How to accelerate the composting of Bamboo husks/leaves

Hi:

I live in an urban environment and my bamboo sheds a lot of leaves that I have to gather up. They are hydrophobic and high in silica, and I've found it hard to compost them in my regular compost bin.

Does anyone have any advice for how to decompose them faster?  I wonder if a fungal compost may work better, and if so, are there strains of fungi that I should try to foster in my compost?


Thanks.

Bamboo is very anti fungal and doesn’t break down well in a compost situation. I too have some and added it to my wine cap bed months ago. They look as fresh as the day I put them in. All parts of the plant work great as mulch though.

I've got two suggestions - one to try shredding the leaves, sometimes the skin is the tough bit, so getting inside will let the leaves compost. The other is to mix with more 'greens' like grass clippings or kitchen waste. I'm suspecting if you can get the whole heap 'hotter' then the bamboo leaves may not stand much chance.

Turn them into Biochar?

I have read that it is important for bamboo plants to have their leaves as mulch under them. I realize that in some urban areas this can be a problem if the leaves are blowing around. I do understand that some people just *don't* want your leaves on their land!

So tricks I would try:
1. I normally want to prune some of the lower branches off the bamboo culms to make it safer and easier for me. These are usually quite thin, so I place them on the ground near the edge of the patch to help hold the leaves in place.
2. I would consider a bit of decorative fencing  - it could even be made out of the bamboo - to hold the leaves inside the patch, rather than them migrating out onto walkways or blowing into neighbors' yards.

If neither of those are options, I tend to agree with William and would try making biochar with them. I dried some Horse Tail, which is also known for its silica content, mixed it with sawdust, and made a lovely biochar just using a pan in my woodstove.  There are several ways of making small quantities of biochar even in an urban area.