Composting and ferns
Birdy13
Posts: 595
In a You Tube video about composting Monty clarified and simplified the whole business of what goes into the compost heap.
The key, he said, was to mix 50% green stuff (as a good source of nitrogen) with 50% brown stuff - usually coarser stuff (for its 'carbon' content). For example: grass cuttings mixed with brown stems cut back from shrubs that had died back.
That way, he said, the coarser brown cuttings would help allow oxygen get to the heap, thus preventing that horrible slimy matting that grass cuttings on their own can produce.
My question is: What about my ferns? They were very green until recently when they began dying back and became very brown. Are ferns a source of nitrogen or of carbon for the compost heap?
The key, he said, was to mix 50% green stuff (as a good source of nitrogen) with 50% brown stuff - usually coarser stuff (for its 'carbon' content). For example: grass cuttings mixed with brown stems cut back from shrubs that had died back.
That way, he said, the coarser brown cuttings would help allow oxygen get to the heap, thus preventing that horrible slimy matting that grass cuttings on their own can produce.
My question is: What about my ferns? They were very green until recently when they began dying back and became very brown. Are ferns a source of nitrogen or of carbon for the compost heap?
0
Posts
It's about whether ferns are a source of carbon (usually the brown stuff according to Monty) for the compost heap or of nitrogen (the green stuff).
I want to get the balance right in my new bigger heap when I start it off this year because my composting has failed in previous years when I didn't know this guideline of 50% green, 50% brown.
The problem for me is that ferns look like a source of nitrogen while they are green but when they die back they and become brown.
It all depends on your composter, your location, and the time of year. 50/50 is a good rule, but I live in an arid high altitude desert.. my compost is always dry, even thought it is about 90% "greens". If you have a covered compost, and it's the middle of a summer heatwave, you could do fine with a 20/80 in favor of the "greens". If you have an open top compost heap, you may need a 20/80 in favor of the "browns" in the middle of a wet winter. There is no perfect science.. just a bit of logic.
Back to your question (and it's a good one, I remember wondering the same thing myself when I started composting): Brown ferns are a brown. Shred them and keep them at hand to mix in with your greens as you put them in. 50/50 is great, if you have it. Then you can adjust with water if it's too dry in the summer.
I'm not over worried about getting it exactly right, Lyn, although the question may have seemed a bit fussy. I am always interested about the science behind the simplified explanations expert gardeners give.
When I considered my ferns in the light of Monty Don's You Tube video on composting it led me to wonder whether the nitrogen content of green plants diminishes as they grow brown and whether the carbon content eventually outweighs by ratio any residual nitrogenous matter.
I also wondered whether the manner in which ferns die back and regenerate so reliably and have done since prehistoric times is connected to them having a perfect chemical balance within their structure for creating their own specially designed compost.
The exact nitrogen/ carbon balance not a particularly big issue for me, just an intriguing scientific question that interested me.
Thanks for your input Lyn and Blue Onion.
* Filtered coffee AND the Filter (even though the filter is white?)
*Amazon cardboard boxes (obviously without the sticky tape on)
I really want to increase the brown within my compost as it really is mainly green but I'm not too sure what consumer items are classed as brown and safe to throw in.
Chill will wake you, high and dry
You'll wonder why.