treebeard55
Chumono
Yes, that's what I'm considering: boiling bark before I use it in my potting mix.
Composted pine bark is not available to me except by mail-order, and our budget is limited right now. My most practical option is to buy the finest-cut bark mulch at Lowe's, and then sift out the particles that are too small (into the ground) or too big (into flower beds for -- yes, mulch!)
But that bark is not composted. When I use it, I often see, sooner or later, the hyphae of breakdown fungi appearing on the bark particles. Composting is going on in my pot!
I've never seen any damage to my trees. But, unless I've got it wrong, the composting process pulls nitrogen that would otherwise be going to the living trees.
One of those either-brilliant-or-balmy ideas popped into my head this afternoon. Why not boil the bark first? Might that speed up the breakdown process, so that the composting fungi and related microbeasties don't have as much to do in my mix, and so are there for less time?
So far a few Internet searches have turned up nothing on the idea, pro or con. Do any of you nuts have any thoughts on this -- or, even better, hard information? (Of which I so far have none.)
Thoughts, comments? If you've already responded to this question on BSG, feel free to ignore it here. (And don't bother to call the men in the white suits; I just hide when they come and giggle to myself while they search.
)
Composted pine bark is not available to me except by mail-order, and our budget is limited right now. My most practical option is to buy the finest-cut bark mulch at Lowe's, and then sift out the particles that are too small (into the ground) or too big (into flower beds for -- yes, mulch!)
But that bark is not composted. When I use it, I often see, sooner or later, the hyphae of breakdown fungi appearing on the bark particles. Composting is going on in my pot!
I've never seen any damage to my trees. But, unless I've got it wrong, the composting process pulls nitrogen that would otherwise be going to the living trees.
One of those either-brilliant-or-balmy ideas popped into my head this afternoon. Why not boil the bark first? Might that speed up the breakdown process, so that the composting fungi and related microbeasties don't have as much to do in my mix, and so are there for less time?
So far a few Internet searches have turned up nothing on the idea, pro or con. Do any of you nuts have any thoughts on this -- or, even better, hard information? (Of which I so far have none.)
Thoughts, comments? If you've already responded to this question on BSG, feel free to ignore it here. (And don't bother to call the men in the white suits; I just hide when they come and giggle to myself while they search.