Weeds in compost

[Soliloquy]

I had always heard you shouldn't put the weeds you pull into compost as they might continue to grow and spread when you use the compost. Now my sister has gone and done it, and doesn't think there's anything wrong with it, saying they'll rot like everything else. Which one of us is right? (It's a particularly vigorous weed that we keep digging up by the roots, then it comes back and grows at least a foot within a few days, then we dig it up again, and so on until winter...)

 

[limcid]

I would imagine that the compost would become great fertilizer for the weeds. Your sister might be making them stronger and healthier!

 

[ChanellG]

Weeds are indeed great fertilizer for compost. The topic has been discussed in a few different places on the forum already. You should be able to find those discussions by using the keyword compost in the search field in the upper right corner of this page. There is a recent discussion about the benefit of weeds and why you shouldn't use spray to get rid of them: https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/before-you-spray-those-weeds.866/#post-9482​

 

[eackley]

If you compost correctly, the temperature should kill any weed seeds you put in there. The time in the compost pile should also take care of the weeds growing back, by killing the roots.

 

[ChanellG]

People find stuff growing in their compost all time (potatoes for instance) and there are several approaches to composting. I have bins with worms sitting in the sun outdoors and that doesn't stop seeds from generating. I found a baby tomato plant growing out of my compost just recently.

Weeds can be placed in a bin until they dry out completely and then composted. Unless they have seeded, that should control any new growth.

 

[Soliloquy]

Ah ha! Thanks ChanellG, that makes sense. We'll try drying them out and then composting. The weed is back again.

 

[ChanellG]

The other advantage of putting them aside to dry is that you don't have too much of any one type of material in the compost at any one time. A good compost needs the right balance of materials.