Tree stump - how to accelerate decomposition...

[jglongisland]

I just had a dead tree cut down in the middle of a bed so there was no way to get the stump ground.

Anybody have any ideas on how to accelerate the decomposition of the stump?

[andy10917]

Was the tree truly dead, or just in the later stages of dying? (Did it have ANY leaves?) What kind of tree was it?

[jglongisland]

It was truly dead, a Cherry tree, about 7 inches in diameter at the bottom.

[bpgreen]

"I just had a dead tree cut down in the middle of a bed"

I'll bet that made it hard to get to sleep.

There's a product that you can buy someplace like Home Depot or Lowes that will help. I think it has potassium nitrate in it. You drill a hole (or several holes) in the stump, pour the stuff in and add water. It still takes a long time.

[jglongisland]

I was thinking of drilling a bunch of holes in it and filling them with compost, then cover the whole thing with a few inches of compost.

[billhill]

I use compost on and around small stumps. I also dump handful's of mushrooms that I find growing on other rotting wood onto the decaying stump. Don't know if it works but I feel good doing it and occasionally the mushrooms flourish there.

[andy10917]

The Potassium Nitrate stuff works sometimes and doesn't work other times. I'd suggest drilling a ton of holes into it and then using the Potassium Nitrate to make it porous. After 8 weeks or so, soak it regularly with AACT. There are fungi "kits" that you can get that speed things up, but (seriously) you may wind up with a mushroom garden.

You may also wind up with lots of mushrooms for the next 3-5 years in that area and yellowing of nearby plants - it is a very similar situation to the sugar situation you have (too much microbe food). Watch for it, and supplement the Nitrogen carefully (synthetic is the only thing that will work in this situation) to counteract the tied-up Nitrogen.

[simpson]

I just had a huge stump taken out today. While my stump it 5 feet end to end it was way to big to decay out. The tree was healthy and had no problems just was to big and close to my house. I took the tree out last fall. I drilled holes and put x's in it with a chain saw. I filled it up with high nitrogen urea and watered it. Then covered it with a bag. When we got the stump down to soil level most of it was rotted away. So i would think Your small stump would be out in a year.

[jglongisland]

I bought a heavy duty 1 inch bit and barely made a dent, I guess Cherry is a really hard wood. When I get a chance I'll try a a smaller bit. I used a corded drill, not battery. I got in about 1 inch in 2-3 minutes of drilling.

[andy10917]

I guess Cherry is a really hard wood.

Cherry is just short of Maple for hardness - all of my house's floors and cabinets are Cherry. It is tough stuff.

[White118]

I have seen people drill holes and stuff the holes with rock salt or burn it, but that wouldent be a great idea if it is to close to your house.

I would just get it out the old fashion way. Get an axe, shovel, chain and truck and give it hell.