Can Orange Peels Be Put in Compost Piles?

Small Pieces

• Citrus peels slowly break down, according to the University of California at Davis Project Compost, but they are to a community composting facility such as those on the Davis campus. Tearing or cutting orange peels into smaller pieces allows more surface area exposure to bacteria and microorganisms responsible for the composting process. Although citrus peels are acidic when fresh, once they decompose, they don't negatively affect the finished compost's pH, U.C. Davis advises. Remove any produce and pricing stickers. They are usually plastic-based and won't decompose.

Balance Compost Ingredients

• Orange peels and even whole oranges are fine additions to your compost pile, but they must be added in appropriate proportion to the other necessary composting ingredients, advises master gardener and certified landscape professional Tyler Storey, writing at The Desert Garden. Compost requires at least equal proportions of high-nitrogen green material like fresh citrus peels, and brown carbon-rich materials like straw, shredded leaves or wood shavings. These ingredients must be kept moist and layered in such a way that air flows through the compost pile. Too much citrus in proportion to other composting ingredients delays or prevents the composting process. This is true of any disproportionate composting material.

Vermicomposting

• Gardener's whose planting realm is an apartment balcony or who live in a climate too cold in winter for outdoor composting, can move their compost pile under the kitchen sink in the form of a worm farm. Construct a worm bin from plastic storage containers or buy one ready-made from a garden supply store. Orange peels are fine additions to the worm-bin compost pile, along with shredded newspaper bedding and other kitchen scraps, advises the Hanover County, Virginia Solid Waste Disposal department. The smaller citrus peels and other food scraps are chopped before adding to the worm bin, the faster the will be converted by the worms to rich, fertile worm castings for your houseplants, container garden or vegetable plot.

Seedling Planters

• If you have more orange peels than are appropriate for your compost pile, you can still compost them in an effective, environmentally sound way. Use them as cups for planting garden seedlings, according to The Herb Companion. Cut oranges or grapefruits in half and juice them, scrape out any remaining pulp, fill with potting medium and plant your seed. Set the planted orange halves in a tray in a sunny window or under artificial grow lights and keep the soil moist. When the seedling has its first set of true leaves and danger of frost has passed, simply plant the entire citrus container in the soil. It decomposes in the ground. Clear plastic cup domes, such as those offered by fast-food joints on milkshakes and frosty coffee drinks, make perfect minicloches for these citrus-peel seed starters.