In County Kildare, Ireland, G. Loughman is facing a minor predicament. Maintaining three impressive heaps of composting material ordinarily, a portion of one was utilised to nourish the raised beds and nurture some cuttings in June. Following a mid-July getaway that spanned a week of significant rainfall, G. Loughman returned to the sight of miniature nettle plants flourishing in the recently composted areas. Effort was invested in their removal, yet they persist in sprouting. Could this spell disaster for the compost? Prior years weren’t tarnished with this issue.
It appears two potential reasons could account for the emergence of the nettle sprouts in your recently nurtured areas. One possibility, which you foresee, is that nettle seeds are contained within your handmade compost and later burgeon under favourable conditions – an amalgamation of warmth, light, and dampness.
This isn’t an unusual occurrence. Unless a compost heap attains the status of a “hot heap”, where the core heat escalates over 55 degrees, it will be unable to eliminate possible weed seeds that, intentionally or otherwise, found their way into it through garden remnants or via the breeze.
Achieving such a heap temperature is generally challenging. The secret lies within an alternating sequence of carbon-abundant material (think fallen leaves, cartons, paper, straw) and nitrogen-laden material (like fresh grass trimmings, vegetable castoffs, leafy garden debris, fresh farm dung). Additionally, some sort of insulated sides are needed to retain heat, topped with a thick covering layer of used carpet, straw, or cardboard. This should further be shielded with plastic sheeting to protect from rainwater and weed seeds. The degradation process could also be expedited by turning the pile at intervals. Some commercial composting bins such as the Hotbin, available at quickcrop.ie, can aid in streamlining this procedure.
The second potential explanation lies in the chance that the seeds were already a part of the soil, and the influx of fertility garnered by the compost encouraged their germination. Nettle growth can in point of fact, be indicative of a fertile soil rich in nitrogen.
Regardless of the situation, you needn’t worry about employing your self-produced compost. Utilising an oscillating hoe, you can easily deal with any infant nettle sprouts given you identify them promptly. These could then be gathered and discarded onto your compost pile, which will contribute an assortment of advantageous plant nutrients to your compost. As another option, you could convert them into nettle tea by immersing them in a hermetically sealed vessel, ensuring the leaves are submerged in water. Weakened to the shade of feeble tea and utilised as a foliar nourishment, it significantly improves plant wellbeing.
If you’re adamant about exterminating any potential weed seeds from your existing mounds, then you might want to consider constructing a new mound as mentioned earlier, and gradually integrating your former compost into it as you intensify the layers. To ascertain that your new pile achieves adequate heat, employ a compost pile thermometer precisely engineered for this application, accompanied by an extended probe for insertion into its nucleus. (Suppliers include quickcrop.ie and fruithillfarm.com).