Re: compost

 Steve Finn asked:
> >I'm thimk ot tilling in the pumkin I grew this year into my soil(I have
> >choped it up and it is rotting) after my cover crop grows two feet , do
> >you have any comments.
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 Vickie Brock asked:
> Good question Steve I have plans of composting the AG plants.  Some say
> this may spread desease.  I plan to hot compost and then let it sit one
> summer under plastic to heat up and kill any pathogens....ANY COMPOST
PROS
> ever compost there plants??

um. . . I don't think anyone would ever confuse me with a professional
composter, I mean no one you'd ever pay me to do this, but. . . well I'll
try to answer your question, since I'm doing the same next week. My big
jack-o-lanterns still have a few nights left in 'em.

By all means compost that pumpkin!
  
1.  Unless the fruit is putrified by deseases = mosaic, ringspot, etc. and
covered with bacterial or fungal problems, a pumpkin is an excellent
material to compost.
If you have any question about any gross looking stuff growing on your
pumpkin visit
http://cygnus.tamu.edu/Texlab/Vegetables/vegq.html 
2.  You can not spread a desease you do not have
3.  You can only spread soil born deseases with composting
4.  If you hot compost - take the temperature up to 140-150 degrees - this
will kill all deseases, pathogens, etc. 
5.  If you hot compost, your pile will be finished in 2-6 weeks and ready
to incorporate into your garden.
6.  DO NOT let your finished compost sit around once it is finished - use
it or lose it.  Old compost is not a superior compost.  Nutrients leach
out, nitrogen is lost to the air, etc.

My suggestions:  Your pumpkin has a high moisture content and a relatively
low C/N ratio (carbon to nitrogen ratio - this is real good,) and lots of
excellent nutrients.

Smash up your pumpkin into little itty bitty pumpkin parts - I mow mine
with the lawn mower - "pumpkin puree" (do the same with your vines and
leaves if they are still around.)  Mix this mess up with an equal part of
mowed dry leaves, straw, something brown and dry. While you are mixing,
sprinkle with water, as needed, until the final product (the pile) is as
wet as a damp dish rag. Then jump back before you get burned.  This pile
should heat up in 6-12 hours.  By 24 hours it could be at 120-140 degrees. 
It could go all the way to 160 degrees by 48-72 hours.  However, if it is
cold outside it probably won't get that hot and it is not necessarily good
to let it get that hot (160) any way - it losses nitrogen at those temps..

The microbes decomposing your pile need air.  This is why you need to turn
the pile at least once a week. It puts air into the pile. As the air is
consumed by the microbes the pile flattens out and gets smaller in volume.
The more air the pile gets the faster it will decompose.

DON'T TILL YOUR PUMPKIN INTO THE SOIL. Without air the rotting pumpkin
could become anerobic and putrify, causing all kinds of nasty things to
happen in your soil.  COMPOST AND THEN ADD THE COMPOST TO YOUR SOIL INSTEAD

Michael in Akron
mcohill@neo.lrun.com
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