Composting

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Thomas Neumayr - 27 Jun 2003 21:29 GMT

Hi all,
I'm fairly new to gardening and wondered how all of you keep roaches, ants
and rodents out of your compost heaps? My compost bin is very
low-tech...just a large bucket. Should I keep it sealed at all times?
Thanks for any and all comments,
Cindi

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Elliot Richmond - 27 Jun 2003 22:33 GMT

>Hi all,
>I'm fairly new to gardening and wondered how all of you keep roaches, ants
>and rodents out of your compost heaps? My compost bin is very
>low-tech...just a large bucket. Should I keep it sealed at all times?
>Thanks for any and all comments,
>Cindi

Keep it moist, well stirred, and well aerated and it will generate
enough internal heat to discourage critters. It was always fun to
drive by the huge heaps of ground up Christmas trees in Zilker park
and see the steam rising from those piles.

Do not keep it sealed (as in airtight) because you will encourage
anaerobic decomposition (anaerobic = "without air") which will smell
very bad and may even promote the growth of some bacteria you don't
want to be around.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

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Ruth Shear - 28 Jun 2003 00:09 GMT

G'day

Cindi wrote:

> >I'm fairly new to gardening and wondered how all of you keep roaches, ants
> >and rodents out of your compost heaps?

Elliot Richmond replied:

> Keep it moist, well stirred, and well aerated

> Do not keep it sealed

Also - do not add meat - keep it to plant material (produce), eggshells,
teabags - newspaper if they use soy ink (if you are going to use your
compost on a vege garden).

DrRuth

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ArcherB - 28 Jun 2008 01:17 GMT

> G'day
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> DrRuth

Which brings up a question I had. I was going to use "The Greensheet" as
a weed-stop mechanism, but read that some papers use lead in their ink.
How are we to know which use lead ink and which ones don't?

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cat daddy - 28 Jun 2008 02:57 GMT

> > G'day
> >
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> a weed-stop mechanism, but read that some papers use lead in their ink.
> How are we to know which use lead ink and which ones don't?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0122.html
"Lead was banned as an ingredient in ink by the EPA in 1985 and is,
therefore, no longer a threat."

"Ingestion of inks used on newsprint has not been an issue because the
ingredients used in the inks are not considered toxic in either the liquid
or dry state."

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ArcherB - 30 Jun 2008 15:29 GMT

>> > G'day
>> >
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> ingredients used in the inks are not considered toxic in either the
> liquid or dry state."

First, thank you very much for your reply. While it was very helpful, it
still leaves some doubts in my mind.

I read that article and saw this:
These trials and ink references are for the black inks used in newsprint.
The trials do not include the waxed or glossy inserts or supplements that
accompany newspapers, nor does it include colored inks used on those
publications.

The "GreenSheet" uses mostly green ink (thus the name:-) which was not
tested here. Searching their website only gave me information how to buy
and sell stuff, which I already know how to do (which is why I have so
many greensheets laying around). Rather than recycling them and paying
for some other method of weed control, I thought I'd eliminate the
middleman and recycle them myself.

What I'm worried about is lead or some other dangerous materials making
their way up the root system and into the tomatoes that I am going to be
feeding my family. If it were just me, I wouldn't care, but I have a
little girl to look after and want my home-grown produce to be as safe
and healthy as possible.

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cat daddy - 30 Jun 2008 16:06 GMT

> >> Which brings up a question I had. I was going to use "The Greensheet"
> >> as a weed-stop mechanism, but read that some papers use lead in their
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> little girl to look after and want my home-grown produce to be as safe
> and healthy as possible.

Maybe you can call them and ask if their green ink is soy-based.

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ArcherB - 30 Jun 2008 16:36 GMT

>> >> Which brings up a question I had. I was going to use "The
>> >> Greensheet" as a weed-stop mechanism, but read that some papers use
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
>
> Maybe you can call them and ask if their green ink is soy-based.

I sent them an email from their "feedback" section and asked them. I
would hope that any periodical named the GREENsheet would not use toxic
chemicals in their printing process.

I'll post the reply here when I receive it.

Thanx again.

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Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / June 2008

Composting