tgalbraith
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 6
Location: Plano
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 4:12 pm Post subject: Oleander in Compost? |
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As you all probably know, oleander is highly poisonous. Ours is huge, and we have to cut it back often during the summer.
My main question (followed by a semi-related one): Is it safe to compost oleander (or any other poisonous plant) clippings?
(The other question - we have a resident hummingbird who loves to hang out in this same oleander. There aren't any blooms on it at the moment, so it's not like she's drinking the nectar, but I worry anyway. She likes to run her bill along the pods when it's raining. Is this safe?)
Thanks! |
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CaptainCompostAL
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 877
Location: Irondale,Alabama
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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Absolutely! Any plant waste can be safely composted in a hot process. Keep in mind what is poisonous to humans, is not necessarily poisonous to microbes or earthworms.
The billions of complex chemical and biological reactions that take place in a hot pile, totally break down, and rearrrange the molecular structure of all pathogens, mild toxins, and other questionable organic matter, into humus, soluble nutrients, and breed billions of valuable aerobic microbes in the final safe, healthy, mature compost. |
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