Compost Bin Full Of Roots

[Farmer_Gyles]

Last night I started digging out one of my pallet compost bins
The top half was ok ... the bottom half is full of roots .... it's riddled .... looks like brambles ....

i've turned it over a bit for now ....

i'd like to start it composting again and hopefully kill off the roots ....
i can keep forking it over, but how often should i do it?
should i add new material (grass cuttings etc) to it yet? or wait till it starts warming up?
should i wet it now?
i have a second pallet compost bin which i was going to fork over into the first one .... there is a lot of semi-rotted material in the top half .... should i move that over gradually once the first bin starts rotting down again?
any other thoughts or suggestions?

[chris]

If they are bramble roots, then you'll need to remove them, they'll just consume the goodness of your heap. Burn them, then either add it around fruit bushes/trees or even back to your heap if you wish.

The more you turn your pile the faster it'll decompose, I turned mine weekly (as in once a week), then "watered" it, my heap was constantly hot and made compost in a couple months (2/3 - can't remember now) - that was a full daleks worth, as I kept moving the compost into another dalek, and re-adding more to the hot one.

[rustylady]

I doubt it's brambles, if it was you would have seen some top growth surely. Could be nettles maybe? Or are the roots fat and white (in which case it could be bindweed)

[Farmer_Gyles]

the roots are white .... and there is some "topgrowth" at the back that looks a bit like brambles (which is why i suspect it is bramble roots) ....
there's no chance of removing the roots and burning them because there are so many tiny pieces .... zillions of them like an inch long .... fairly thin .... i can't imagine they'd be roots off the tomatoes or spuds that just haven't decomposed .... could they??
i'm thinking that repeated turning and "watering" to get it hot to start decomposing it is the best bet ....
is that likely to kill the roots?

[Maccabee]

I don't put spuds in my compost heap as they always sprout, sometimes growing quite large. But if you didn't find a spud at the end of the roots then you're probably safe.

[Two_Sheds]

Adding grass clippings will heat the heap up, as will other forms of nitrogen, such as wee

It doesn't mean it will get hot enough to kill the roots though. The hottest part of a heap is centre near the top: the bottom and sides stay much cooler.

If it was me, I'd pull out those white roots as you find them and drown them in a bucket of water

[Farmer_Gyles]

i've completely emptied the bin that was full of roots .... i'm starting fresh with that bin ....

all the contents are now in sacks .... and it's absolutely riddled with roots ..... there are 2 main types of root:
1 is light brown, woody, up to 1/4inch thick, big long tangly strands that had grown all through the bin, some big clumps - could be tree roots grown through from next door
2 is really thin white, some large clumps like root-balls from tomatoes, breaks easily into tiny pieces, definitely new growth as some had spread out along the wooden slats of the pallets

the bin had been a mix of green waste (unwanted seedlings, rhubarb leaves, cauliflower leaves etc), grass cuttings, etc, kitchen waste (veggie peelings wrapped in newspaper) and spent compost (from potato and tomato buckets and seed trays etc)

almost everything in the bottom 3ft of the bin had rotted down .... looks like good compost .... except it's riddled with roots and no chance of removing them all

everything is now in old compost sacks .... about 12 of them ....

i have 2 options:
1 - take it all to the council tip for their green waste recycling
2 - seal the sacks and leave them for a year or 2

if i go with option 2, are the roots likely to die off and rot? what if i pour a bucket of water in each sack? anything else i can do? i don't want to add grass cuttings etc to the sacks .... all new green waste will go in the empty compost bin

[Two_Sheds]

the bin had been a mix of green waste (unwanted seedlings, rhubarb leaves, cauliflower leaves etc), grass cuttings, etc, kitchen waste (veggie peelings wrapped in newspaper) and spent compost

And something else. None of that list would turn into living roots

seal the sacks and leave them for a year or 2 ...what if i pour a bucket of water in each sack?

That's what I'd do. I don't like wasting anything, and I don't like sending anything to landfill that can't be disposed of in another way.

To compost stuff (which is what you're doing in the sacks), you need: warmth and moisture. You must water the contents in order for the beneficial bacteria to get to work.

Warmth will speed the process, as will added nitrogen (grass clippings, or human pee)

[Maccabee]

And something else. None of that list would turn into living roots

Potato peelings grow roots in my compost bin. Most root veg carries on growing in my bins

[Two_Sheds]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Spuds aren't roots, they're tubers.

Do things like carrots, parsnips etc really continue growing in your heap?

[Maccabee]

Oooooh there's always one

Yep. Carrots, beetroot, swede. All carry on growing if the scraps are big enough. Carrot peelings break down no problems, but a carrot top will sprout. None have really romped away like the potato peelings though, which do grow literally from the smallest peelings in my bins.

[taff]

sounds like you need to stop using a knife and start using a peeler

[mothhawk]

sounds like you need to stop using a knife and start using a peeler

Private on KP: " I've finished peeling them spuds Sarge - din't take long!"
Sergeant: "Very good lad. Now you can peel the peel!"

[Dynamo]

If I get any new shoots in my compost, I usually snap them off and continue putting fresh stuff on top until the bin has been filled several times to the brim and sunk down. If after leaving the stuff to fester for a good while and there is still new growth in it, I remove that and put it in the latest bin to be getting filled. The plants can only use up their excess energy for so long without getting adequate light and they will die eventually.

[Two_Sheds]

Yep. Carrots, beetroot, swede. All carry on growing if the scraps are big enough. ...a carrot top will sprout.

Most root veg carries on growing in my bins

I'm not being pedantic (or am I? *not sure) Your root scraps aren't growing, as in growing like spuds will*. They're just surviving for a bit. You aren't growing whole carrots from your carrot tops are you? (if you are, brilliant !)

Your post implied that I was wrong in stating "none of that list would turn into living roots", that's why I jumped in to answer you. I think your statement that your veg DOES carry on growing from peelings would potentially confuse someone new to growing.


* spuds aren't roots, they're tubers, containing all the energy needed to make a new potato plant. You can't grow a new rhubarb or a cauliflower from old leaves, you can't grow a new lawn from grass cuttings, etc