Brazilian pepper compost or use as mulch ? well idea or spoiled estimate ?
I have spoken in the past times of Brazilian white pepper ’s usefulness as a “ chop and drop ” mintage to cut over and over again and flip as a rough mulch around yield Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and other perennials .
If it ’s going to be a bother - in - the - neck invasive that ’s almost unsufferable to kill … use it to feed the tree diagram you really need !
Put that regrowth to make and turn it into humous !
Yet … there may be a colored side to Brazilian pepper trees . It ’s well - jazz that they ’re toxic , yet they may also be allelopathic .
As Ronald Allan commented onone of my recent videos :
“ You mention using ( Brazilian Pepper ) in chop and drop , but I ’ve get word conflicting account that it can have negative effects on other plants growing . have you had any trouble with it ? ”
No , I have n’t … but there is a rabbit hole worth follow here .
So – what ’s the deal with using Brazilian capsicum in compost and mulch ? Good idea or spoilt thought ?
Brazilian Pepper Composting
When I was a minor , we had a Brazilian pepper tree show up behind my dad ’s shed . Dad cut it back multiple times but it keep open coming back . I was impressed by the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s perseverance .
at last , Dad cut it to the ground again and poured petrol over the total area .
That eventually drink down it – yet I never forgot how fast they grow and how good they are at coming back from the ground .
Sometimes problems can be turned into opportunities .
If a tree really want to grow and if you always necessitate more fodder for the compost mass , why not keep cutting and composting the invasives ?
I ’ve done this with weed and Gunter Wilhelm Grass , mimosa trees and Brazilian peppers . chop up them into chunks and throw them around other Tree to feed the dry land .
But This Doesn’t Look Good
That enjoin , there are reports that Brazilian pepper can suppress the growth of other plants . Cindy McNattwrites in The Orange County Register :
“ I have to take on that I ’m often on info overburden . Ideas , plans and promises whiz by so fast that I can only strive out and grab a fraction of what ’s number my mode .
And then there was this : an email from Jerri Arriola asking about compost and his Brazilian pepper tree diagram . It pick up my middle because I also make speedy compost with these bantam brittle leaves that shower down in wheelbarrowfuls on a after part of my backyard .
The zinger ? He added that Brazilian black pepper tree leave are allelopathic and ask if they were OK .
Time tolerate still for a moment while I thought about this . You see , “ allelopathic ” intend that this works bottle up the growth of other plants by exudate oils and other toxic compounds that eliminate competition .
It explain why scarce anything develop under the canopy of these trees – perfect for an area of my driveway where digging weeds would be a retarding force . Two pepper tree diagram there do the illusion to keep it weed - gratuitous , although I always thought their mysterious shade had something to do with it .
As for the declamatory peppercorn Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in my backyard , I ’ll have to say that only the tough plant grow nearby : rhaphiolepis , pittosporum and ivy .
This breakthrough information also explicate why I ’ve had the worst vegetable garden the past 10 years . Not only is the tree diagram just 10 to 15 feet away , I ’ve been composting the leave of absence like crazy and append them to my evoke beds ! ”
Uh - oh !
But is Brazilian Pepper Allelopathic?
There ’s the question .
I have chopped Brazilian pepper tree diagram up and tossed them into The Great South Florida Food Forest Project without seeing any issues .
That said , the allelopathic effect could have been buffer by the rest of the brush I threw in at the same time . We piled up palm fronds , scheffleraleaves , grass press cutting and all kinds of things together .
I did n’t detect any problems with the fruit trees after doing so .
However there may be a risk!
harmonise tothe Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft . Pierce :
“ Allelopathy ( chemical substance forbiddance of potential competing coinage ) has long been suspected in S. terebinthifolius , free-base on the well - documented power of the leaf , bloom , and fruits to bring out or roll up chemical substance irritant ( Gogue et al . 1974 , Morton 1978 , Ewel et al . 1982 ) . Morgan and Overholt ( 2005 ) show that sedimentary extracts from the leaves of Brazilian capsicum could suppress germination and increase of some aboriginal Florida plant species under science laboratory condition . battlefield evidence confirming allalopathy and quantifying its donation to the competitory winner of S. terebinthifolius remain lacking . ”
It ’s not try , but there are suspicions .
Brazilian capsicum mulch is vulgar in Florida as the tree are regularly tear up as people seek to claim back section of woods from this incredibly invasive mintage . Even if the mulch is n’t pure Brazilian Madagascar pepper , if you get tree company mulch in South Florida , the chances are that it will have some Brazilian pepper in it .
Final Thoughts on Composting Brazilian Pepper
Personally , I detest to contrive out anything that could be potentially compost .
With the possibility of Brazilian capsicum pepper plant mulch or compost being bad for the garden , well , why not just hold it aside to waste down first ? Often allelopathic substances will better down in composting .
Fresher compost is more likely to cause trouble , as will higher concentration .
Diluting the Danger
Though not performed with Brazilian pepper compost , one examination perform at University of Californiawith allelopathic plant reported :
“ On the basis of these experiment , it appears that there may be an allelopathic event on some seedlings when grown in undiluted eucalypt , dark walnut tree or live oak composts . With increase dilutions , the effects become less severe , suggesting that under natural conditions- where the dilution factor would be far greater than 25 percent - there would be little or no damage from these farewell and that mayhap other factors might be the understanding for growth unsuccessful person under these trees . ”
My Verdict on Brazilian Pepper Composting
The two factors that are your friends : time and dilution .
I would still use Brazilian pepper as a chop up - and - drop tree and compost summation , as well as a mulch , but I might be wary of using it in large quantities .
Nature has a way of conk out down toxin and recycling almost everything into a form plants can habituate . Brazilian pepper composting is still on the table for me .
As I wrote in my popular book … compost everything !
- Image at top viaEverglades NPS . originative commons permit .
