Composting

tips to make compost hotter


just turned this pile while it was at 100, added some new greens and gave it a lil watering any tips on getting it to 120/140?

by nature_goon

1 Comment

  1. nobody_smith723

    you seem to have a lot of large “chunk” size matter.

    and things like sticks/twiggs.

    the best results sort of are the tried and true. grass clippings from a mulched mower, and mulched leaves. small particle size. layered in decent lasagna style. watered enough but not soaking.

    also if the pile is old. it’s not sorta “on/off” it a process. and most likely that pile is spent. so it’s not going to magically heat back up, unless it’s basically a new pile with a new mix of greens/browns for it to consume.

    density tends to be the trick of getting a pile to heat up. the growth of microbes at size/density. with enough mass to concentrate that heat/heat up.

    IF you wanted to try and jump start this pile again. stage some material. get a good small size green source (grass, coffee grounds) and a similar brown source.

    turn it, and layer it brown/green/brown. (and the old pile matter, basically mix in with the browns) watering them in, and then if that bin isn’t covered. covering the top of the pile with a non-permeable tarp of some kind.

    then check the temps. if it heats up. generally speaking that happens within a week, 120-140 or higher. and then will taper off.

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