lemon peels!!!

Howdy all!
I have access to a substantial amount of non-organic lemon peels i was thinking i could compost them with leaves but am afraid that pesticide residues will contaminate the heap! Any knowledge or opinions would be great! Thanks

To start with, I do not know if the fruits are actually ever sprayed. I'm guessing not.

If in doubt, I would suggest burning them. Lemon peel ashes are second only to banana skin ashes in K (potash).
Lemon peel ashes are 31% K (compared to banana skins 41%).

Any citrus rind ash is a great source of potash.

Whats Potash? An cant the pestocides break down after time? Will the pestocides travel from the compost into the plants bearing food?

Potash is an essential nutrient for all plants.

Fertilizer bags are labeled with their N-P-K content. (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potash = N-P-K)
For example, a fertilizer labeled "10-3-1" would be 10% nitrogen, 3% phosphorus, 1% potash.
A bag of lemon peel ashes would be labeled "0-6.3-31"

In most fertilizers, potash is the lowest number: it is relatively scarce, and expensive.

Most 'cides' will break down (somewhat) in composting...heat + exposure to oxygen.
The poisons can, however, kill off the critters needed to compost your pile. The higher concentration of poisons, the longer it will take to convert that biomass into something useful to your plants.

As I recall, my grandmother said citrus peels were good for the compost pile BUT you had to keep that compost longer than say traditional green scraps. Citrus peels take a little longer to decompose and so that may be why she said that. I am not sure of the pesticide factor on the peels but do know that until the peel begins to break down you do have some natural pesticide features happening in your compost pile. In fact as a child, I can recall my grandmother using citrus peels that she zested around areas she didn't want bugs to be. Please note I am going off of memories from 30+ years ago so some of the information may not be exact.

Insecticides which are approved for food products have a time limit in which they should be neutral...not sure if i said this right. The fda not only approves products but they also say things like end spraying 6 weeks before harvest.

Although never having had insectide on it is likely best, i think by the time the rinds compost the insecticides are long gone.

Though I cant find it now, I seem to remember a study about composting food scraps containing fruit peels which had been sprayed. The results showed nearly a third of the pesticides remained after the composting process.

If I was composting something I thought had pesticides on it I would mix it with a lot of Biochar and a lot of other materials in the compost pile, then feed it to worms, and would then test a bit by growing some seedlings from where I'm planning to put it in a 50% compost 50% soil mix.

I would think making Biochar out of the peels would be a good alternative, giving you a relatively clean, K rich soil amendment in the shortest time possible.

John Polk wrote:To start with, I do not know if the fruits are actually ever sprayed.  I'm guessing not.

If in doubt, I would suggest burning them.  Lemon peel ashes are second only to banana skin ashes in K (potash).
Lemon peel ashes are 31% K (compared to banana skins 41%).

Any citrus rind ash is a great source of potash.

How does one burn citrus peels?

Good question Clarence!  I don't know but I would be tempted to put the peels in a covered metal container and set it in a cook fire or wood stove.  Much like how you can make charcoal in an existing fire.  They should dry out pretty quickly and then burn down to charcoal.  

Hopefully someone who actually knows comes along with a better answer

Is orange peel also high in potash ?  i can't find such info. All i got is good for insect repellent and good to eat in small amount. .

I think this website give wrong info. It says lemon peel is abundant in phosphorus as well, which i never see any other website say that.
https://gardengeo.com/15-natural-phosphorus-sources-for-your-plants/
10. Dried Lemon peel
Phosphorus and potassium are abundant in lemon peels, making them a good food for plants.

I’ve composted citrus peels along with all my other compostable food scraps, garden trimmings, Amazon boxes etc and my plants grow fine in the resulting compost and the worms don’t seem to mind, they still congregate in my compost bin. I don’t buy organic veg, and whatever pesticides remain on the food scraps sure isn’t killing all the insects living in my compost bin.

I would say that it would be wise to try and mix in other materials to diversify the range of nutrients that will be in the final mix once everything breaks down. Also I don’t know if the citrus oils present in the skins may make it break down more slowly when present in large quantities. Again, mixing in other plant wastes like coffee grounds, veggie scraps, yard waste etc should help with that.

I use my citrus peels to make a cleaner by steeping them in vinegar for 4-12 weeks.  After that, I let them dry in the sun, they shrivel up pretty small then they are put in compost/mulch.