Pine cones12/13/2022 ![]() ![]() The pine needles then help to get air into the pile. If you are composting pine needles in a pile or outdoor bin, a minimum size of approximately three cubic feet is required to get the compost pile to heat up.Īnother way to use pine needles in a compost pile is to put a thick layer of them at the bottom of the pile when you start building it. The microorganisms needed for composting pine needles, pine cones, and everything else require about 50 percent water by weight in the mix, and this test helps you get that result. If so, your moisture content is about right. Limit both fresh and dry pine needles to about 10 percent or less of the pile.Ī rule of thumb for testing water content in a compost pile is to squeeze a handful and see if you can get a drop of water out of it. If you are composting green pine needles fresh off the tree, count them as part of the pile’s ‘green’ or nitrogen content. When you compost dry pine needles or pine cones, consider them part of the ‘brown’ or carbon part of the ingredients when you start. Approximately 2 parts ‘green’ to 1 part ‘brown’ organic matter.Sufficient amounts of water and aeration,.A heap, bin, or tumbler of the correct size for the volume of organic matter,.Just like composting anything else, successfully composting pine needles starts with making a compost pile with the right ingredients: #Pine cones how to#Here is the full version of what I’ve learned on the topic in the past weeks on how to compost pine needles and pine cones, along with ideas on other ways to use this type of organic matter in the garden. For example, using a hot composting method or chopping up the pine needles will considerably speed up the process. Moreover, they are considered a good carbon source (“brown”) composting ingredient.Īlthough It is true that pine needles and pine cones can take a long time to break down completely in a compost pile, there are ways around this problem. The idea that they are acidic and lower the pH of your soils has been tested and disproved in controlled conditions. In my regular method of action, I went ahead and piled in a bunch of raked-up pine needles and then decided I better do some research and find out if I had ruined everything.īoth pine needles and pine cones can be composted but take a long time to break down. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of the concerns most people have with composting them when I started adding them to my pile. Gardening lore says that pine needles are bad for compost and the garden has been around a long time. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. ![]() Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. ![]() We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. ![]()
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