Compost Troubleshooting Round 2

[raingarden]

Sadly, some do…Google “PFAs”.

PFAs are wicked bad stuff. It is a big issue here because there are lots of military bases sitting over drinking water aquifers and the bases have used a lot of PFA fire fighting foam.

But, I cannot find mention of any herbicides that contain PFAs.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

PFAs are wicked bad stuff. It is a big issue here because there are lots of military bases sitting over drinking water aquifers and the bases have used a lot of PFA fire fighting foam.

But, I cannot find mention of any herbicides that contain PFAs.

Maybe not PFA’s specifically (I’m admittedly a layman when it comes to chemistry), but I found this on persistent herbicides:

“There are four known persistent herbicides: Picloram (Dow AgroSciences, 1957), Clopyralid (Dow AgroSciences, 1987), Aminopyralid (Dow AgroSciences, 2005), and Aminocyclopyrachlor (DuPont, 2010).”

 

[DonyaQuick]

Thought I would update on this. I ignored the problem bin for almost a year after trying to seed it a couple times with good material, and then it eventually shrank quite a bit and rather fast...an then stopped again. It seems stalled currently. I decided to take the HWC ring off of it and crack it open to see what was going on because plants had suddenly started to grow in the bin - so clearly if any herbicide had been there, it has since been washed away. Once opened up, the very middle most area appears to have composted. The rest....still just shavings. I think part of my error here was the container I used let the edges get too dry, but that clearly wasn't the whole issue. My newest pile has many pockets that look like that after a much shorter time. So it seems pretty clear there was/is something bad here if a very similarly constructed other bin can do better. I'm going to scoop this one up and dump it in the forest at some point in the near future.

 

[gtaus]

It might be worth trying to inoculate pile one with some broken down, critter-heavy material from one of the other piles (maybe when turning) to try to kick start it a bit.

I think that is a good idea. Take some compost material from the bins that are coming along fine and add them to the first bin that is not doing well.

The other option that comes to my mind, is just mixing all the material in bin 1 with the compost material in bins 2 and 3, and then start over with bin 1.

In my case, I would probably just dump all of bin 1 into my chicken run compost system and let the chickens process it for me. I have my best success with my chicken run compost, but I also have 5 pallet compost bins that I basically just fill and let sit - for years - until I want to harvest the compost.

 

[DonyaQuick]

If you suspect compost bin 1 may have some herbicide or insecticide in that material, you might be better off just dumping that load somewhere where it can't do much harm and just starting over with bin 1.

That thought had crossed my mind. I already don't think I would trust planting something edible in it; maybe something ornamental in a pot but that's about it. Since I'm not urgently in need of a free bin, I figure I've got nothing to lose seeing if it can be "fixed" at least, even if I just dump it out in the forest in the end. Plus if I put in some good material and that dies, then I might just bag it and put it out with the trash instead of dumping it somewhere out in the forest or similar.

 

[Alagirl]

That thought had crossed my mind. I already don't think I would trust planting something edible in it; maybe something ornamental in a pot but that's about it. Since I'm not urgently in need of a free bin, I figure I've got nothing to lose seeing if it can be "fixed" at least, even if I just dump it out in the forest in the end. Plus if I put in some good material and that dies, then I might just bag it and put it out with the trash instead of dumping it somewhere out in the forest or similar.

you can still use it as mulch in places you are not keen to have vegetation.
But the pesticide makes sense.

 

[Alagirl]

That would be a game changer. I just watched a YouTube video this morning of a gardener whose tomato plants were dying after applying horse manure compost to a patch of his garden. Turns out the horses had eaten some hay sprayed with a chemical to kill insects, and that stuff will stay in the soil/compost for 2-3 years killing the plants.

If you suspect compost bin 1 may have some herbicide or insecticide in that material, you might be better off just dumping that load somewhere where it can't do much harm and just starting over with bin 1. At this point, I don't think I would even bother with it. Sounds like your bins 2 and 3 are coming along fine, so maybe just start over with bin 1. At least you would know the contents of bin 1 would be free of herbicides or insecticides this time as you build it up. Anyways, good luck.

there are also some feed through dewormers that are believed to kill the micro organism in the soil via manure.

 

[gtaus]

Kind of terrifying that you can put a herbicide on plants, then have an animal eat that plant, have the animal digest and poop out that plant, then compost that waste…and it persists and will kill a plant you put that compost on.

Yes, it is kind of terrifying.

 

[Alagirl]

Herbacides do not do that. The reference above was to Ivermectin horse wormer passing through the digestive system and affecting helminths in the soil.

It was a different dewormer, I believe.
One of the 'new' feed through things, like a constant suplement.
one time dosing would not affect the manure to that extend (unless you got a huge barnful)

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Based on how slow that's decomposing (but it IS decomposing), my first guess is maybe it's too dry? A good mix and some moisture might kick start things again.