I've been putting a massive amount of citrus peels in my compost pile for about a year. At first, it never seemed to break down in less than two months, but something happened. Now I throw in a bucket of orange and grapefruit peels every week, and it breaks down entirely within a few days. Something got into the soil that just devours it. I've got earthworms in there too, but not as many as the other parts of the garden. I should say, I live in the mountains around San Cristobal de las Casas, 7500 foot altitude and it's not a warm environment. Half the year it hovers around 40 degrees F, but it's still rain forest. In fact, it looks just like northern Thailand, even though northern Thailand is hotter than Hell.
Anyway, the citrus peels break down great. I dug a hole right in the middle of it, in the hope of transplanting an eight foot high root bound Norfolk Island Pine tree. That's not the Norfolk in the US. It's the Norfolk in the South Pacific ocean. Sometimes they're called a Polynesian Christmas Trees too. I really want this tree to take off, because it can reach a hundred feet in just a few years and it's just so beautiful and weird.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to kill my tree. The soil itself is clay like and very dense. Any advice? Thanks.
