Content
- Are citrus fruits allowed on compost heaps?
- Citrus fruits - mostly sprayed and waxed
- Citrus fruits rot without a problem
- Pollutants and wax do not matter
- Place compost pile correctly
- Tips & Tricks
Are citrus fruits allowed on compost heaps?
Many people believe that citrus fruits should not be composted. This is a misconception. Of course, the shells of lemons and oranges are allowed on the compost pile. They rot only slower than other organic materials.
Citrus fruits - mostly sprayed and waxed
The shell of most citrus fruits
from the supermarket is fraught with remnants of sprays. In addition, the trays are waxed so that the fruits survive the long transport routes on the ship better.
For many gardeners, the question arises whether the compost is contaminated by the spray with harmful substances, and whether the shells rot by the wax at all.
When you harvest your fruits from the lemon or orange tree in the greenhouse, sprays and wax are of no importance.
Citrus fruits rot without a problem
The peels of oranges and lemons are usually quite thick. The rotting process therefore takes a little longer than with other Obstresten such as apple peel.
Since a compost pile should mature for at least two years, this time does not matter. The microbes and bacteria do their best to decompose even thick shells.
If you sift through the compost after two or three years, you will not discover any citrus peels - assuming you've put the compost pile right.
Pollutants and wax do not matter
The pollutant content on the citrus peel is quite low. Heat and bacteria decompose pollutants so that they are virtually undetectable in the finished compost.
The danger of the sprays is rather that the fruits are touched for peeling or pressing with the hands and so get into the human body.
What applies to the pollutants, that also applies to the wax. This is also decomposed by the bacteria quite quickly and is no reason not to compost the shells.
Place compost pile correctly
Problems only arise if you assemble the compost pile incorrectly. Materials are mixed in a professionally designed pile.
If you want to compost large amounts of citrus fruits, mix them with other organic materials such as leaves, grass or even cardboard. As a result, orange and lemon peels rot a little faster.
Tips & Tricks
Health and garden experts recommend that the proportion of citrus fruits should not exceed 10 percent of the amount of other organic materials. Higher quantities delay the rotting process.
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