Comments on: Compost Materials

By: steve

steve — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:13:37 +0000

Adding orange peels should not be a problem however make sure you balance it out with some carbon rich materials, cardboard, leaves, paper, etc. Just about anything brown would work. You could also allow the peels to dry out before you add them.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:06:09 +0000

I personally would not add the dandelions, I dont think my pile get hots enough to destroy the seeds. Moss on the other hand should not be a problem.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:03:48 +0000

Yes, however I wouldn’t dump a whole bottle of windex in my compost pile, but windex on the paper towels is no big deal, especially if you have a good mix of other materials.

By: doug mumm

doug mumm — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:40:15 +0000

I’ve been composting for a few years… kitchen scraps and leaves. I use a fair amount of paper towels and windex to clean the kitchen. Would these be ok to add to the compost pile? (I’m wondering about the windex part).

By: Ruth E. Carr

Ruth E. Carr — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:13:53 +0000

I let pile rest from Oct.-Feb, when I spread it on my flower beds. Begin anew pile in Oct. each year allowing the rest.
Is moss ok, and dandelions??? Thankyou

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:43:44 +0000

I have several orange trees and have loads of orange peels from juicing. Are these too acidic for my compost?

By: buster

buster — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:14:23 +0000

should a compost pile be covered in winter? thanx, buster

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It’s mostly a personal preference. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here. I prefer leaving my compost uncovered, but it wouldn’t hurt to cover it.

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:45:05 +0000

After having some construction done on the house, I am left with sawdust (about 2 gal) and pieces of gypsum. Is it okay to add these, to the compost pile? Thanks for any anwser Pat

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Sawdust is a very carbon rich material, so you’ll need a lot of nitrogen rich materials to balance it out.

In theory, gypsum can be used as a bulking agent in composting. But I think that’s really only on an industrial level. So I probably wouldn’t bother adding it to your compost pile, because unless it is really ground up, it would take forever to break down and doesn’t add much value other than bulk.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03788.htm

By: gary allen

gary allen — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:04:15 +0000

I have a veggie garden are acorns alright to put in my compost pile.

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You would probably want to crush them first if you are going to try to compost them. Acorns are very tough, and would take a very long time to break down. If you didn’t crush them, there would also be the possibility of them sprouting.

So I’d say don’t bother, unless you have something to easily crush or chip them with.

By: Chris O'Brien

Chris O'Brien — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:56:58 +0000

How much is too much when it comes to colored print? Most newspapers come with colored pages, I just what to know how much is too much colored ink when it’s on normal paper, not glossy?

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Colored newsprint is fine. It’s the same as black and white newsprint.

It’s just those glossy inserts and other glossy type paper that you should look out for, and only compost in very limited amounts.