What decomposes faster into compost...

[Fred's Hens]

I've used both straw (not hay) and wood chips. I much prefer the yellow straw, both as bedding and it's de-composition in the gardens. I have huge gardens, for personal and commercial. The chips are OK, but I just think the straw stays nicer in the coop and pens longer. I also find a bale of straw at $3 is the better buy. Just my $.02

 

[Country Parson]

I regularly compost. Currently I strictly use straw as bedding, but also have lots of wood chips for various projects. In my experience, straw breaks down considerably faster than wood chips. Of course, this does require frequent turning. I turn my compost piles about once every 3 weeks (I do have a 'slow compost' bin that never gets turned, and which I harvest once a year).

Straw does take a long time to decompose and therefore (as another poster noted) is used to retard soil erosion. In fact, I add straw to my garden in the Fall before tilling it to help break up the soil (I have high levels of silt) so the roots of Spring plants can penetrate better. However, straw in the soil is not the same thing as straw in a compost pile. The heat produced in the later does quickly (by comparison) break it down.

 

[jamband]

compost is not necessarily a question of speed its simply a question of carbon and nitrogen in the right combination... so the main issue is finding that balance. I would imagine a pile of wood chips would contain more carbon than an equal size pile of straw given the density of the 2 materials.

 

[nerd0geekboyz]

My experience is that straw takes a bit longer to compost than pine shavings. However, with that said, it's not much longer. It really depends on the composting stage your pile is in.

If you are no longer turning it, assuming your pile is in the passive state, the straw and pine shavings will take time to compost.

If your pile is active then I am betting that it will compost faster.

I have been told by a few experts that heat does nothing to speed up the composting of the materials, however I disagree. Heat can accelerate the breakdown of cellulose.

Master Composter from Northern California

 

[jamband]

Quote:
really??? I have always understood that heat is the key element in composting. The heat is part of the process and I know people who keep thermometers in their pile.

I fully agree with your take on it.