Monday, January 30, 2012

Can sunflower seed shells be used in compost?

I have a bag of sunflower seeds and I just wanna know can I put them in my compost bin.

Can sunflower seed shells be used in compost?
Sunflower seed shells are actually toxic to grass, like when dropped from bird feeders, so if you put them in your compost and then use it for fertilizer you may actually kill some of your plants instead of feeding them. You may want to research this further before applying to compost pile.
Reply:If you put sunflowers seeds in your compost bin you are going to end up with sunflowers growing where ever you use your new soil, and it will be a nuisance for you. Any seeds will grow so don't put weeds in either, because you will be pulling their off-spring out next year. I even had tomatoes and cantaloupes grow amongst my flowers, and that's not really where you want them growing. Dump the seeds beside the bin and the birds or small animals will eat them.
Reply:I wish I could give you an authoritative source (actually, my source is my father, who managed several greenhouses and was highly successful growing just about anything) but to the best of my knowledge, sunflower seed shells are toxic to grass, which is why the grass under a bird feeder that held sunflower seeds will often die. So it seems best to throw away the sunflower seed shells. Fortunately, there are many other items you can compost safely to help your garden flourish!
Reply:The shells...yes. If you put the whole things in, including the seed, then the seeds will probably grow.
Reply:Yes. Anything that is plant material can be added to compost. Only things you should leave out are meat and dairy products, and they say not too many onion peels, for some reason. Don't know what qualifies as "too many". If anything you add does start to sprout, just cut off the foliage, and add them as well.
Reply:if the seeds are cooked they wont grow. any thing bio degradable is good for compost
Reply:yes
Reply:anything that comes out of the ground can go back in it. Any seed, however, will probably sprout. Not a big problem tho.


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