gum tree pods (round and prickly- size of ping pong ball)
i have a huge pile of leaves and those are mixed in-- am planning to start my compost -- now i just have leaves --will those sprout everywhere if i use them in compost? i do not let my compost completely break down before i put it on the beds-- the rest of the breakdown happen on the beds -- in the heat won't destroy the seed pods--what do you think
gum tree seed pods in compost
Your question is a bit confusing. As I read your post I believe you do not have compost. No matter how the seed heads come to the point of rot and conversion into compost....at that point they can not germinate. They will have converged into real compost. In fact their presence can not even be seen or identified in finished compost.
For lack of knowing what else to say I feel you have raw elements of compost not yet having had time to become composted. Any good seed that has not gone through at least three days of elevated compost heat above 115 degrees may still germinate.
sorry for the confusion--i have compost pile of leaves and in the leaves are the gum tree pods (quite a few) --since the leaves take so long to break down i use them before they are totally broken down--last year i used up my pile and now i have started my new pile--i will be adding some scrap, coffee grounds etc but i know it will not be completely broken down when i start using it again--
Raw materials like you describe make a good mulch and remain mulch untill they rot in place becoming compost in that small zone between your native soil and your raw or partly rotted and converged parts . If those same raw elements go into the soil your local biology will be tied up and very busy for quite some time while they create the conversion that complete composting would have created given the proper time. This soil structure with raw materials in the soil will try to make the conversions. While working on this they can not finish the job and provide the food your plants needs to the fullest advantage. Depending on how much raw materials are in the soil creates the ability and time for your biological players to create a better soil. Some say this is tieing up the nitrogen. It is doing much more than that! Mother nature puts all raw material on the soil. She has no shovel or rotatiller although some animal feet do push small amounts into the soil. There it all lays until it rots in place. If you do not have time to make finished compost a mulch is the next best thing. Excellent is using both finished compost and a mulch. The hotter and drier the climate the more important understanding this relationship becomes.
ok-if i understand you correctly--i am using my compost more as a mulch holder
and that is not so bad--if i do not let the leaves compost completely it is better that i use it on top of the soil than to mix it into the soil--is that what you are saying?
Linda,
Not quite. Finished compost -- that stuff that bears no resemblance whatsoever to its components -- can and should be incorporated into the soil. Unfinished compost should be used as mulch (on top of the soil) rather than incorporated. If you incorporate unfinished compost, the breakdown process will tie up nutrients and they won't be available to your plants. If it is partially broken down, and you mulch with it, the stuff in contact with the ground will become finished compost pretty quickly.
I have not had a problem with gum balls sprouting in mulch.
ok--but i think that is what i was saying--that i can use it as mulch since it isn't broken down--thanks for your imput tho