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Composting rot resistant wood

 
Eric Hanson
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Hello!!

No, I am not talking about pressure treated lumber.  I am thinking more along the lines of black & honey locust.

I have a lot of both types of locust in my fence lines that need trimming.  I want to cut these down and chip them up and add them to my garden beds loaded with woodchips being composted by wine cap mushrooms.  

I know that locust is highly rot resistant.  Does this mean that it will be impervious to wine caps?  It will be mixed with plenty of other types of hardwood.  Will the locust act as a sort of fungicide?  

I highly appreciate any input here,

Eric

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Tereza Okava
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Eric, I used some offcuts from our deck (Cedrella spp., really hard wood) in a hugelbed when I made it 2 or 3 years ago. One piece managed to come out when I was burying a bokashi bucket recently and it looks like I might have just buried it yesterday. Nothing else came up, looked like all the other crap wood decomposed, it could be coincidence but ugh. Maybe chipping would work, hope you have better luck!
 
Bryant RedHawk
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The locust tree species (black and honey) contain fungicidal and bactericidal compounds, which is why they last so long once dead.
These trees will kill any fungi spores or mycelium that come in contact with the wood. They will also wipe out many bacteria species as well.

Redhawk

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Eric Hanson
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Yikes!!!

So what I am really hearing is keep the locust out.  I thought that the worst would be that it would simply not compost.  But Redhawk, what I am getting from you is that it will set back my mushroom compost plans, almost like spraying a fungicide over my garden beds.  Maybe I will stick to burning the stuff.

Eric

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Eric Hanson
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So what does break down locust then?  

I mean is the world doomed to being neck deep in locust trunks & branches?  Surely something eventually breaks the stuff down doesn’t it?

Eric

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Bryant RedHawk
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Locust makes great fence posts and it makes good firewood, not great firewood (there are some tars, which will clog up a chimney flue just like pine and other conifers).

Powder post beetles and other wood loving insects can and do break down the locust family members. Usually we are looking at several years to decomposition.

There is a way  to speed up the process but it doesn't follow our guidelines of being harmless to the soil organisms or people and other animals.

I consider myself fortunate to not have any locust on my land, only sacred cedar, as trees that I can use for anything but composting.
Our cedars are used for fence posts, gates, and incense offerings to the creator, wakantanka.

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Trace Oswald
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Eric Hanson wrote:So what does break down locust then?  

I mean is the world doomed to being neck deep in locust trunks & branches?  Surely something eventually breaks the stuff down doesn’t it?

Eric



It's all relative.  Times breaks down anything.  If granite breaks down over time, locust doesn't have a chance :)  It sounds like your locust would be great to use as make compost bin walls from, rather than composting it.  Or maybe use it to make biochar rather than just burning it.

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Artie Scott
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Dr. RedHawk, I am curious as to your relief at not having any locust on your property - wouldn’t they be useful for posts as well?  

Also, are honey locust equally rot resistant?  I have loads of those (the thorns are intense!) but no black locust.

Sorry if I am hijacking the post...

“All good things are wild, and free.” Henry David Thoreau

 
Bryant RedHawk
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hau Artie, black locust and honey locust react to the decomposers almost identically.
Locust will sprout up from the root system just as sumac and a few other species do, that makes them very hard to get rid of should you find them in an area you want other things growing in.
That is why I consider myself lucky to not have either species. I have been dealing with sumac and almost have it managed, not gone but managed. It has taken four years of constantly snuffing root sprouts as well as ripping up roots when I can.

I have a few folks I know who have black locust growing on their land. So, if I need some locust fence posts I can always give them a call and go cut and haul most of what I could want.

Redhawk

List of Bryant RedHawk's Epic Soil Series Threads We love visitors, that's why we live in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. "Buzzard's Roost (Asnikiye Heca) Farm." Promoting permaculture to save our planet.

 
Eric Hanson
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Artie,

I have never put a locust tree of any type to any sort of practical use aside from firewood that I use in outside bonfires.  They typically burn alongside oak and hickory so their burning performance does not exactly stand out.  I too have better things to do than deal with honey locust.  They scratch like crazy and have punctured tractor tires.  I don’t mean riding mower tires, I mean diesel tractor tires!

I am wanting to at least control these things—not so much out-and-out kill, but control so that they don’t get out of hand.

Eric

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Ruth Meyers
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Hmmmm.  I have black locust volunteers everywhere.  I hadn't noticed any problems when I stacked branches for campfires.  They seemed no more hardened against rot than sumac.  But I started chipping them two years ago and used them to establish my raspberry garden.  Last year production was good.  This year, the plants seemed to wither and die back.  Will have to consider whether there is a correlation.  I hadn't had time to consider why - raspberries are pretty much invasive in most circumstances.

Greetings from Brambly Ridge

 
Eric Hanson
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Interesting Ruth!

To the best of my knowledge I did not chip up any locust.  If I did it is a minimal amount.  I have chipped up sumac, but that is hardly rot resistant.  One fortunate quality of my property is that it has an unusual shape, with a fence line considerably longer than if we’re a square.  I deliberately don’t maintain the fence line.  This makes for a nice, thick living hedge.  Now, each year I go out and thin back just a little, preventing it’s spread any further into my grassland.  Those trimmings get turned into chips that go on my gardens.

Eric

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Mark Brunnr
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Perhaps if time permits, you can burn the locust to make biochar, and add it to the soil that way?

The holy trinity of wholesomeness: Fred Rogers - be kind to others; Steve Irwin - be kind to animals; Bob Ross - be kind to yourself

 
Eric Hanson
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Mark,

At present I my only way to make biochar is one soup can at a time.  I made an experimental 1 gallon biochar TLUD kiln.  I am kinda interested in making something a bit larger, but for the moment, 1 soup can at a time.

Eric

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