why do i have so many weeds in my compost?

Answer 1

Compost is especially good for growing plants, so weeds will be 'attracted' to your compost pile and grow even quicker than they normally do.

Answer 2

There are two reasons.

First, and foremost, the soil you added contains the seeds, so I am guessing you already have a lot of weeds in the nearby area. You can not do anything about this cause as it is a function of the area around where you are composting.

Second, not frequent enough turning. By not turning your pile often enough, you allow the weeds to grow. Turning the weeds back under will kill them off and make them into compost.

Your only solution is to turn more frequently to turn the weeds that germinate into more compost, a win-win situation. Someone else mentioned "brown to green" ratio, which will have an effect, the more brown and less green( or do I have it backwards?) the more likely a weed is to germinate. Either way, turn more often. You win against the weeds and you get more compost, but you end up turning more, so you expend more labor, so it isn;t exactly a win-win, but a win with more of your labor to get it.

Answer 3

If it's compost that came from an outside source, it may have animal manure such as horse or cattle.
Not all seed is digested when they eat the grains.
With that said, for weeds to appear in your compost, it means that it hasn't heated up or aged enough to kill the seeds within the mix, OR if the compost has been left uncovered after it was made, so seeds that find their way there now, have a perfect, fertile growing media to enjoy.
Hope this helps, Dave

Answer 4

didn't get it hot enough.. it requires 160 F for at least a week or 2 to sterilize all the seeds -- this is a chemical reaction started by benificial bacteria and a mix of at least 1/3 green matter, 1/3 dung (usually cow (or chicken for acidic compost)), and a third brown neutral matter.. I use 80% green and the rest dung for a really hot mix. when i dont have dung i add a half pound of miracid or a pound of triple 13 or hotter fertilizer per 5 bushels of green. Turn it often (daily) for 2-3 weeks.Maintain at least 14% relative humidity. I use an18 bushel Compost Tumbler and it works like magic every time.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

what sort of mixture of brown material (dead leaves, etc) do you have to green material (freshly cut grass).

there is a proper ratio--if you have too much of one and not enough of the other your mulch mixture won't build up enough heat in the core to kill all the weed seeds.

Good Lord! I just googled "mulch ratio of brown to green" and came up with the following ratios of brown material to green material: 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 1 and one fellow even suggests 25 to 1!!! LOL!

I use about a one to one mix when i make mulch---one shovelful of dead leaves to one shovelful of grass clippings. my mulch always comes out nice and black and crumbly with no smell or weed growth.

i'd try the one to one ratio of brown to green and see if that builds up the heat for you. best of luck!

Answer 7

its not getting hot enough in the middle or you arent turning it enough to keep the weed seeds killed off by the heat.

Answer 8

weeds are very quick at establishing... they have rapid deployment of seeds, quick seed germination, they will be the first plants to inhabit a new environment....

Answer 9

did you say you have weed... a friend with weed is a friend indeed. It was just a joke my goodness.

Answer 10

because it's what weeds do and your not turning it enough maybe