, it is necessary to wash the plants with water to remove any residual acid. HCN interferes with photosynthesis and other physiological processes (Moore and Willaman, 1917); for that reason, plants may be more susceptible to injury in daylight. Usually, treatments have to be carried out at night or in the dark. Also, following exposure, plants should be kept away from sunlight for several hours. In the past HCN was widely used for fumigating ornamental and glasshouse plants, but it has been replaced by other fumigants that are less phytotoxic. The use of HCN generated from calcium cyanide to control glasshouse pests is discussed in Chapter 12. HCN was extensively used for may years to control scale insects on citrus trees in a tent fumigation procedure (Quayle, 1938). In this treatment, HCN gas (5 g/m ) from liquid HCN, or evolved from a salt such as calcium cyanide, was liberated into a relatively gas-tight tent installed over the tree and maintained for usually around 45 mintues. A number of factors, including temperature, humidity, physiological conditions of the tree (such as dormancy, disease, cultural conditions, stage of development and others), have considerable influence on the tolerance of the trees to the fumigant (Woglum, 1923). Since different species or varieties of citrus trees show wide variation in response and the insects in different areas may vary in tolerance, the actual conditions of treatment usually have to be developed to suit local circumstances. In scale insect eradication work, where complete kill of all insects is essential, the tent fumigation treatment with HCN has been found to be a valuable technique (Fosen et al, 1953). HCN was used by Del Rivero et al, (1974) to control larvae and eggs of the woolly white fly on orange trees. While the concentrations of HCN required to kill insects may cause severe injury to growing plants, lower concentrations of HCN may stimulate growth and be useful in "forcing" growth in some species (Gassner, 1925). Dormant Nursery Stock HCN is still used in many parts of the world for the fumigation of the dormant nursery stock of deciduous trees, especially in quarantine treatments against the spread of scale insects (Ceder and Mathys, 1949; van de Pol and Rauws, 1957; Agarwala, 1956; Jen and Lai, 1959). As in growing plants, a marked stimulation has been noticed in some nursery stock fumigated with HCN (Cassner, 1925). Immediately following fumigation it is sometimes necessary to wash plants with water to avoid the burning of buds and new foliage. ---------- Cyanide production by rhizobacteria and potential for suppression of weed seedling growth. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11400067 Here is a link that might be useful: Cyanide production by rhizobacteria and potential for suppression of weed seedling growth....See Moreoak leaves, redwood and pine needles.
Comments (7)The more shredded it is, the easier oxygen/water can pass through it, and the quicker it will break down (for a variety of reasons aided by oxygen/water/microbes/fungi/etc) into a compost/humus substance. Unless the leaves are thickly matted they may not even need shredding. You can shovel into the pile to check how well it is (or is not) doing it's thing on it's own. Different climates do this better/worse. In my area (humid South-East) shredding helps a lot because the leaves mat up rather easily and decomposition is slowed. This post was edited by nc-crn on Sun, Aug 25, 13 at 2:58...See MorePine needles, flowers, leaves ect...
Comments (8)One thing I did find out last year (my first year composting) is if you just pack leaves into you pile and don't shread them or turn them enough it will create pockets of leaves that are unaffected and smashed togeather. It's not really a problem as I just broke them up when I saw them and threw them back in. Just and observation. But I would do as others are saying. Use leaves. They are free and usually really easy to get. I have neighbors dumping leave in my yard for me to use since I don't have any large trees yet. I try and get as many as I can for mulch and compost. Pine needles are also fine. Most of them have a small film of wax on them so they might take a little longer to break down. But they do break down non the less. And go ahead and and anything else that grows in your garden. It will all decompose and compost into nice stuff to use later. Leaves glorious leaves!...See Morelimhyl
18 years agoAZtransplant2005
18 years agoaisgecko
18 years agobrenda_near_eno
18 years agomrsboomernc
18 years agodellare
18 years agoAZtransplant2005
18 years agobrenda_near_eno
18 years ago
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7