Composting occurs by adding food scraps, fruits, and vegetables (greens) with other organic materials like cardboard, wood, leaves, and other brown materials. Often, the fruits and vegetables will have seeds. Can you compost seeds? The answer might surprise you.
As we’ve discussed with pumpkins, onions, and potatoes, some plants are prone to seeding when put in a fertile medium like compost or later in the soil where the compost was added. Managed perfectly, an active compost pile may get warm enough to sterilize the seeds. How many of us manage anything perfectly?
Seeds in worm bins often sprout, but then the sprouts are eaten by the worms, so the difference is minimal for us. Some of those seeds, like melons and such, are sturdy, and the worms are less likely to eat them.
Regardless of how some of the seeds may survive the composting process, they appear in your garden or flower bed. With most plants, it’s a minor annoyance. You see a plant that doesn’t below, and then you pull it.
Sometimes, it’s a welcome surprise. You find an unexpected tomato plant or something else.
We’ve given you some techniques to avoid weeds germinating in your compost.
Avoiding Seeds In Your Compost
The truth is that you generally can’t avoid all seeds from germinating in your compost, but there are some things that you can do to minimize the problems. For example, we warn you about potatoes, pumpkins, and onions.
Obviously, removing the seeds from anything that you compost will help.
You can also let your compost sit for a season. This should allow time for the seeds and seedlings to die before you use them.
We give some recommendations for weeds that basically kill off the plant and the weed before adding it. That’s not practical for most fruits and vegetables.
Can you Compost Seeds?
Generally, the hill isn’t worth the climb for most seeds. For the most prevalent ones or the ones that are easy to remove, then go ahead. Take out the pumpkin seeds (and bake them up for a yummy snack). Otherwise, your best bet is to keep an eye on your compost and the soil where you put it and make sure to “weed” out any plants you don’t want there. It’s usually not more than an annoyance. They’re easy to pull, and that kills them off.