Quote:
Originally Posted by rhines81
You'd have to have tons of paper to fill one average bed (after it has decomposed). It takes up a lot of space initially and then you are probably left with less than a thimble full of matter per page after it decomposes. It takes a while for newspaper to break down completely also, so to use as a filler for soil, I don't know, better to use as a bottom liner.
The colored glossy paper contains heavy metals in the inks, not good. Normal newspaper ink is usually either soy or water based but it can also contain trace amount of toxins (probably not harmful).
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I work for a newspaper, and all of our inks are soy inks. Don't know about other printed materials.
I did not mean use newspaper exclusively- almost nothing is as good by it's self as a mixture of things will be, especially in a raised bed.
Paper shreds will help with the "fluff" of the soil for a time, and help with the ability to hold water.
Sorry, not seeing where I advocated filling a whole bed with newspaper, can you show me just where I posted that?