heating up compost without manure, possible ?!?!?

[rainbowgardener]

It's a close up of the inch worm, a little bigger than life size.

30:1 C:N is a bit high if what you want is to heat it up, remembering that being high on the C end slows it down. Here's some good info about that kind of thing, with C:N ratios of different compostables: https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/c-n-ratio/

30:1 is at the top end of the recommended range. For heating it up, you could add greens until it is 20 or 25:1.

Shade is OK, the heat doesn't come from the sun, it comes from internal decomposition processes.

But as we have been saying the size of the pile is really critical, needs to be about a cubic yard.

I'm sure everyone has their own methods, but for me easiest way to manage turning is to have two compost spots. So I don't so much turn it as turn it over. Move the whole pile from one spot to the other (next to it), starting at the top, so the top of the old pile becomes the bottom of the new. For working on heating it up, best would be to take everything from the old pile, throw it in a wheelbarrow or something and mix it all up, then dump it in the new spot. At the bottom of the old spot will be your finished compost.

[Pathfinder]

thank you for the turning/aeration tips, I will start filling it tomorrow 4x4x4 that's going to need a lot of materials I am glad that direct sun light is not necessary. I added some water to the small pile an hour ago and checked on it just now, it felt cold so I guess volume is the key ... but could you remind me what is the purpose of watering a pile if it is already in the shade ?

[Pathfinder]

I went to the sea today and collected a small bag of these, I will add them to my pile tomorrow to see if they make a difference, does anyone know their C:N ratio ?!

[rainbowgardener]

Just be sure you rinse the salt water off first. Salt is not good for the compost pile.

The point of watering a pile is that all the little micro and macro organisms in the pile need water to live and do their work, just as you and I do. It doesn't need to be wet. They always say as damp as a wrung out sponge. But if your pile gets bigger, it does take more water to be sure the inside of the pile is damp. If it dries out, it stops working. You can think of your pile as a living thing. To keep living/ working, it needs food, air and water.

[Pathfinder]

Thank you very much for bearing with me. One last thing I need to know, are potato peels more green or more brown ?! I am aware of the sprouting eyes/blight but I cut them before throwing them however, they don't seem to get composted quickly compared to other scraps .. do you have an idea about their C:N ?!

[rainbowgardener]

They are green. Remember soft/moist and nothing to do with color? The only things that really count as browns are tree products (autumn leaves, shredded paper, sawdust) and hard dry stems (like straw, corn stalks, and stems of perennials that get woody).


You can over think this stuff though. If your pile is getting slimy or stinky, it is too green. Add some browns and mix everything. If your pile is sitting there and not doing anything, it is too brown. Add some greens and water and mix everything. I really don't pay any attention to C:N ratios, just make a visual balance of soft/moist stuff and dry/hard stuff. Since I mostly have a lot more greens, I keep a stash of browns and just make sure I add a bunch of brown on top of every time I add green.

But my pile doesn't heat up much. Since it composts anyway, I don't really care, but if you do care, then maybe you have to pay more attention.

[Gary350]

Here is a trick I learned in Tennessee 30 years ago for making fast compost.

Cut both ends out of a metal 55 gallon drum. Paint it flat black and set it in full sun. You don't want a tight lid or the barrel to seal air tight to the soil so wiggle it a little every few days. Fill it up with compost material then lay a flat black piece of metal or plywood on top. Summer days are in the 100 degree range, late June, July and August the sun heats it up and you have compost in 30 days.

This only works fast in hot weather.

[rainbowgardener]

I just recently turned my no-manure compost pile over. It sits in the shade and we have only had a few really spring like days as of when I was doing it. The outer part of it was cold, but when I got to the center it was warm and steamy. It wasn't hot-hot like burn your hand and I don't have a compost thermometer, but it was definitely warm and cooking.

So that was with no manure and the pile hadn't been turned since last fall.

[ElizabethB]

Pathfinder - you are really over thinking this composting business. Make a couple of bins from scrap lumber and chicken wire - 4'x4'x4' adjacent to each other. Start tossing stuff in. Mulched leaves. The only tree I have is a live oak which sheds in March. G puts the 3 bin bagger attachment on his mower and mulches the leaves. Most are bagged and stored in back of his shop for year round additives to the compost bins. I do add raw, unseasoned vegetable kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, rinsed, crushed egg shells and thin layers of shredded newspaper and shredded cardboard paper rolls. We periodically add grass clippings. I have access to cured horse manure. If you do not have access to cured horse or cow manure query rabbit breeders in your city. You will find breeders who will be happy to have you show up with a shovel and 5 gallon buckets to scoop the poop. The beauty of rabbit manure is that it is a cool manure and does not have to cure before adding to your compost or garden.

The video made the point that even if you only have shredded leaves you will have a successful compost pile.

Composting like all aspects of gardening, landscaping, lawn care and horticulture is an on going learning process.

My one comment is on size - 4' x 4' x 4' x 4' bins with air flow. Your pile will compost in the shade but it will get really hot and cook quicker in the sun. A well maintained compost pile does not stink. It smells like fresh earth. If your pile smells bad then something is wrong.

Chill - Don't worry - be happy.

Composting should be fun not a stress factor.

Good luck

[rainbowgardener]

Elizabeth, your compost bin is a tesseract?

[rainbowgardener]

tesseract (tĕs′ə-răkt′)

A four-dimensional hypercube, having sixteen corners.




Above is a two-dimensional depiction of a four dimensional tesseract. In a real tesseract, which cannot exist in our three-dimensional space, each edge would be the same length.

[ElizabethB]

Are you tessracting me?

[rainbowgardener]

4 x 4 x 4 x4 = four dimensions = tesseract, hypercube


just teasing you

[toxcrusadr]

Imagine how much compost would fit into that thing! I want one.

[Pathfinder]

Actually, a simple cube will fit more than a tesseract, hypercube <= sounds like a transformers term, but yeah it can be welded and built, not impossible.

Anyway, I returned to my thread to report success, I finally bought the famous blue plastic barrel of 4 foot length by 1 foot width and put it in the sun, drilled holes all around it and at the bottom, tossed everything that was on the ground ...but I couldn't use the finished compost !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My grandma came to visit us and she asked me for them, couldn't say no :-/ to her. last weekend I visited her and saw her tomatoes and peppers booming !!!! I was happy and started a new pile, I think the compost should last her a full season no ?!

[tomc]

I'm not going to re-read this whole thread again. You are squirming in your chair awaiting finished compost. No matter how diligently you pile it up, your need will be greater than your supply right now.

Its probably going to be easier to set a second bin, next to the first and start filling it. or a third or fourth if needed. In time the first bin will have slumped and will no longer heat up no matter of if you turn it or splash on some manure.

Break open the first one and use it on the garden. Repeat with subsequent bins as needed.

Ruth Stouts ghost will be smiling as you do.

[Pathfinder]

you are right tomc, can't argue with what you said, but since you didn't read the whole thread, well, I can tell you this: " I don't live alone !! " my mom will kill me and the neighbors too.

I mostly do container gardening so I have no problem with one bin, if things get leaner and composting becomes acceptable, then I will be adding more bins.

[ChrisC_77]

I am concerned about my compost getting too hot. And I can say without a doubt that manure is not a required ingredient for successful composting. Just the right balance of nitrogen and carbon materials, water and natures creatures. That being said, I do have a concern.

Now mind you my pile is very small right now. About 20" tall and 3 feet diameter. It is composed of spent brewery grains, (about 20 gallons) coffee grounds and filters from a coffee shop (about 10 gallons) paper, kitchen scraps, and some garden scraps. Anyway, It reaches 140 in the core easily. I am measuring this with a meat thermometer. It stops around the 140 on the thermometer. But It could be hotter. When I sift through my compost, I see no worms or grubs. I think it is mainly bacteria that is doing the job. My compost looks good and doesn't smell bad at all. As long as the finished product is what I want, I don't care how it gets there. I know worms are very good players in the compost pile and I am afraid I have it too hot for them. I can turn it a few times a day if I wanted. It generates that amount of heat very quickly. But I am always adding to it so I am sure it is constantly being fueled.

[rainbowgardener]

Sounds like all greens. If you balance it out with browns, it won't run quite as hot and it will be a better environment for earthworms. Earthworms love those browns -- fall leaves, shredded paper, etc.

[toxcrusadr]

I've made hot compost for years, it never gets worms in it until it cools off considerably, but it's great compost. Actually I don't care that much about worms in the compost, I want them in the GARDEN near the plants. And when you add compost to the soil, worms will come.

This is really off topic but someone earlier in this thread said a hypercube can actually be built. I don't think that's possible because it requires 90 degree angles in FOUR dimensions. But I reiterate, if it can be built I want one because you can put way more compost in that than a normal cube.