Red Tip leafs in a compost pile?

[danielnc84]

I have two really nice big red tip bushes/trees in my back yard that have alot of fallen dead leaves on them from last year can i add them after i shred them up to my compost pile for the carbon. ive been adding stuff to this compost pile for a while alot more Nitrogen "green stuff and Manure" to the pile along with some pine bedding which i know ill make it more acid and very few leaves turning it. It is getting warm and composting but i was just wondering if red tip leaves would benefit the pile for the carbon?

Sincerely;

Daniel Fries

[bughunter99]

Yep brown dead leaves are a great source of carbon from pretty much any plant.

Stacy

[Redbaron]

Stacy is right.
It is the nitrogen to carbon ratio you look at. Your "green" material will decompose quickly and as the proteins and simpler sugars decompose they release a lot of nitrogen and heat. Your "brown" material is mostly cellulose and decomposes slower absorbing and holding excess nitrogen and makes a higher % of carbon ie humus. That absorbed nitrogen is then released much slower by biological action.

You can adjust the %'s of "green" and "brown" materials in a compost heap and by doing that adjust the rate at which it decomposes and how much quick release nitrogen (and other nutrients) vs how much slow release nitrogen (and other nutrients) will be available.

[Stvrob]

if you cut something green, then throw it in a pile and it turns brown in the sun, assuming it hasnt rained, does it still have as much nitrogen as it did when it was green?

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

if you cut something green, then throw it in a pile and it turns brown in the sun, assuming it hasnt rained, does it still have as much nitrogen as it did when it was green?

For the most part, yes. That's why I put "green" in quotations. Green is just an indicator, a rule of thumb. Technically it isn't the color, but instead the protein content. Eventually oxidation will deteriorate the protein and if it is in the open air the nitrogen can evaporate out and of course as you mentioned water can leach it out. That takes a while though.

In a compost pile though something different happens. Instead of primarily oxidation, you have biological decay. The proteins (thus nitrogen) get used by the fungus and bacteria and other micro-organisms and not necessarily lost, although they can get locked up for a while.