Viridor green waste

[Janer]

Has anyone used the Viridor green waste as a compost? (Local Authority recycling).I don’t think it’s organic. I also wondered if the high temperature used in its manufacture might have killed off the nutrients. On the plus side, it seems to be a lot cheaper than many alternatives. I am starting some new beds for vegetables and wanted to keep costs down but don’t want it to be a false economy.
I looked at the New Horizon organic compost but their website says that you need to feed it after six weeks which makes you wonder about the nutrient content.

[charles]

 Yes I just took delivery of some from Viridor, sieved to 15mm, its nice looking but full of wood so I would not use it to fill a bed as the quantity of wood would be enough to pull nutrients away from roots, especially nitrogen, which the wood uses to break down. I don’t know the mechanism but noticed it last year with poor growth of onions compared to a bed filled with two year old manure. Also as you say, it has got so hot that much life has been killed but I think most nutrients are still there.

Likewise New Horizon often has wood in but is a richer compost and their advice is based on it being used for potting, in small amounts per plant, hence the need to feed after say six weeks. You could try NH as the bottom 4 inches and V as top 2 for example, or any year-old or older manure is good for a bed, green waste as a weed free top layer..

[Janer]

Thank you for that, Charles. That’s really helpful.

[Author]

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