Are Pine Needles good for compost?

[Jim Lewis]

to

I'm not sure what you find so amusing about blueberries in Florida. There are eight native blueberries growing in the woods right around my home. Down the road, there's a farm that has 150 acres in blueberries, and they've been thriving there for more than 30 years.

As for pine straw, the folks I talked to specialize in growing fruits of all kinds; they pointed out exactly what was happening, and when I removed the pine straw and added oak leaves as a mulch, the plants' leaves lost that pale yellow look and they started bearing prolifically.

Methinks one shouldn't laugh unless one is certain. Florida is a helluva large state, north-south and east-west; it stretches from the colder half of USDA zone 8 (where I live) to USDA 11. It has more species of trees -- including more species of temperate zone trees -- than any other state but Tennessee and Kentucky (and Hawaii, as far as tropicals go).

Phoo!

Jim Lewis - [e-mail] - Tallahassee, FL - VEGETARIAN: An Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."

[Jim Lewis]

The IFAS

now,

Monticelly, Florida)

their mission.

about how best

Yeah, I did. I'm a Master Gardener and most always check with the various extension offices. They recommended an "acid" mulch, but failed to specify. When contacted after the folks at "Just Fruits" Nursery told me about pine needles, they said: "Oh. Yeah, that's right." :=/

The Vaccinium species that grow in this area are:

V. arboreum, sparkleberry (very common in my woods) V. corymbosum, highbush blueberry (the second most common Vaccinium) V. darrowii, glaucous blueberry (scarce) V. ellottii, Mayberry (quite common) V. myrsinites, evergreen blueberry (maybe) V. stamineum, Deerberry (a few) V. tenellum, dwarf blueberry (many in my woods)

Local blueberry breeders have take V. corymbosum and V. elliottii as the basis for the local U-pick-em blueberry industry.

Jim Lewis - [e-mail] - Tallahassee, FL - Only to the white man was nature a wilderness -- Luther Standing Bear (Ogallala Sioux Chief)

[Jim Lewis]

recommending the

muricid is

make the

to where you

were

An earlier message in this thread mentioned the chemicals that are present in pine needles that inhibit growth in some plants.

Oak leaves are quite acidic as they break down. As Dave said, they add tannins to the soil (tannins from decaying leaves -- pine, oak, bald cypress and others -- is the reason the south has so many acid, black-water streams).

As for the "muricid", if that's what I said it was a typo -- I mean Miracid, a commercial fertilizer for acid-loving plants. My fingers often don't agree with my brain.

Jim Lewis - [e-mail] - Tallahassee, FL - VEGETARIAN: An Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."

[animaux]

Actually, blueberries (same family of roses) have very poor root systems and depend highly on a fungal mat being present.

[Phisherman]

depend highly

Just an update on my blueberry bushes that I transplanted several months ago. I use cottonseed meal and peatmoss in the prepared hole. The root system was hair-like and somewhat small. They reponded well are doing exceptionally well in a sunnier location. I have a heap of sawdust aging and composting that I plan to use as mulch for the blueberries in the spring, as recommended in a few gardening books. I am still leary of of the nitrogen depletion of using sawdust, and found that Miracid (applied at half rate) brings the foliage back to the deep green color. But my b-bushes are now in winter sleep (east Tennessee).

[Salty Thumb]

"Jim Lewis" wrote in news:bri4gh$jrp$1 @news.utelfla.com:

Yeah, it was a typo, but it was on me.

[Tom Jaszewski]

Methinks you are correct, my apologies.....

staring into corner dunce hat on....

[Pam - gardengal]

and depend highly

Actually blueberries (Vaccinium) are in the Ericaceae family, not Rosaceae. But, like rhododendrons and azaleas (also Ericaceae), they do not have a deep root system and certainly do benefit from beneficial soil fungi to assist with nutrient uptake.

pam - gardengal

[FOW]

[B & J]

Once composted pine needles have no effect on the ph of soil. Go ahead and use them for compost. Personally, I find pine needles are fantastic for winter protection or mulch, which means I didn't compost them. I wish I had access to pine needles where I live now.

John

[omi]

Should be okay. I've used them in tree basins for years with no problems but in our desert climate the soil as well as the irrigation water is alkaline. Whole needles are slow to break down due the resins but grinding them should help. I would also be interested in knowing if anybody has any knowledge about the detrimental effect of the resins, if any, on plants.

Olin

[Sam]

I am really not sure about the effects of resin from pine needles, But I have 28 large pine trees and all the needles go in the garden, around blue berry bushes and in the compost bins, this I have been doing at this locations for 22 years now and all my friends marvel at my garden. Just my $.02

[John Bachman]

I understood that there was a chemical in pine needles that retarded growth. Your experience is oppositie from that. Wonder what is true?

[Salty Thumb]

John Bachman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

It's possible that the chemical breaks down over time, hence it is okay for compost. As for mulch, the chemical only affects *some* plants, so your strawberries, blueberries, random acidophilic plants, et al., based on empirical observation, should be okay. I posted a couple of links earlier, but they were just the first relevant ones from a yahoo search. The first one might have been just a thesis proposal and so very light on content.