Compost Tips For the complete Compost Tips publication please visit our Compost Accessories Page
Moisture and temperature are the factors to keep in mind.
The moisture content will have a direct effect on the amount of turnings that are needed. The more moisture the more turnings will be necessary. Take a handful of composting material and squeeze it in your hand. It should form a ball which you can bounce in your hand. If it is too dry, no ball forms. If a ball forms, but it is one that will not break after a few bounces, it is too wet.

We strongly recommend using a thermometer with readings from 0 degrees to 200 degrees F to monitor compost piles or windrows. Take measurements daily.

When conditions are right, you will notice a steady rise in temperature in a new compost pile as the microbes reproduce and the processes of decay accelerate. If the material is too wet, the temperature may remain quite cool and constant. Such material can be dried by turning as often as every two to three days until the temperature begins moving up.

Normally it will continue to rise until it reaches 120 to 149 degrees F, at which point it may suddenly stop. Keep on monitoring the temperature. If it stays up, fine. If it drops, turn again.

As long as the temperature stays up in this range, it indicates there is enough oxygen for the present.

Composting occurs when coarse organic materials are broken down into a simpler form by microorganisms. Building a compost pile is a bit like raising livestock. In this case microorganisms are the livestock, and our goal is to provide them with everything they need for optimum growth. They need proper food (carbon source/organic materials), trace minerals, air, moisture and greens, (green chop, veg clippings, alfalfa etc., as long as it still has some green in it)

HOW DOES IT WORK?
During the first stage of composting, the more easily decomposed materials such as sugars and starches are rapidly degraded by cocci bacteria, thermophyllic fungi and actinomycetes, creating high temperatures over 100 degrees F.

In the next stage, populations shift and actinomycetes rise in numbers breaking down the more resistant materials such as lignin. By this time, there is a suppression of any pathogenic microbes. Aeration, by turning, is important during this period to eliminate anaerobic conditions which delay completion.

The final stage during which the ripening of compost occurs leads to the rebuilding of the decomposed organic matter into humus.

Composting changes nitrogen from a mineral (inorganic and water-soluble) form to an organic, insoluble form. This bound or organic nitrogen is then released slowly to plants over a period of time. The result is that all organic nitrogen is recycled into plants and the slow, sustained release of nutrients into soil protects ground water and builds needed organic matter.

Finally, you reach a point when the temperature throughout the mix of compost begins to fall. The moisture is right (using the ball test) and in fact the material has reached that stage when it is no longer easy to distinguish between the manure and the bedding components. At this point, your compost is ready for spreading on the land. Your compost is finished when you no longer recognize what the original materials were. The compost will be sweet smelling like forest soil, fluffy and dark brown.

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