Great! We make our own compost too and are planing ways to grow more cover crops to increase the self sufficiency of our ecosystem. That said, the compost from our local city green waste is fantastic. I totally understand not trusting them all though. I'm not as big of a fan of our county's compost and I would be hesitant to use a compost derived from green waste materials from commercial dumpers, because there are some persistent herbicides that can persist for years.
Great video, thanks! My city also creates green waste that they sell back as compost. I'm a little wary of using it, though. Would you think there is any risk of introducing pesticides or undesirable foreign material from that source?
That is an excellent question! An important one. The short answer is that I think it is unlikely to be an issue in city green waste compost. Here comes the long answer: We haven't had any trouble at all with our city green waste compost (Ogden City Green Waste Facility, UT), but there is a definite chance that even fully composted materials can contain persistent herbicides. The chance is greater if the compost is derived from horse manure or from pasture hay/grasses, because in the United States (and some other countries) there are some persistent herbicides that are approved for commercial use, some examples are picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid which are packaged under a vast range of trade names. These broad leaf herbicides can persist for years. It is less likely to be a problem in a city green waste compost, assuming the city allows only green material from homeowners. If you are worried about your particular green waste compost, you could reach out to a local university state extension agent to ask what they know. You could also test some out by growing a bioassay test where you grow out two or four tomato seedlings using a 50/50 mix of green waste compost and potting soil side-by-side versus a 50/50 mix of trusted compost and potting soil. I'll post some links for more info.
Please keep educating us. Greetings from the Philippines!
Thank you! 👍
Exactly what I do .... i don’t get waste from the county because I don’t trust it.
I make my own.
Great! We make our own compost too and are planing ways to grow more cover crops to increase the self sufficiency of our ecosystem. That said, the compost from our local city green waste is fantastic. I totally understand not trusting them all though. I'm not as big of a fan of our county's compost and I would be hesitant to use a compost derived from green waste materials from commercial dumpers, because there are some persistent herbicides that can persist for years.
Great info, thank you.
Thank you!
Larry Woodle
Thanks for the information, great video.
Thanks!
First! This is awesome! 👍
Thank you!
Awesome!
Great video, thanks! My city also creates green waste that they sell back as compost. I'm a little wary of using it, though. Would you think there is any risk of introducing pesticides or undesirable foreign material from that source?
That is an excellent question! An important one. The short answer is that I think it is unlikely to be an issue in city green waste compost.
Here comes the long answer: We haven't had any trouble at all with our city green waste compost (Ogden City Green Waste Facility, UT), but there is a definite chance that even fully composted materials can contain persistent herbicides. The chance is greater if the compost is derived from horse manure or from pasture hay/grasses, because in the United States (and some other countries) there are some persistent herbicides that are approved for commercial use, some examples are picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid which are packaged under a vast range of trade names. These broad leaf herbicides can persist for years. It is less likely to be a problem in a city green waste compost, assuming the city allows only green material from homeowners. If you are worried about your particular green waste compost, you could reach out to a local university state extension agent to ask what they know. You could also test some out by growing a bioassay test where you grow out two or four tomato seedlings using a 50/50 mix of green waste compost and potting soil side-by-side versus a 50/50 mix of trusted compost and potting soil. I'll post some links for more info.
lee.ces.ncsu.edu/2016/03/herbicide-carryover-in-hay-manure-compost-and-grass-clippings/
www.growingagreenerworld.com/killer-compost-it-happened-to-us/
joegardener.com/how-to-conduct-bioassay-test/