Does leaf mould go mouldy?

[StephenOak]

We have a large garden with plenty of mature trees, hence lots of leaves in the autumn. So I have built three leaf mould bins, roughly 2, 1.6 and 1 cubic metres in size. The idea being that the leaves spend a year in each bin, gradually breaking down and taking up less room.



Before I started today there was 2yo stuff in the middle (medium) bin and 1yo stuff in the LH (largest) bin.

I have transferred the 2yo material into the smallest bin and you can see it in the RH picture above. It looks like I would expect and is damp to the touch but if you squeeze a handful together it falls apart.

The top layer dries out & goes a lot paler, so I was not surprised that the top of the stuff in the LH (largest) bin was dry and pale.

However once I had started moving it to the middle (medium) bin, I saw that a lot of it was dry, it was in layers like leaves that have just been compressed together (rather than broken down) and in places it has something that looks like mould on it.



There have been mushrooms (or some sort of fungi) growing on both LH & middle bins.

Anyone any ideas what has happened here, is it a problem and if so what do I need to do about it?

 

[EddieM]

Just needs turning more regularly.

 

[StephenOak]

But what is the stuff that looks like mould? That did not appear in the older lot and I never turned that.

 

[JohnD]

might have been fungus

"leaf mould" is slow to decay and does not heat up. The trees drain all available nutrients from them when day length shortens, hence they go brown, dry and withered. An autumn leaf that falls is not the same as a summer leaf that you cut off and dry. They improve the soil texture but do not add significant nutrients.

I think your dry layer might have dried out before you stacked it, and it looks like it did not get wet enough later. Perhaps the different degree of moisture encouraged different microorganisms.

If mixed with grass cuttings, they will decompose quicker and you can compost them.

I use leaves for a winter mulch. By spring the worms have dragged them into the ground for me, saving me the effort of digging, and they house beetles, which eat slugs.

The fungus and bacteria that live on dead material do not eat living plants.

 

[lostinthelight]

Aren't fungi and mould part of the natural decaying process, do you shred or break up the leaves before you compost them?
litl

 

[StephenOak]

might have been fungus

Maybe. As I said there have been some sort of fungi appearing on the surface, and the visible part of mushrooms (etc) are only a small part of the organism. However I don't know what the underground part of a fungus looks like.

I think your dry layer might have dried out before you stacked it, and it looks like it did not get wet enough later. Perhaps the different degree of moisture encouraged different microorganisms.

I bought a new blower/vacuum last year that works best with dry leaves, so what went into this batch may well have been drier than the previous one.

If mixed with grass cuttings, they will decompose quicker and you can compost them.

We have a large garden with plenty of mature trees but not a great deal of lawn, well less than 10% of the area. All the grass cuttings go into the the compost bins, the main ones are 2 x 1 cubic metre and I have some Daleks for the output of those to mature in.

Hence I wanted to do something with all of the leaves that I cannot compost.

The fungus and bacteria that live on dead material do not eat living plants.

That is something I had not thought of. This is not likely to affect any living plants in the garden.

do you shred or break up the leaves before you compost them?

Mostly. I have a blower/vacuum with metal blades that does chop stuff up pretty fine. It does not work well on wet stuff so I mostly hoovered up leaves when they were dry but some I jusr swept up wet & whole.

 

[JohnD]

I run the big mower over leaves, it chops them up. Mine also does twiggy prunings (not branches). This also mixes them into whatever grass cuttings it finds so can be mulched as-is or composted.

 

[pete50]

I run the big mower over leaves, it chops them up. Mine also does twiggy prunings (not branches). This also mixes them into whatever grass cuttings it finds so can be mulched as-is or composted.

Yeah according to Monty Don on the telly this morning he just runs his mower over the leaves to chop em up and then chucks them in the bins. He does nothing else to them, he says. I just wait for the wind to blow them into someone elses garden.

 

[elisa123]

Keep the leaves moist especially in the summer. The fungi helps breaking down the leaves; it will not harm living plants as somebody already mentioned.