Cigar Ashtrays

[DeeDubya]

Tobacco may, but the ash doesn't. It doesn't hurt compost, but it doesn't really add anything to it.

I use a flower pot or this old ceramic bowl I threw in college as an ashtray. Works for me. Sorry. I really like the big crystal single ashtrays, though. I also remember the old-school ashtrays on stands that were in fancy hotels back in the days where you could smoke in hotel lobbies.

Good point. The ash would be way too alkaline, like dumping lye on the plants. The butts on the other hand are probably on the acidic side and for me work great on roses which need acidic soil.

[denver24]

I've always wondered, how long does it take a cigar butt to break down in soil or compost?

[basil]

Never bought an ashtray. I won one in a drawing - and Opus X limited edition crystal one. It's pretty cool. Usually I smoke outside and the butts get tossed in a bucket by the gate.

[cinda]

Never bought an ashtray. I won one in a drawing - and Opus X limited edition crystal one. It's pretty cool. Usually I smoke outside and the butts get tossed in a bucket by the gate.

Is that the one GGs friend was raffling off? That's a very expensive ashtray.

[CAJUNBLAZE]

Never bought an ashtray. I won one in a drawing - and Opus X limited edition crystal one. It's pretty cool. Usually I smoke outside and the butts get tossed in a bucket by the gate.

That is a very good looking ashtray! I'm jealous!

Rich

[DeeDubya]

I've always wondered, how long does it take a cigar butt to break down in soil or compost?

They fall apart as soon as they get wet. Breaking down into basic organic (usable) compounds will take between 47 and 116 days if kept moist. About the same as other large stemmed plant leaves.

Try this. Pitch about 10 butts in a can of water. Let them soak overnight. Then drain and chop into fine pieces. Spread them on your lawn in about a 20" circle, work them down into the grass and water them in. You won't have to mark the spot, because in about a month you can easily see the dark green and extra growth.

Edit to add: I omitted composting for the lawn application because, your lawn has it's own built-in compost layer called "thatch", a thin layer of clippings and other organic material that builds up over time beneath the turf. You should never let the thatch layer get too thick. But, under normal conditions it will decompose mulched clippings and introduced lawn mulch.

[mrtr33]

I've always wondered, how long does it take a cigar butt to break down in soil or compost?

I'm no pro gardener, but I've been doing the compost thing for a while for our garden at home, and have read quite a bit on composting.

It depends. First, on where you live. It's hot here, so stuff breaks down pretty quick. I guess it would also depend on whether you were breaking up your butts, or just throwing the butts in there. If you were breaking them up, then naturally, you could expect it to compost quicker. I would say if you had a compost maker, you should have compost from a cigar butt in a few weeks. If you have a big pile in a container like I do, you have a few months. But chances are, you will probably have other things in there as well; compost breaks down significantly to about half of what you started with. Even if you had 50 broken up cigar butts in there, it's not going to do much. Besides, the compost (to be effective, general, overall compost) will need more ingredients than just tobacco leaves to contribute - get some food scraps and grass clippings in there as well.

I think I'll stop there, as I'm worried I'll get too far off topic.