MOLD on COMPOST ?

Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
i filled a yard waste bag with fresh lawn clippings, it sat for 1 day and got really really hot. All was good.

I go away for 3 days, and she is no longer hot, and all white moldy looking. smelled a little wierd to.

so i threw it on the compost......... was this a bad idea? Isnt mold organisms breaking the matter down?

I am kinda worried about all my amazing compost being garbage now because of the mold.

can some one help me out please???
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
I read on some other gardening sites that mold is good for the compost.



"Mold is good, Especially deep inside the pile. It will not grow under conditions that are too wet. Fungi do the bulk of breakdown for woody materials."

'"Mold is fine in your compost as long as you know you are mixing it and that it's not to wet. I often get mold after I throw in a bunch of green yard waste no matter how much I mix it. But after a few mixing then all is good. Unless you have the time to try and be perfect and place a small layer of greens then a layer of browns every time you add something you will have occational mold in the spots that have the heavier greens. "
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Growop101 said:
i filled a yard waste bag with fresh lawn clippings, it sat for 1 day and got really really hot. All was good.

I go away for 3 days, and she is no longer hot, and all white moldy looking. smelled a little wierd to.

so i threw it on the compost......... was this a bad idea? Isnt mold organisms breaking the matter down?

I am kinda worried about all my amazing compost being garbage now because of the mold.

can some one help me out please???
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Grass is a bummer in compost as it does not break down easily. See old piles of grass years old where people dumped? But the positive side can be - grass does not break down easily. Added to compost in SMALL AMOUNTS it can help keep soil aerated and add slow decomposing organic material that yields little in nutrients even broken down.

Proper composting includes turning regularly and when you turn this in the heat generated by properly composting will kill all seeds and most - repeat most - mold spores. Don't do that again.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Growop101 said:
I read on some other gardening sites that mold is good for the compost.



"Mold is good, Especially deep inside the pile. It will not grow under conditions that are too wet. Fungi do the bulk of breakdown for woody materials."

'"Mold is fine in your compost as long as you know you are mixing it and that it's not to wet. I often get mold after I throw in a bunch of green yard waste no matter how much I mix it. But after a few mixing then all is good. Unless you have the time to try and be perfect and place a small layer of greens then a layer of browns every time you add something you will have occational mold in the spots that have the heavier greens. "
Click to expand...
Are you sure it did not say "leaf mold"? Leaf mold is not only beneficial but needed in some areas to start good composting before winter sets in. To say "mold" in a general sense being beneficial is not correct. Some of the deadliest toxins known to kill man are generated by mold. As well as some of the most beneficial such as penicillin. Black mold is certainly welcome no place.
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
On the site i think they jus refering to any mold, like on veggies and stuff.

The bag of moldy grass clippings i threw on was like huge.
There is soo much moldy grass in there now. Damn. is my pile tainted now?? i cant use it?
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
Would it be a good idea to pick most of the moldy shit out of my compost?

I mixed it in pretty good tho. FUDGE!
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Grasses are no good in compost except small amounts. Most yards have so much grass your compost is screwed. Unless you start layering with dirt and a LITTLE bit of slaked lime (and I should not have said that because somebody will be slopping it on their piles with grain shovels) plus real organic matter like your veggies you mentioned. And for sure it will not be any good until next year. Grass clippings make excellent mulch as they decompose slowly.
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
Grasses are no good in compost except small amounts. Most yards have so much grass your compost is screwed. Unless you start layering with dirt and a LITTLE bit of slaked lime (and I should not have said that because somebody will be slopping it on their piles with grain shovels) plus real organic matter like your veggies you mentioned. And for sure it will not be any good until next year. Grass clippings make excellent mulch as they decompose slowly.
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Well if they are brown and dry i think it would be excellent for the compost. High in nitrogen.

but ya i fucked it up , can i jus leave the mold in there, begin to do some brown layering ( not grass clippings ) and jus keep adding to it, and turning it as usual?

Or is the whole compost garbage because of the high amount of this mold.?

im thinking the mold will air out if i keep turning it, and adding to the pile.

thoughts?
 
HotShot7414

HotShot7414

Well-Known Member
As hot rod mentioned just turn it over every now and then.Moistness + high humidity is probably causing the mold but its nothing bad its just speeding up the decomposition.Nothing to worry about i even had mold growing on top of my soil i just turned the soil and my plant is pretty healthy.
 
scroglodyte

scroglodyte

Well-Known Member
look at a handful of grass................green and brown mixed at almost the perfect ratio. as long as you keep it breathing, grass clippings make excellent compost.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
scroglodyte said:
look at a handful of grass................green and brown mixed at almost the perfect ratio. as long as you keep it breathing, grass clippings make excellent compost.
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A handful contains green and brown? How do you know? Did you cut his yard? I also notice you come from "look at a handful" whereas I come from "I have actually frigging done it."

So that is why you can see dumped piles of it years old that will smolder for days if set on fire? It makes PART of good compost. A huge dump of anything that breaks that slowly then slows your whole compost pile unless you really work it. Which goes against what most people who compost want to do. Whatever. It's your stuff.
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
A handful contains green and brown? How do you know? Did you cut his yard? I also notice you come from "look at a handful" whereas I come from "I have actually frigging done it."

So that is why you can see dumped piles of it years old that will smolder for days if set on fire? It makes PART of good compost. A huge dump of anything that breaks that slowly then slows your whole compost pile unless you really work it. Which goes against what most people who compost want to do. Whatever. It's your stuff.
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when somone cuts there grass and collects clippings, its not all green. There is tons of brown dead grass amongst the green grass. Hes right in a hand full there is some brown but its not nessecarily 50/50.
 
Growop101

Growop101

Well-Known Member
And hot rod, i am not using grass clippings alone. It is but a portion of the materials in my compost. I figured they would add alot of nitrogen and break down semi fast.
 
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