plantkiller:x
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Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:58 pm

Compost wont break down

So I live in Arizona where it is very hot and dry all summer and my apartment has a good sized patio where I'm trying to grow a few things and compost. I have a small tumbler type of composter that I like a lot but its either breaking down very slowly or not at all. I've been using it for at least a year and haven't been able to get a good compost going. Its no better in the mild winter weather than it is in the hot summer.
I followed the instructions that came with the composter, I put in greens like food scraps (almost entirely fruits and veg) and I put in cardboard egg crates for the brown because I don't have any dry leaves I could collect. I water it to keep it from being dried out and I don't turn it too often. There are sometimes little bugs in it which I thought would help move things along but they haven't. It doesn't really smell bad or anything, it just wont break down.
If anyone has any idea why or has any other tips for gardening in this oven land I would appreciate it. Thanks!

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rainbowgardener
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Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Do you tear the egg crates up? They won't break down whole.

Given that it is not breaking down AND not smelling, I'm guessing that you are way under estimating how much water it takes in your hot arid climate. If it were too wet, it would smell.

Tumblers, especially small ones, are difficult to get composting going in any way. Usually they don't have nearly enough air holes. I would try drilling a few extra holes in it and giving it plenty of water. It is always said that your compost pile should be as damp as a wrung out sponge. How full is yours? If you fill it too full, it won't get good air circulation.

Remember, you can think of a compost pile as a living thing. Like other living things, it needs food (the compostables), water, and air to live.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

You need to get the carbon to nitrogen ratio right to get compost to become thermophillic. Chopping the pieces up fine will help. Ideally you want a ratio of 20:1. Paper I think has a ratio of 180:1.
If you could get legume straw or alfalfa pellets it would be a better ratio for the browns
You can add some crushed eggshells (ground in a coffee grinder would be better)
Add equal parts by weight. I ended up needing more volume of carbon since it contaims less water than fresh material.

The bin we had was small and it had to be loaded all at one time in order to get it to loaded. We had to drill holes in the composter since it held to much water and it stank. We also thew in a couple of shovel fulls of soil or manure to increase the bioactivity.
https://www.glenallennursery.com/documents/composter.pdf



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