Expert: Greg - 3/30/2003

Question
Hello Greg,
We live part of the year here in Florida in a small gated community with mostly retirees. We have at times a large amount of organic waste in the form of trimmed branches and palm fronds.
In the past we burned this but it does not endear us with the neighbors or our own community. This week we rented a large shredder with crew but they did not take the shredded material away. We have a place to deposit it for decomposition. However, there are voices here that object and claim that this material will draw termites. To me it seems not quite right as termites need total darkness, moisture and continuous opportunity for tunneling.
Any comments on this?

Thanks, Alex in Florida

Answer
Hello Alex

Im not going to tell you that having a Compost Pile will NOT draw Termites.

When you consider the Criteria for a Compost Pile are Darkness in the Middle of the pile, Moisture for Decomposition, and Tunneling through the Pile are all there with this Process.

However, when you also Consider that the Temperature of an Active Compost Pile can reach an Amazing 160 degrees in the Center, the Chances of Termites wanting to stay and hang around are minimal.

Carefull Monitoring on your part, and the Constant Turning over of the Matter, should quell the Voices that tell you that this ALWAYS happens.

Since the matter is already Shredded you should have no problem turning the pIle over every other day, and the smaller the matter, the quicker the Decomposition process takes, and the less chance there would be for Termites.

If I have missed something here, don't hesitate to Follow-up and ask a more specific question.


The Very Best of Luck

Greg