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 Post subject: Compost Growing?
PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:19 am 
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I recently found out that the Cucumber Plants my wife bought were not Cucumbers but Watermelons so now I have six Watermelon vines. So yesterday when I was Weedeating around my compost pile I just about died laughing when I saw Watermelon and Cantaloupe vines growing out of my compost pile. My pile has gone from about 3 1/2 - 4 feet tall to about 2 feet tall and the bottom of my pile is nice and dark brown soil like material. I guess it was not getting hot enough to kill those seeds.

What should I do about the Watermelon and Cantaloupe growing from my pile? :lol:


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:21 am 
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Wait a few months until the fruit ripens and then send them to me for further analysis.

I think they might be dangerous :lol:

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:35 am 
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:lol: I am already going to have so many that I am going to be giving them away. Especially since I went from the two vines that I intentionally planted to six in the time it took me to realize what happened. Now I have even more growing from my compost! :shock: Will they deplete any of the nutrients out of the compost? Will they survive the further breakdown of the compost pile?


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 30, 2003 8:39 am 
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I have cantaloupe in my finished compost pile, too! Some have gotten pretty big. I don't know when to pick them though. Any suggestions?


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:29 pm 
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Pick them when they're ripe! Eat them! They won't hurt anything, and you'll find they're the best tasting canteloupe you've eaten in a long time! When they finish fruiting, pull 'em up, toss them on top of the current compost pile and turn them under.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:33 pm 
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P.S.

I've always followed the advice of Martin Yan (of "Yan Can Cook") on picking fruit: if it smells like fruit, it will taste like fruit. If you can't smell it when you put it up to your nose, it isn't ripe or it isn't going to taste like much if it is ripe.

On canteloupe, the ideal time to pick it is when the green has disappeared through the "lattice" on the rind. It should be a brown or golden color.

northwesterner


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 6:10 am 
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Thanks! It was the best tasting canteloupe I've had in a long time. When I noticed the golden brown color, and lack of green, I picked it. It had that deep, earthy sweet smell (what I look for in store bought), so I figured it was ready. MMMMM :D


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 4:15 pm 
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I too, have two different vines growing in mine. I have yet to ID them. I had squash growing in one at my last place of residence. It is then that I was able to see the beautiful squash bug up close and personal. I wanted to photograph it, but it was gone when I came back with my camera. :( Beautiful purple and pink markings on this beast! You know you are a bug freak when you have more pictures of bugs than you do of your family. :lol:

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:38 pm 
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My oldest compost pile has been home to all my tomato plants for the past two years. I keep adding things down into the soil around the plants. These tomatoes are so big and juicy. All I EVER have to do to them is some staking. Plus a HUGE garden spider is on patrol right in the middle of them. She's gorgeous.
They all come from Cherry and Roma tomatoes that were intended to just compost.

Last year I had some potatoes start this way too. I pulled them up though, as I don't eat a lot of potatoes frankly.

My dad had the worst luck with tomatoes the past couple of years. So this past fall and winter he just starting throwing old leftover tomatoes and pieces in his pile. This year he has beautiful plants too, with no fuss.

Let your vines grow and just compost around them or start another pile close by. Trust me the fruit/veggies will be DELICIOUS!

organic1
:lol: :lol: You are so right about the insect and critter pictures! The colors are amazing. I have about 20 differant close-up pictures of my male and female garden spiders alone! Just fascinating.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:12 pm 
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I have had sweet potatoes (beautiful vines!) and melons grow from my compost pile, but the most "immortal" plant I have ever tried to compost is liriope (also known as monkey grass). As part of xeriscaping my front yard, I tore out some thirty-year old liriope and dumped that along with everything else into the black Garden Gourmet compost bin...that was in February. That is the "hot" bin...and it really cooks! But every time i turn it now, I continue to find clumps of living liriope - surviving 180 degree heat, no sunshine, very little water! No wonder it is one of the favorite landscaping plants in Texas - and no wonder it grows wild in the alleys!


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 9:35 am 
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drchelo wrote:
the most "immortal" plant I have ever tried to compost is liriope (also known as monkey grass). As part of xeriscaping my front yard, I tore out some thirty-year old liriope and dumped that...into the black Garden Gourmet compost bin...that was in February. That is the "hot" bin...and it really cooks!...I continue to find clumps of living liriope - surviving 180 degree heat, no sunshine, very little water!...


:( I know your pain. I too have been trying to get rid of some long established liriope. It does grow in the compost pile! It would probably grow on the planet Mercury.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 9:26 am 
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I usually toss any veggie table waste into the compost, along with trimmings and seeds and such. This year I don't have anything growing in my compost, but this is a new pile and I turn it fairly often. My concern is along the lines of the lirope surviving--does nut grass survive in the compost, or will those little nuts die off?


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:43 pm 
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Nutgrass (just as any other weed) will be neutralized if it is composted hot enough and long enough.
The compost pile I was referring to is one I have that does not get hot enough- yet! (It is a big project that will need to wait for cooler weather and for a sports injury to heal before I will tackle it).
My statement about the liriope and the planet Mercury was an exaggeration. <g>

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 5:28 pm 
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I understood the planetary reference. :P I can sympathize with the compost/injury relationship. I had foot surgery (bunion) in mid-July, and while I am now out of the boot and have made the happy discovery this week that I CAN use that foot to dig with a shovel with no discomfort, some of the yard work is still a bit too much. There are a lot more twists and balancing moves when it comes to shoveling the compost. At least, there is with mine, when I'm trying to move it from one side of the bin to the other without it escaping out the front or accidentally going over the sides. I've contented myself to water it real well and move it a little now and then just to keep stuff from sprouting on top of it.


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