You can turn the compost and make it hot again.This will kill the root fragments.

Bindweed is particularly persistent. I would not rely on compost heap heat to kill it. Sifting would be the most reliable method.

Teuth, better listen to Floral and not me. I believe she has a lot more first hand experience with bindweed and compost.

I will sift it since I am lucky to be able to take/use it in small batches.

Out of curiosity, how long would it take for the compost to "cook" the roots, if I did turn it? I am not inclined toward that method because I would rather spread the compost now than turn the heap (which is gigantic) and wait, also bindweed sounds scary and it might survive...but for weaker weeds, how long would it take?

You would need to get the compost up to 145F and retain at that temp for at least a few days. Some weeds take a week or more at those temps.

FYI, but if you allow the stems and roots of very persistent weeds (like bind weed, English ivy or blackberries) to dry up and dessicate before adding to the compost, this will no longer be an issue. Just spread them out on a tarp or similar and let them bake in the sun for a week or so.

I like gardengal's tarp idea for compost as long as you have some sunlight.

I am not a big chemical user; however, when you need it you need it. I killed bindweed growing in my garden using a small bud vase with some 43% RoundUp. I carefully unwound a piece of the bindweed and stuck it all the way down into the bud vase. Then poured a few ounces of Roundup into the vase to about half full. Let it sit there for a few weeks and the entire plant died. I did not realize how much it covered until I saw it all dead. It was about 30 feet across. This was a very minimalist approach to using RU in the garden. I did not blanket spray everything. Only one piece of bind weed was treated, and it killed the entire plant. There was no spraying at all.

Thanks for the info!

That is very interesting about the RoundUp. I will try it! Even if it doesn't let me skip sifting, it would still be useful to kill off the bindweed which is still growing on the heap.

> I carefully unwound a piece of the bindweed and stuck it all the way down into the bud vase

Did you cut it at all, to help the plant "drink" the RoundUp?
What part did you poke into the vase - the leader end of a vine, or did you dig up a root?

3rd edit: I am actually quite excited about this RoundUp thing. I've never used pesticides before, but always thought that they would kill everything in an area. It's very cool to hear that they can be applied to a single plant. Do you think this method could be used on big invasives like blackberry or English ivy?

Here is the answer to all your bindweed problems, perhaps, I did not read it. I found out that people eat field bindweed here (Convolvulus arvensis) (wildcrafting forum at permies) -