By layering your compost, you'll create the perfect environment for bacteria and fungi to break down organic matter into compost. Not only will this help your composting process run more smoothly, but it also provides a handy system for ensuring the correct proportions of greens to browns.
The reason for building the compost pile in layers is that it is easier to get a good mix and even distribution of moisture in each layer than it is to attempt to mix the entire pile all at once.
Put down a thin layer of brown material — leaves, chopped stems, wood chips — and sift over it a thin layer of soil, compost, or manure. Sprinkle these with water, then start the serious layering: six to eight inches of browns, followed by two or three of greens, and then a sprinkling of the soil options.
Compost materials should be placed in layers, with the coarsest materials at the bottom. This allows for good drainage when it rains. Layers of cut-up soft materials are alternated with more fibrous materials.
Pros of direct composting:
Once you've buried the scraps and brown material, your work is done. You also don't have to move the finished compost. Where it's buried is where it will do its soil enriching magic. Plants benefit from receiving their dose of compost nutrients at this deep root level.
Spread the compost in a thick layer on top of exposed soil. Worms and other creatures will help the compost meld with the soil. Mulching is not only an easy way to apply compost but also keeps down weeds and helps your soil retain moisture.
Decomposition will be complete anywhere from two weeks to two years depending on the materials used, the size of the pile, and how often it is turned.
It's a way to get the short-term and long-term benefits at once. Moreover, adding fertilizers directly to your composting pile can be an excellent way of mixing the two. Using compost regularly enables you to maintain a healthy environment for your plants, which reduces the need for fertilizer throughout the year.
which carry out the processes of decomposition. Organisms need free contact with both soil and atmosphere and suitable environments of warmth and moisture. The pile should not be directly exposed to sun, wind, rain, nor sited in a low-lying place subject to unnecessary dampness and standing water.
To get a 20 percent mix of compost to soil, you mix four containers of soil to one container of compost. This would make a soil that contains approximately 20 percent compost. A 20 to 50 percent soil blend would be the best mixture to use for pots on a deck or patio, since potted plants tend to dry out quickly.
A compost pile needs to be kept moist but not waterlogged. A 50% moisture level is the ideal average to aim for. What is this? As compost piles are exposed to the elements, keeping their moisture at the coveted damp, not soggy level can be tricky.
When you need compost quickly, a covered pile is the way to go. A covering holds heat in the pile, which helps the good bacteria to work more efficiently. The cover effectively speeds up the process, shaving weeks (and even months) off the time required to produce finished compost.
You can sprinkle compost on top or mix it into your flower and vegetable beds, gently rake compost into tree beds, blend it with potting soil to revitalize indoor plants, or spread it on top of the soil on your lawn as a soil amendment.
Composting works in sun or shade Piles in sunny spots will decompose quicker but also dry out faster and may need supplemental watering during hot dry weather. Those located in a shadier spot will stay moist longer but decompose slower. In either case, make sure the soil below the pile is well-drained.
Watering Strategies
In hot, dry weather, regularly adding water to a hot compost process is often a necessity. We recommend a minimum moisture content of 50% to support a hot compost process. A hot compost pile can easily lose 1% of moisture content every day.
The leaves look burned and purple. If too much compost is added to the soil, nutrients including phosphorus and potassium can leach past the root zone and move beyond your garden. The nutrients may leach into surface and ground water from rain or irrigation.
Compost is ready or finished when it looks, feels and smells like rich, dark earth rather than rotting vegetables. In other words, it should be dark brown, crumbly and smell like earth. The Florida Online Composting Center is one of the few sites that offers detailed home tests for the maturity of compost.
Beneath the layers of compost materials, sheet mulches typically include a layer of cardboard to keep grass and weeds from growing through – a great way to smother unwanted vegetation or convert a sod lawn into a garden.
ANSWER: Having a lid on your compost is not a requirement, but it does help you to regulate and maintain temperature and moisture levels within your compost system. If your compost bin doesn't have a lid, you can add your own by using a piece of old, Hessian backed carpet (not foam-backed carpet to function as a lid.
To start off: Ideally, put twigs and sticks, scrunched up cardboard or similar material at the bottom of the bin to create air spaces. Materials: Add organic materials through the top of the bin. Make sure you include both green (high nitrogen) and brown (high carbon) materials.
Compost loses volume over time
The shrinkage does continue but slows down considerably as the compost becomes more stable. However, it will still slowly decrease in bulk over time. If you leave it too long, you are feeding microorganisms in the compost, rather than in the soil.
Solution: Bring air into the pile by turning it over regularly or use a pitch fork to “fluff it up” every few weeks. You can also use a rotating compost tumbler to keep things aerated with little effort (Read more in our article, Compost Tumblers vs.