River
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Kitchen wastes/temps

I purchased a reotemp thermometer this summer. The hottest my piles would get
Was when I mixed in grass with the leaves. Between 135-140. Now that it's fall it is still
70-80 during the day 50-63 at night. I mention this because I am not sure how large a factor
This is compared to higher temps.

At this point the grass doesn't need mowing so I have been adding coffee grinds & vegetable
Waste. The temp is now 120 at its highest. Would u expect this or should it get as hot as grass?

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

It depends on the volume of your kitchen scraps and if it is mostly leaves or other parts like potato peelings and fruits. Leaves would have the highest nitrogen. To pick up the heat you could add rabbit, chicken or steer manures, even horse manure you can usually get that just by asking they are happy to get rid of it.

The microbial activity in the pile will slow down as the outside temperatures cool down, when they are less active they do not convert that much nitrogen to energy. Some of the nitrogen will end up leaching down with the rain and part of it will volatize into the atmosphere.

Keeping up the ratio of greens and browns helps. A tarp over the pile can keep it from getting too wet and hold the heat in.

Cold composting will still get you results, it just takes longer and you need to be more careful not to add anything that might survive like weed seeds and we usually only add cuttings from healthy plants to our cold compost pile just to make sure the diseases don't survive.

River
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Posts: 125
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 10:18 pm
Location: Mobile

I thought leaves are the carbon and fresh grass or vegetable waste
Would be nitrogen? I just noticed even when it was warmer that fresh kitchen waste didn't seem to get as hot. I am adding asparagus, onion peels,
Peppers etc

Did I misunderstand leaves have the highest percentage of nitrogen?

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Nitrogen-Rich Materials for Your Compost Pile
By Cathy Cromell and The National Gardening Association from Composting For Dummies
Greens provide bodybuilding proteins for the microorganisms crunching through your organic matter. Nitrogen-rich materials are called greens because most of them are greenish in color. The following are good sources of nitrogen for your compost pile:

Kitchen scraps: Leftovers from the kitchen are excellent additions to the compost pile. You do the environment a big favor too by adding the following scraps to your compost:

Coffee grounds and used filters

Condiments and sauces

Corncobs

Cut flowers

Eggshells

Fruit pits

Fruit rinds and cores

Nut shells

Shells from shellfish

Stale or moldy bread and grain products

Tea and tea bags

Vegetables (raw or cooked)

Fruit pits, eggshells, nut shells, and shellfish shells are slow to decompose. Crush or grind them before adding them to your compost pile to speed the process.

Grass clippings: Grass clippings turn slimy and smelly if left in big piles or layered too thickly, so mix them up with brown materials or spread them out to dry for a few hours before mixing them into your heap.

Leafy plant trimmings, spent flowers, herbs, and vegetables: When your garden plants have finished producing for the season, pull them out, chop or tear them into smaller pieces, and toss them into the compost pile to recycle their nitrogen content. The same goes for leafy trimmings from landscape shrubs and trees.

Weeds — foliage only: A healthy crop of weeds, although annoying, is a fine source of nitrogen. Return those nutrients to your garden where they belong by composting your weeds.

Livestock manure: Chicken, cow, duck, geese, goat, horse, llama, rabbit, sheep, and turkey manures are safe to add to compost. Manure contains small amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that all plants require, as well as boron, iron, and zinc.

If you're using manure directly on your garden, it must be at least six months old to be safe. Fresh manure, in addition to being smelly, contains concentrated nitrogen that may "burn" plant roots and tender seedlings or prevent seed germination. If you happen to obtain super-fresh wet manure, use it in the following ways:

Let it dry out before adding it to your compost, and blend it sparingly with a wide variety of other ingredients.

Compost it in a pile by itself.

Spread fresh manure across garden beds in fall, allowing it to rot during the winter months.

Spread it across beds that lie fallow six months to one year before planting.

Always wear gloves, shoes, and a dust mask when collecting or spreading manure. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly and scrub under your nails after handling manure.

Pet bedding: Small pets such as hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, and gerbils are bedded down with newspaper, hay, and/or shavings, and this used bedding is a very useful addition to the compost heap.

Feathers: If you don't live near or have access to a poultry farm, you can empty any unwanted feather pillows, down comforters, or feather-filled cushions in your home and mix in the feathers as you fill your compost bin.

Hair and fur: Clean your hairbrush (and Fido's and Fluffy's) over the compost bin. If you're desperate for nitrogen, ask your friendly barber, stylist, or pet groomer to save you a stash when they sweep up.

Hay: Nitrogen content in hay varies depending upon the plants grown and the drying process. A concern to consider before adding hay to your compost pile is its weed content.


Ideally C:N ratio should be 20:1 to 40:1

Too much nitrogen and you will have a smelly (ammonia) slimy mess. Most of the nitrogen will be used up by the microbes as they consume the carbon. That is why in the end the N:P:K of compost is not very high, the nitrogen will be slowly released as the organisms die and the nitrogen stored in their bodies are released. Not enough and the pile won't heat up. The pile should be kept moist but not soggy and turned after the temperature peaks to infuse air and keep the pile working. The more the pile is turned, the faster it becomes compost, but most people turn it less frequently. It still makes compost, it just takes a little longer.

Common Sources of Carbon-Containing Ingredients

Ingredient C:N
shredded newspaper* 170:1
straw 75:1
shredded cardboard 350:1
dried leaves 70:1
old hay 55:1
sawdust 400:1
wood chips 400:1
small branches/twigs 500:1
paper towel 110:1
tissue paper 70:1
wood ashes 25:1
dried grass clippings 50:1
pine needles** 80:1

Common Sources of Nitrogen-Containing Ingredients

Ingredient C:N
fresh grass clippings 15:1
weeds* 30:1
kitchen scraps 20:1
coffee grounds 20:1
manures 10-20:1
freshly cut hay 25:1
seaweed 20:1
alfalfa 12:1
hair/fur 10:1
fish emulsions 8:1
blood meal 4:1

This link does a better job of explaining it.
https://mantis.com/global/assets/owners_ ... /scomp.pdf

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rainbowgardener
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do browse in the Composting Forum more. Lots of this information is already there and more. Here's the thread on browns and greens:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... =35&t=9089

toxcrusadr
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In my experience grass clippings can create the hottest piles, but this may be because I'm making a large pile all at once using a large quantity of grass plus browns (leaves or sawdust are what I use). Whereas kitchen scraps come in small quantities day after day. This brings up my other point: a compost pile will not stay hot for very long time. Whatever you add breaks down rapidly at first and then it slowly finishes. So adding those kitchen scraps a little bit at a time will not make for as hot a pile as one big batch made all at once. But that's OK. Often times people are too concerned about getting their pile hot and keeping it hot. At some point you should stop adding to the pile, let it finish while you start a new one. The finishing process is cooler and takes awhile.

River
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Location: Mobile

toxcrusadr wrote:In my experience grass clippings can create the hottest piles, but this may be because I'm making a large pile all at once using a large quantity of grass plus browns (leaves or sawdust are what I use). Whereas kitchen scraps come in small quantities day after day. This brings up my other point: a compost pile will not stay hot for very long time. Whatever you add breaks down rapidly at first and then it slowly finishes. So adding those kitchen scraps a little bit at a time will not make for as hot a pile as one big batch made all at once. But that's OK. Often times people are too concerned about getting their pile hot and keeping it hot. At some point you should stop adding to the pile, let it finish while you start a new one. The finishing process is cooler and takes awhile.

Thanks that's what I was questioning.
I think I did a poor job of asking my question based on the responses.

I was asking for those who have been composting for a goodwhile what they found gets it really hot. I know the pros and cons of a real hot pile vs a cold pile, and what are considered high carbon and nitrogen. I did question when someone posted leaves as nitrogen. My bad :cool:

What I have learned in zone 8b it takes much less time to make compost vs
Maine or mass on the other hand it doesn't last as long. So it balances out.

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rainbowgardener
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Since I don't use manures, what heats my compost up the most is when I skim the duckweed off our natural pond and put that in the compost pile. Stuff must have as much nitrogen as manure! The pile steams.

Don't know if that helps you any unless you have a pond near by.

River
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 10:18 pm
Location: Mobile

rainbowgardener wrote:Since I don't use manures, what heats my compost up the most is when I skim the duckweed off our natural pond and put that in the compost pile. Stuff must have as much nitrogen as manure! The pile steams.

Don't know if that helps you any unless you have a pond near by.
Any info is good. I spent the weekend shoveling manure, and the leaves are starting to
Fall hopefully I can find some. Our heavy leave fall is in March, and November not as much.I spread a great deal on my garden but saved some to build a compost pile when I can get some leaves. I will be interested to see how hot it will get.

toxcrusadr
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All leaves are not created equal. I'm not sure which earlier posting got you thinking about leaves as greens - perhaps the one about kitchen scraps. In any case, fresh GREEN leaves (whether from garden or kitchen) will have higher nitrogen than fallen BROWN leaves, since the trees suck out a lot of the goodies before dropping the leaves.



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