What’s Crawling in the Compost Pile?

          

There is truly an abundance of living creatures that inhabit compost piles.  They range from slugs, centipedes and beetles to tiny microorganisms like fungi and bacteria; some can be seen but most cannot.  Some of the giant inhabitants may be toads and rats.

 The insect population of compost piles will include ants, beetles, cockroaches, centipedes, earwigs, millipedes, sowbugs, springtails and termites as well as flies laying their eggs.  Some insects like earwigs and sowbugs feed on the organic matter; springtails and some beetles like fungi to eat, as do ants; termites, of course, eat wood, and cockroaches like decaying wood.

Spiders and tiny mites are eight legged creatures classified as arachnids rather than insects.  Spiders feed on other insects while mites feed on many things including decomposing plant material, nematodes and fly larvae.

 

    Nematode on plant root

Some nematodes are garden pests, infesting ornamentals and edibles.  But many are helpful and thrive in compost piles.  They feed on decaying matter, bacteria, protozoa, fungal spores and other nematodes.  Earthworms are especially beneficial.  They help breakdown the organic matter, make N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) available to the plants and help till the soil.  

Seeds in Pineapples?

                                               A Young Pineapple in Bloom

It is possible to find seeds in a pineapple, especially in South America, where pineapples are native and growing naturally.  Commercially grown pineapples have no seeds due to the hybridization that has been conducted over many years.          
Consequently, lacking pollination, commercial pineapples are propagated asexually, not from seed.

Pineapples are self-sterile, meaning they cannot produce seeds if they pollinate themselves (self-pollination). To produce seeds, pineapples must be cross-pollinated.  All of the pineapples in one commercial field are genetically the same, so if pollen is transferred from one plant to another, it is still self-pollination. Cultivated pineapples could potentially produce seed if they were cross-pollinated – using pollen from another genetic source. 

When growing pineapple in the backyard, it is possible for pollination to take place between two different genetic types. Consequently, there is the potential for producing seeds. Luckily, the pineapple fruit itself will development even though no seeds develop. This is called parthenocarpy, the development of fruits without seeds. Some of our most popular fruits are seedless such as bananas and navel oranges.

When to Pick Taro

In determining when to pick taro, also known as kalo, some publications simply tell us to harvest when the corm reaches the desired size. A corm is a swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ similar to a bulb.  Since the corm is underground and cannot be seen, here are some above ground signs that indicate harvest is near. 

 

First, it is helpful to know that dry land or upland taro is ready in 8-10 months after planting the flooded taro or wetland in about 12-15 months. Time of maturity varies with location, varieties, soil fertility, and water availability.  As maturity approaches, the height of the plant declines and the leaf petioles (stems) become shorter, usually to less than 2 ft.  This is accompanied by a general yellowing of the leaves. In wetland taro, because of the abundant water supply, the root system remains active and thus these signs are less distinct.  In addition, the main corm will begin to protrude from the soil surface. 

Harvesting leaves can be done at any time during the growth of the taro. Only the young leaves should be harvested, perhaps 1 or 2 at a time. A continual harvesting of many leaves will hamper the development of the taro corm.