Cold composting creeping fig?

Post Reply
lojack323
Posts: 34
Joined: August 1st, 2018, 12:16 pm
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Grass Type: St. Augustine
Lawn Size: < 1000
Level: Some Experience

Cold composting creeping fig?

Post by lojack323 » March 25th, 2019, 12:57 pm

Hi All,

Is it possible to cold compost creeping fig plants? I'm guessing it's probably a "no" because of how hard it is to kill.

We cleared out about 130 feet of it off our block walls and I hate to send it all to the dump if I can use it in my yard (it's a big pile!). But I also don't want to try and compost it and end up growing a mound of creeping figs or spreading them all over my property lol.

Thanks in advance.

TimmyG
Posts: 2244
Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
Location: Dracut, MA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Experienced

Re: Cold composting creeping fig?

Post by TimmyG » March 25th, 2019, 3:40 pm

Any chance of sending it through a chipper/shredder first?

lojack323
Posts: 34
Joined: August 1st, 2018, 12:16 pm
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Grass Type: St. Augustine
Lawn Size: < 1000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Cold composting creeping fig?

Post by lojack323 » March 25th, 2019, 4:21 pm

TimmyG wrote:
March 25th, 2019, 3:40 pm
Any chance of sending it through a chipper/shredder first?
Unfortunately it doesn't look like Home Depot has any rentals in my area.

What do you think is the smallest piece of branch/vine something like this would regenerate from? Professor Google makes it seem like creeping fig plants have Wolverine regenerative abilities.

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Cold composting creeping fig?

Post by bpgreen » March 27th, 2019, 12:35 am

I'm not familiar with this particular plant, but with many plants that can grow from pieces of existing plants, chopping into smaller pieces is the worst thing you can do because it creates more plants.

There are some plants that I don't compost even when I'm doing active hot composting. I've had compost piles that hit and stayed above 160 for days at a time, but bindweed and hops didn't go into the compost.

lojack323
Posts: 34
Joined: August 1st, 2018, 12:16 pm
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Grass Type: St. Augustine
Lawn Size: < 1000
Level: Some Experience

Re: Cold composting creeping fig?

Post by lojack323 » March 27th, 2019, 11:38 am

bpgreen wrote:
March 27th, 2019, 12:35 am
I'm not familiar with this particular plant, but with many plants that can grow from pieces of existing plants, chopping into smaller pieces is the worst thing you can do because it creates more plants.

There are some plants that I don't compost even when I'm doing active hot composting. I've had compost piles that hit and stayed above 160 for days at a time, but bindweed and hops didn't go into the compost.
It's too bad I'll probably have to toss it since the "hottest" thing I have is a compost tumbler lol. It would have been nice to get some benefit to my yard out of all the effort it's taken to remove it. It's not even my plant, it's my neighbor's and I got lazy and didn't trim it for the last couple of years. We took out a large tree from our backyard last year and that thing exploded into a monster with the extra light. Started noticing it damaging the block wall so it was time to go (from my side at least).

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest