Everything About Compost

Building and maintaining a compost heap is that the surest, easiest method to become a far better gardener. Not only will you be producing the simplest possible food for your garden, but by watching leaves, eggshells, orange rinds, and grass clippings become transformed into rich compost crammed with earthworms and other soil creatures, you will be learning what healthy soil is all about.

Compost improves soil structure.

Most gardeners don't start with great soil. Whether yours is tough and compacted, sandy, stony, heavy, or wet, adding compost will improve its texture, water-holding capacity, and fertility. Soil will eventually become fluffy and brown—the ideal home for healthy plants.

Compost provides a balanced source of plant nutrients.

Even if you're lucky enough to possess great soil, you cannot expect that soil to stay rich and productive without replenishing the nutrients that are consumed each season . No commercial fertilizer, even one that's totally organic, provides the complete spectrum of nutrients that you simply get with compost. The nutrients are available eventually, as your plants need them, over a period of months or years. The microorganisms within the compost also will help your plants absorb nutrients from fertilizers more efficiently.

Compost stimulates beneficial organisms.

Compost is teeming with all types of microorganisms and soil fauna that help convert soil nutrients into a form which will be readily absorbed by your plants. The microorganisms, enzymes, vitamins and natural antibiotics that are present in compost actually help prevent many soil pathogens from harming your plants. Earthworms, millipedes, and other macro-organisms tunnel through your soil, opening up passageways for air and water to succeed in your plants' roots.

Compost is garden insurance.

Even very experienced gardeners often have soil that's but perfect. Adding compost moderates pH and fertility problems, so you'll consider the pleasures of gardening, not the science of your soil’s chemical composition. Unlike organic or inorganic fertilizers, which require to be applied at the proper time and within the correct quantity , compost are often applied at any time and in any amount. you cannot really over-apply it. Plants use exactly what they have , once they need it.

Can a gardener ever have enough compost? 

It's doubtful. Compost is that the perfect thing to spread around once you are creating a replacement garden, seeding a replacement lawn area, or planting a replacement tree. Compost are often sprinkled around plants during the season or used as a mulch in your perennial gardens. you'll add compost to your flower boxes and deck planters. you'll also use it to complement the potting soil for your indoor plants.

Composts Builds Healthy Soil Across Your Garden and Landscape

Show all of your gardens some love by treating them to regular doses of compost. In spring, compost gets plants off to a robust start. In fall, whilst air temperatures drop, the soil stays warm therefore the compost feeds the still-active beneficial organisms.

In the kitchen garden. 

Amend soil each spring with a layer of compost. you'll gently mix it into the highest few inches of soil, or mulch around individual plants or rows. In fall, as you remove spent crops, loosen soil and blend during a 3" to 4" deep layer of compost. Then cover bare soil with shredded leaves or straw. The soil are going to be refreshed for spring planting.

Pamper perennials. 

As you tidy perennial gardens — in spring, fall, or anytime in between — keep a bucket of compost at hand so you'll spread a 1" layer round the base of every plant, keeping the compost a couple of inches from the stems to stop rot.

Nurture shrubs and trees. 

Don't take 'em without any consideration — they're your biggest landscape investment! In spring and fall, spread a 3" layer of compost during a wide band extending well beyond the sting of the cover . Keep the compost 6" inches faraway from stems and trunks to stop rot.

Give bulbs a lift. 

Mix during a few handfuls of compost into each bulb planting hole, or prepare a whole bed by mixing during a generous layer of compost before planting.

Lawns are plants, too! 

Put a half inch layer of compost over your entire lawn each spring and fall season. If soil is compacted, rent an aerator first to open up the soil so water will wash the compost right down to the grass roots.

How Compost Happens

Organic matter is transformed into compost through the work of microorganisms, soil fauna, enzymes and fungi. When making compost, your job is to supply the simplest possible environment for these beneficial organisms to try to to their work. If you are doing so, the decomposition process works very rapidly—sometimes in as little as fortnight. If you do not provide the optimum environment, decomposition will still happen, but it's going to take from several months to many years.

The trick to creating an abundance of compost during a short time is to balance the subsequent four things:

Carbon. 

Carbon rich elements are the energy generating food for microorganisms. you'll identify high-carbon plant materials because they're dry, tough, or fibrous, and tan or brown in color. For example: Dry leaves, straw, rotted hay, sawdust, shredded paper, and cornstalks,etc.

Nitrogen. 

High nitrogen elements provide the protein-rich content that microorganisms require to grow and multiply. Small weed growing, grass clippings, rotten fruits and vegetables, kitchen scraps and other moist green matter are the kinds of nitrogen-rich materials you'll likely wear hand. Other high-protein organic content includes kelp meal, seaweed, manure and animal by-products like blood or bone meal.

Water. 

Moisture is extremely important for the composting process. But an excessive amount of moisture will drown the microorganisms, and insufficient will dehydrate them. A general rule of thumb is to stay the fabric in your compost heap as moist as a well-wrung sponge. If you would like to feature water (unchlorinated is best), insert your hose into the center of the pile in several places, or sprinkle the pile with water next time you switch it. Using an indoor container or covering your pile with a tarp will make it easier to take care of the proper moisture level.

Oxygen. 

To try to to their work most efficiently, microorganisms require tons of oxygen. When your pile is first assembled, there'll probably be many air between the layers of materials. But because the microorganisms begin to figure, they're going to start consuming oxygen. Unless you switch or in how aerate your compost heap , they're going to run out of oxygen and become sluggish.

Common Compost Ingredients

Brown

High-carbon materials

• corncobs and stalks
• paper
• pine needles
• sawdust or excelsior
• straw
• vegetable stalks
• dry leaves

Green

High-nitrogen materials

• coffee grounds
• eggshells
• fruit wastes
• grass clippings
• feathers or hair
• fresh leaves
• seaweed
• kitchen scraps
• fresh weeds
• rotted manure
• alfalfa meal

Do I Want a Recipe?

Microorganisms and other soil fauna work most efficiently when the ratio of carbon-rich to nitrogen-rich materials in your compost heap is approximately 25:1 (brown to green) but most of the people discover that 3 parts brown and one part green works quite well. In practical terms, if you would like to possess a lively compost heap, you ought to include many high-carbon "brown" materials (such as straw, wood chips, or dry leaves) and a low proportion of high-nitrogen "green" materials (such as grass clippings, freshly pulled weeds, or kitchen scraps).

If you've got an more than carbon-rich materials and not enough nitrogen-rich materials, your pile may take years to decompose (there isn't enough protein for those microbes!). If your pile has an excessive amount of nitrogen and not enough carbon, your pile also will decompose very slowly (not enough for the microbes to eat!), and it'll probably be soggy and smelly along the way.

But don't be concerned about determining the precise carbon content of a cloth or achieving a particular 25:1 ratio. Composting doesn't got to be a competitive, goal-oriented task. All organic matter breaks down eventually, regardless of what you are doing . If you merely use about 3 times the maximum amount "brown" materials as "green" materials, you will be off to an excellent start. Take a glance at the sample recipes and check the chart of common compost materials. With experience, you will get a way for what works best.

Sample Compost Recipes

Recipe 1

• 1 part fresh grass clippings
• 1 part dry leaves
• 1 part good garden soil

Spread the ingredients in 3-inch-deep layers to a height of three to 4 feet.

Recipe 2

• 2 parts fresh grass clippings
• 2 parts straw or spoiled hay
• 1 part good garden soil

Spread elements in four-inch layers, adding water if needed.

Recipe 3

• 2 parts dry leaves
• 1 part fresh grass clippings
• 1 part food scraps

Spread elements in four-inch layers, adding water if needed.

Ingredients to Boost Your Compost Pile

The following materials are often sprinkled onto your compost heap as you build each layer. they're going to add important nutrients and can help speed up the composting process:

• Super Hot Compost Starter, applied at the speed on the package.
• Garden soil or finalized compost which is high in microorganisms, 1/2 shovelful on each layer.
• Bone meal, feed , or alfalfa meal (high in nitrogen), 1/2 shovelful on each layer.
• Fish waste or manure which is high in nitrogen, a shovelful on each layer.
• Wood stove or fireplace ashes which are high in potash and carbon, a shovelful on each layer.
• Crushed rock dust which is rich in minerals/feeds microbes, a shovelful on each layer.

Compost Gets Hot

Heat may be a by-product of intense microbial activity. It inhibits that the microorganisms are munching on organic matter and converting it into complete compost. The temperature of your compost heap doesn't in itself affect the speed or efficiency of the decomposition process. But temperature does determine what sorts of microbes are active.

There are primarily three sorts of microbes that employment to digest the materials during a compost heap . They each work best during a particular temperature range:

The psychrophiles add cool temperatures—even as low as 28 degrees F. As they start to digest a number of the carbon-rich materials, they provide off heat, which causes the temperature within the pile to rise. When the pile warms to about 60 to 70 degrees F, mesophilic bacteria take over. They're liable for the bulk of the decomposition work. If the mesophiles have enough carbon, nitrogen, air, and water, they work so hard that they raise the temperature within the pile to about 100 degrees F. At now , thermophilic bacteria kick in. it's these bacteria which will raise the temperature high enough to sterilize the compost and kill disease-causing organisms and weed seeds. Three to 5 days of 155 degrees F, is enough for the thermophiles to try to to their best work.

Getting your compost heap "hot" (140 to 160 degrees F.) isn't critical, but it does mean that your compost are going to be finished and usable within a month approximately . These high temperatures also kill most weed seeds, also as harmful pathogens which will cause disease problems. most of the people don't bother charting the temperature curve in their compost heap . they only attempt to get an honest ratio of carbon to nitrogen, keep the pile moist and well aerated, and wait until everything looks pretty much weakened .

Commercial activators can help raise the temperature in your compost heap by providing a concentrated dose of microorganisms and protein. Other effective activators which will help to urge your pile cooking include humus-rich soil, rotted manure, finished compost, dried blood, and alfalfa meal.

To Turn or to not Turn

Unless speed may be a priority, frequent turning isn't necessary. many of us never turn their compost piles. The aim of turning is to extend oxygen flow for the microorganisms, and to blend undecomposed materials into the middle of the pile. If you're managing a hot pile, you'll likely want to show your compost every 3 to five days, or when the inside temperature dips below about 110 degrees F. Monitor the temperature with a compost thermometer; Use garden shovel, fork or a compost aerator to assist turn the pile.

After turning, the pile should heat up again, as long as there's still undecomposed material to be weakened. When the temperature stays pretty constant regardless of what proportion you switch the pile, your compost is perhaps ready. Though turning can speed the composting process, it also releases heat into the air, so you ought to turn your pile less frequently in weather .

There are several ways to assist keep your pile well-aerated, without the effort of turning:

• Make pile on a elevated wood platform or on a pile of branches.
• Make sure there are air vents within the sides of your compost bin.
• Put one or two perforated 4" plastic pipes within the center of your pile.

Types of Compost Bins

Plastic Stationary Bins. 

These bins are for continuous instead of batch composting. Most units feature air vents along the edges and are made up of recycled plastics, like our Pyramid Composter. Search for a lid that matches securely, and doors to access finished compost. Size should be approximately 3 feet square.

Tumbling or Rotating Bins. 

These composters, like our Dual-Batch Compost Tumbler, are for creating batches of compost all at just one occasion. You accumulate organic materials until you've got enough to fill the bin, then load it up and rotate it a day or two. If materials are shredded before going into the bin, and you've got many nitrogen, you'll have finished compost in five weeks or less.

Worm Composting 

Employing worms to form compost is named vermiculture. Manure worms, red worms, and branding worms (the small ones usually sold by commercial breeders) are dynamos when it involves decomposing organic matter—especially kitchen scraps. the matter is that these worms cannot tolerate high temperatures. Add a couple of them to a lively compost heap and they'll be dead in an hour.

To maintain a separate worm bin for composting food scraps, you would like a watertight container which will be kept somewhere that the temperature will remain between 50 and 80 degrees F. all year-round. Ready-made worm bins are available, but you'll also make your own. Red worms are available by mail.

Wire Bin. 

Use an 11-feet length of 2-inch x 4-inch x 36-inch welded, medium-gauge fence wire from your local hardware or building store. Tie the ends together to make your hoop. A bin this size holds just over one yard of fabric . Snow fencing are often utilized in an identical fashion. an alternative choice is our 3-Bin Wire Composter, which holds 48 cubic feet.

Trash Can Bin. 

To convert a plastic ashcan into a composter, stop rock bottom with a saw. Drill about 24 quarter-inch holes within the sides of the can permanently aeration. Bury rock bottom of the can from several inches to a foot or more below the soil surface and press the loosened soil round the sides to secure it. Partly immersing the composter will make it easier for microorganisms to enter the pile.

Block or Brick or Stone Bin. 

Lay the blocks, with or without mortar, leaving spaces between each block to allow aeration. Form three sides of a 3-to 4-foot square, roughly 3 to 4 feet high.

Wood Pallet Bin. 

Discarded wooden pallets from factories or stores are often stood upright to make a bin. Attach the corners with rope, wire, or chain. A fourth pallet are often used as a floor to extend air flow. a second hand carpet or tarp are often placed over the highest of the pile to scale back moisture loss or exclude rain or snow.

Two- or Three-Bay Wood Bin. 

Having number of bins allows you to use one section for storing materials, one for active composting, and one for curing or storing finished compost. Each bin must be approximately 3 x 3 x 3 feet. make certain to permit air spaces between the sidewall slats, and make the front walls removable (lift out slats) for straightforward access. Lift-up lids are nice.

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