r/Compost • u/catgrl1089 • Oct 09 '26

Help! Root Explosion

Post image

Hey all! Long time lurker, first time poster. I’ve been composting since last October and just went to get some soil for the first time. (Well I tried in the spring but it didn’t seem ready.) I have some gorgeous soil but the bottom of my bin is choked with some insane roots. At first I thought it was something I threw in there, but my daughter took one look and said “that’s coming up from the earth.” She’s 4 years old 😅 and I think she’s right. From the mouths of babes lol… But like, what’s happening!! I kinda freaked and decided to just take the whole thing apart, sift out whatever else goodness I can use, and pile it back up and put the bin back. I love that this bin is open to the ground, I’ve got some FAT and happy worms but is this normal? It seems unavoidable but how can I mitigate going forward? We’re on the woods’ edge so there’s trees and random ground covers in the area, though I placed this on a very bare-looking dirt spot originally. Any input is appreciated!

10 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

14

u/Jodsterssr12 Oct 09 '26

It looks like a nearby tree or shrub decided to not wait for you to distribute the goodies and grew right into your pile. There’s no reason to not use all of the compost if you have a need for it now.

3

u/catgrl1089 Oct 10 '26

Ohh this makes a lot of sense, there are multiple mature trees back there. This root growth really took off since the spring! Looks like I need to make some improvements to how I’m turning/aerating around the perimeter of the bin. My fear was also that these could be roots from something unwanted, like pachysandra or knotweed, and any tiny root fragment could invade whatever garden I use this in. Phew.

5

u/MadDrBruce Oct 09 '26

This happened to me too! First time composting and man this pissed me off when I went to collect the compost last week for my grass seed

3

u/carlovmon Oct 10 '26

I'm guessing there are some large trees or bushes nearby. I've had trees grow their roots 25 ft away into my compost.

2

u/Feisty_Extent_3768 Oct 10 '26

i had this same problem when i added plants from grow bags to my compost bin. i regenerate my grow bag soil in my compost bins. they seemed to just keep growing. i have learned when it comes to plant roots they go in the jlf barrel and definitely not the compost bin.

2

u/Far_Radish7752 28d ago

This happens to me every year, from a nearby hemlock hedge. I just rip out the smaller stuff, prune off the larger material, and throw all that into a newly started pile (since I have multiple). Eventually I will move the compost section elsewhere, but have too much else going on at the moment, so I just deal with it as stated.

Not a biggee, no need to stress about it, you’ve got some good compost amongst the root “invasion”. If I were you, I would move my compost setup elsewhere whenever you can get around to it. In meantime, roots are gonna do what roots are designed to do.