I'm starting a compost on my back porch (I live in the city and want to start a rooftop garden). I'm putting vegetables in it but hope to have some of this stuff to use as soil this summer. Am I too anxious? How long will it take these veggies to turn into dirt? Do I need to wait for them to turn into dirt before using as soil? Should I mix in with some soil?
I really have no idea what I'm doing so anyone out there who can help would really be appreciated.
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briguy9686
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rainbowgardener
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PLEASE do read the composting 101 and composting basics threads at the top of this Compost Forum. Everything you need to know is there and it will save you some disasters.
To start with vegetable scraps by themselves are NOT compost. They will just turn in to a slimy, stinky mess. They need to be mixed with dry ingredients (read about "greens" and "browns" in the above threads), like fall leaves, shredded paper, straw, sawdust etc.
Second, I don't really recommend your back porch as a place to compost. Compost piles work best if they are pretty big, like a yard in each dimension or close to that. If you are going to have a rooftop garden, you can also have a rooftop compost bin. Then just have a bucket with a tight fitting lid, that you put your compostables in until you have time to take them to the rooftop. Compost piles that are working right will not have any odor, except a bit earthy, but they may attract cockroaches and other insects whose job it is to break things down.
If you have any place where you can do it, it would be best to have your compost pile sitting on the ground, where earth worms can come into it to help the process. If you can't do that, you might be better off to look into a compost tumbler, which is a barrel on an axle which turns. That way it keeps your compostables up off the roof or porch surface, since they could be damaging to it.
You might be better off to look in to worm composting "vermicompost." A worm bin is something you could do on your back porch, with smaller amounts of compostable materials and not having to worry about the dry stuff so much, just some shredded paper bedding for your worms.
Here's a couple good threads on worm composting:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=18171
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=35062
And no, you are not likely to have very much homemade compost by this summer. If you start now and work at it some, you will have some for fall. You can buy bagged compost at the garden stores.
Welcome to the Forum!
To start with vegetable scraps by themselves are NOT compost. They will just turn in to a slimy, stinky mess. They need to be mixed with dry ingredients (read about "greens" and "browns" in the above threads), like fall leaves, shredded paper, straw, sawdust etc.
Second, I don't really recommend your back porch as a place to compost. Compost piles work best if they are pretty big, like a yard in each dimension or close to that. If you are going to have a rooftop garden, you can also have a rooftop compost bin. Then just have a bucket with a tight fitting lid, that you put your compostables in until you have time to take them to the rooftop. Compost piles that are working right will not have any odor, except a bit earthy, but they may attract cockroaches and other insects whose job it is to break things down.
If you have any place where you can do it, it would be best to have your compost pile sitting on the ground, where earth worms can come into it to help the process. If you can't do that, you might be better off to look into a compost tumbler, which is a barrel on an axle which turns. That way it keeps your compostables up off the roof or porch surface, since they could be damaging to it.
You might be better off to look in to worm composting "vermicompost." A worm bin is something you could do on your back porch, with smaller amounts of compostable materials and not having to worry about the dry stuff so much, just some shredded paper bedding for your worms.
Here's a couple good threads on worm composting:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=18171
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=35062
And no, you are not likely to have very much homemade compost by this summer. If you start now and work at it some, you will have some for fall. You can buy bagged compost at the garden stores.
Welcome to the Forum!
Hey briguy,
I'm new to the vermi compost but I have figured out a few things along the way in the last year.
I started with about a handful of worms from a friend a year ago, now I have so many I need to upgrade to a much larger container. I would estimate around 20- 25lbs of worms in one year.
I put about 6" of dirt in a rubber maid tote, about 30L, 16"x24"x18" roughly and news paper, layer it as you add scrapes. Then I just toss in table scraps and bury them, don't forget the bury them. I put about 4lbs of waste in the bin per week and it disappears quite quickly.
Drilled some 1/4 holes in the lid and added a drain spigot, which I highly recommend so you don't drown the worms.
I also build a small wood stand that keeps the bin on a angle to help drain. I then dump the dripping from worms and decomposing veggie into my larger outdoor compost that's quite large. Don't think that the juice you collect is worm tea because it's not. You'll kill what ever you put it on.
Hope this helps.
I'm new to the vermi compost but I have figured out a few things along the way in the last year.
I started with about a handful of worms from a friend a year ago, now I have so many I need to upgrade to a much larger container. I would estimate around 20- 25lbs of worms in one year.
I put about 6" of dirt in a rubber maid tote, about 30L, 16"x24"x18" roughly and news paper, layer it as you add scrapes. Then I just toss in table scraps and bury them, don't forget the bury them. I put about 4lbs of waste in the bin per week and it disappears quite quickly.
Drilled some 1/4 holes in the lid and added a drain spigot, which I highly recommend so you don't drown the worms.
I also build a small wood stand that keeps the bin on a angle to help drain. I then dump the dripping from worms and decomposing veggie into my larger outdoor compost that's quite large. Don't think that the juice you collect is worm tea because it's not. You'll kill what ever you put it on.
Hope this helps.
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rainbowgardener
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Hi kweb, thanks for sharing your info and experience. You are right that the leachate from a worm bin is not "worm tea." Worm tea would be the actual worm castings brewed in to a tea, in the manner of AACT (see sticky at the top of this Forum). However, it is not my experience that the leachate/ drippings, when diluted, kill anything. I wouldn't use them directly, but diluted at least 1:4 with water, they are really good for your plants, add nutrients and soil life, etc.
The only caveat would be if you put anything toxic/ herbicidal in your worm bin, but then you would probably be killing your worms too.
The only caveat would be if you put anything toxic/ herbicidal in your worm bin, but then you would probably be killing your worms too.
Thanks for clarifying a bit more Rainbow.
I have read that diluting is okay but because I'm new to both garden and vermi compost, I yet to try to experiment with leachate. For me, if I lose a few pepper or tomato plants that's going to really hurt my fresh and jarred salsa batches.
With most testing, I will probably become more comfortable with using leachate on living plants.
Has anyone used compost accelerators? I'm guessing but does it speed up decomposing to give usable dirt quicker?
I have read that diluting is okay but because I'm new to both garden and vermi compost, I yet to try to experiment with leachate. For me, if I lose a few pepper or tomato plants that's going to really hurt my fresh and jarred salsa batches.
With most testing, I will probably become more comfortable with using leachate on living plants.
Has anyone used compost accelerators? I'm guessing but does it speed up decomposing to give usable dirt quicker?
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rainbowgardener
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The idea of compost accelerator is just to seed your compost with microbes that help break stuff down. You can accomplish the same thing just by scattering a handful or two of good dirt over it now and then. (By good dirt, I mean hasn't been treated with synthetic fertilizers, is bioactive with earthworms, etc).
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toxcrusadr
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Some great advice here. I just want to nitpick about synthetic fertilizer somehow leading to soil that is not biologically active. At normal application rates, fertilizer or common lawn herbicides should have no effect whatsoever on the number of microbes in a handful of soil as it relates to composting. I am not pro or anti-chemical here, just stating facts.