Pine Needles For Composting Toilet

A recommended level for pine needles in a compost heap is no more than 10.

Pine needles for composting toilet. Using aged pine needles or needles that served as mulch for a season speeds up the process. Pine needles represent just one type of ingredient necessary for successful composting. The smaller they are the faster they will. About 23 years ago i planted pine trees.

Whether or not to use pine needles in your compost is a bit of a prickly question. By composting what otherwise would be yard waste your pine needles can be converted to a rich compost which can be used in the garden for soil improvement increasing drainage or added as mulch around plants. For the past 15 years they have been raining down pine straw. Pine needles make a beneficial attractive mulch for landscaping and perennial beds but they decompose slowly and are slightly acidic.

Pine needles have a waxy coating that makes it difficult for the bacteria and fungi to break it down. The smaller the pine needles are the faster they will break down in the composting pile. Together with their prickly nature this makes them less. Add to your compost.

If i pull back the fresh straw is that dark rich organic ready to go into a garden. Pine needles break down more slowly than other organic matter in a compost pile even when the pile is hot so limit them to 10 percent of the total volume of the pile. The low ph of pine needles inhibits the microorganisms in compost and slows down the process even more. Try making a pile of pine needles and running them over with a lawn mower to dice them.

According to cornell waste management institute all compost piles require a mixture of green nitrogen rich. Read this article to find out more about composting pine needles and see if this composting practice is right for you. So given the acidic nature of pine needles how do you use them in compost without having a negative. And chopped pine needles compost faster than fresh ones.

Nov 5 2015 pine needles are a great source of organic matter for the garden. Your compost pile should be about 2 parts green material to 1 part brown material. Pine needles decompose very slowly and should be mixed with a good variety of other composting material for best results. Pine needles are compost safe though they decompose slowly.

Add your pine needles in a thin layer only one or two inches deep over your green material. You don t want to use too much however because it could slow down the decomposition of your compost pile. The short answer is yes but within limits. Make a mound of pine needles and run over them with a lawn mower several times to chop them.

A simple and natural way of composing pine needles is to simply leave them where they fall allowing them to serve as a mulch for the pine tree. But pines are known to be acidic. But can they be composted. Chopped up pine needles will actually compost a bit faster than fresh pine needles.

Most compost is naturally alkaline. As it has not been raked the oldest needles on the bottom have been slow composting.