Woodchip Steam – Caused by Fungi and Bacteria
Q: My coworkers and I were wondering why a huge pile of wood chips makes steam afterwards.
A: The condensed water vapor (steam) is caused by the heat of billions of fungi and bacteria digesting fresh wood and sap. Digestion is just a slow form of oxidation or burning. If you and a billion coworkers were eating lunch in the same room, you’d heat up too!
-
Advertisement
-
Follow Walter
-
Advertisement
-
-
December calendar
Time to pick a Christmas tree. The fewer green needles that come off in your hand...
Get The Checklist
-
-
-
name that plant
Post your puzzlers and help others with theirs.
Start Here
-
-
Trending Posts
-
1
Smilax ID and Control
-
2
Planting lantana seed
-
3
Boxwood Alternatives
-
4
Gardenias – Planting In Winter
-
5
Hyacinth Bean – Saving Seed
-
1
Smilax ID and Control
-
2
Fescue – Pythium Blight
-
3
Acorns – Heavy Crop in 2011
-
4
Oak – Gouty Gall
-
5
Corn Gluten – For Lawn
-
-
Walter’s Bookshelf
Browse and purchase gardening books by Walter Reeves, plus select titles by other authors.
View books -
Popular topics
Soil Spring Summer Seed Winter Fall Flowers Weed Fertilizer Disease Shade Temperature Pots Oak Pine Pruning Mulch Watering Container Maple Compost Birds Herbicide Tomatoes Azalea Moisture Poison Pears Hydrangea Glyphosate Cherry Caterpillar Pests Roundup Irrigation Pesticide Pre-Emergent Stone Dogwood Peach Spider Pine Straw Magnolia Greenhouse Squash Squirrels Travel Lemon Beans Japanese Maple