Tips for getting your compost hot.

[thebahamiangardener]

I'd like some tips on getting your compost to become realy hot and how to keep it that way. And if there are any homemade compost activators that I can make.

[top_dollar_bread]

I'd like some tips on getting your compost to become realy hot and how to keep it that way. And if there are any homemade compost activators that I can make.

I think manure makes my compost really hot, I get fresh cow poop from the dairy for free but any composted or fresh (herbivore) poop will due, just be sure becareful when handling junk.
you can also use blood, alfalfa, bone or other soil amendments to help heat things up.. pee would work I'm sure but you also want a good amount of browns so your pile doesnt smell, turning also helps heat my pile up…
a great compost activator would be compost tea or manure tea, I use guano once every blue moon and the regs of my tea's gets thrown to the pile
works like a charm, I'm sure others will help with ther methods, these are what I believe work for me, again be sure to add browns
(I use slightly more browns then green)

[thebahamiangardener]

thanx for the advice I was just thinking to my self how good compost tea boost the compost but u took thw words out of my mouth. is starting to get hot cuz I dumped a load of cofee grounds in yesterday so I'll try to see if I can get some manure from a friend of mines farm.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree with above, a bit more browns than greens helps. Also keeping it dampish most of the time. Seeing what happened this season with all the rain made me realize I had not been keeping my pile moistened enough. Any time it dries out, it basically stops the processes.

Manures as noted. Grass clippings. If you have comfrey and/or nettles in your yard, they are both good for speeding up your compost pile.

I've never tried any of the miracle compost activators that are sold, so don't have an opinion on that kind of stuff.

[rot]

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There's a general equation going about. Something like air + water + greens + browns = compost. Something to keep in mind as you work with what you have and apply it to your climate and make it work for your lifestyle. It works best when it works for you and not the other way around.

Good basics: https://www.compostinfo.com/

More than I want to know: https://compost.css.cornell.edu/Composting_homepage.html

Comparing the two sites above, you can see how you can make the process as elaborate and labor intensive as you want or really casual or anything in between. What works best is what works for you.

Hot composting:

Volume: I can get good temperatures with 17 cu feet. The minimum optimal size is supposed to be a cubic yard or 27 cu feet, something just south of a cubic meter. For heat, it works best when you can assemble the whole volume at once. The quicker you get it together the better.

Air: Ideally assemble the whole thing at once and monitor the temperature. Add water as it dries out - an active hot pile will get thirsty. When the temperature starts dropping below the peak a couple of days, get your shovel or your pitch fork and turn that sucker. Turn the stuff that's been on the outside into the inside and conversely for the inside stuff. The turning gets air into the mix. Breaks up the compacted and matted down stuff and forms new air pockets. One of those studies you hear about came up with the optimal rate of turning at about 4 to 5 days for fastest composting. I've heard of folks turning daily. My optimal rate is once a week - on the weekend. The once a week rate has produced satisfactory results for me.

Water: The ubiquitous rule of thumb is to keep it as moist as a damp wrung sponge. I never got that concept. I'm in a dry climate so I just add a little water on a regular basis. If I can do it daily it's less. I use a watering can because with a hose I over water. When you turn you can get a look at the innards and see if there are dry parts. Sprinkling as you turn can be helpful. When it dries out your temperature will drop slowly and the process will slow to a crawl. Too much water and you will get smells too many bugs. No I won't define what too many bugs might be.

The Greens & Browns or the mix: Start out with what you think is an even mix of greens, wet nitrogen stuff like grass clippings, manures, kitchen scraps, and browns, dry woody stuff like leaves, sawdust, twiggy brush or shredded paper. Then adjust as you go along to adapt to your materials and your climate. Too many browns and the process slows and dries out. Too many greens and it stinks. That ammonia smell from grass clippings is nitrogen escaping. If you smell that throw some leaves on top. Not got leaves? Maybe that shredded paper will do. Rough up the ingredients so they blend some. As you turn they will blend some more.

A handy list of ingredients with nitrogen content. Compare Grass Clippings, a green, with saw dust a brown. Now you have a spectrum.

https://compost.css.cornell.edu/OnFarmHandbook/apa.taba1.html

Expect some trial and error. I wouldn't expect any major disasters. The worst case is a cooler, slower process. A little more time and it still reduces down to compost.

For long term viability, adjust as you go along in your life style. Not the other way around. Do not alter your life style to make compost work. If you're looking to alter your life style, that's another matter and I have no business advising you there. Never stress over it and, if I may say so, never quit. Go ahead and ignore it for a while if life's complications pop-up. The compost will start up again when you're ready. Really.

If you want to keep things neat, there are a variety of bins you can construct but once they're in place, the process will hum along at your pace. If you want to keep things cheap there are cheap bins or even just a big pile. If you're lazy, like me, there are lots of approaches at the expense of a hot and fast process.

Check out the first website above for approaches and bins and go from there.

Have at it.

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[rainbowgardener]

Very nice post, rot, clear and thorough. I like the part about don't quit. I compost all through the winter. In my climate, that means nothing is happening in the compost pile, for part of the winter it is frozen solid. But I keep faithfully saving all my kitchen scraps. Whenever there's a break in the weather, I take them out and add them to the pile and cover them with leaves & whatever. They just sit there and freeze, but as soon as it warms up and the pile thaws, it goes back to work!

[huskie]

along with all the above material in the compost I would add this:

Keep you piles in the sun and covered with plastic. poking holes in it for some air circulation.

Mix in wood chips and sugar, and keep the pile moist.

These are things I have found in the past, will keep the pile above 120 degs. I got one of those long thermometers they use for cooking....I guess it was about 16 inches long and seemed to work well.

[rot]

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Thanks rainbowgardener.

I think people new to composting should understand that this bio-remediation process called composting is real easy going.

I'll get caught up in other things for weeks at a time and even stop watering and my compost just slows down a whole bunch if it doesn't outright just stop. I'll come back and start adding water and turn a couple of times and things pick right up again.

I once had a real lazy bin that I just added and watered when I thought about it. One day the local supermarket left a couple shopping carts of old bread products out in the overnight moisture and then in the heat of the day. I threw in cakes, bagels and, loaves of wheat and rye and some leaves on top of that. It went nowhere fast and after awhile we got some critters nesting in there. Turned it once into something just a little more secure and that problem went away in that bin.

If a lazy bum like myself can make compost, it should be a non issue for most other folks.

Just add water. It makes its own sauce.

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[Turk]

Good thing about winter is all the extra holiday food scraps you can toss in the pile.