Vinegar is a natural weed controller because of its acidic nature. It also deters pests and can work wonders in your garden. Apple cider vinegar also contains many valuable nutrients that can benefit the compost pile.
Adding nitrogen-rich materials
The microorganisms in compost need both nitrogen and carbon to work. If there is too much carbon, the process will slow down. To speed up the process try adding 'greens' – items that are high in nitrogen, such as grass clippings or manure.
A great cleaner for composting toilets is pure vinegar for the urine diverter, the urine bottle, and seat, and an environmentally safe soap mixed with water for the rest. You can also mix water and baking soda as cleaner alternative that is microbe safe.
DON'T add meat scraps, bones, grease, whole eggs, or dairy products to the compost pile because they decompose slowly, cause odors, and can attract rodents. DON'T add pet feces or spent cat liter to the compost pile. DON'T add diseased plant material or weeds that have gone to seed.
However, micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes–even though they go unnoticed in your compost pile–are responsible for most of the organic material breakdown.
Activators Around the House
Rabbit food (pellets) and dry dog food are also organic activators that are often have on-hand. Human urine is an interesting (and free) compost activator if you're game. It's loaded with nitrogen, minerals, and vitamins, making it a dandy activator.
Perlite's expanded nature makes it extremely porous, so it can absorb water, but it also improves drainage, so is ideal to mix into compost to ensure water drains freely. Perlite is particularly useful in plant propagation, including taking cuttings and sowing seeds.
Can You Compost Eggshells? Egg shells are an excellent addition to a compost pile, as they provide calcium and other key nutrients. Whole eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks do not belong in the compost pile, though. Raw eggs have the potential to carry the bacteria Salmonella.
Grass clippings are excellent additions to a compost pile because of their high nitrogen content. Grass clippings should not be the only compost material. As with mulches, a thick layer of grass clippings in a compost pile will lead to bad odors from anaerobic decomposition.
Every single part of an onion is 100% compostable!
You may have heard otherwise, and yes, there are a few things to look out for if you want to add them to a worm bin, but no worries, onions can make their way to your compost bin, just like your other kitchen scraps!
In cases like prolonged diarrhea or excessive condensation, add small amount of your composting bulking material (coco fiber OR peat moss). Make sure that the liquids in the solids bin is not from someone directly urinating into the compost solids bin.
Removing Flies from Compost
Our best recommendation to react to an infestation of flies is a pyrethrum-based insecticide. Direct contact with a pyrethrum-based product will kill flies, without harming your culture of microbes!
You can put your compost pile in the sun or in the shade, but putting it in the sun will hasten the composting process. Sun helps increase the temperature, so the bacteria and fungi work faster.
Urine fits in as one of the 'green' layers in composting, along with the likes of grass clippings from mowing a lawn and kitchen waste, that all contain nitrogen. However, the higher concentration of nitrogen in urine acts as a compost activator and actively speeds up the process of composting.
Cardboard in the compost heap
Roughly torn into pieces cardboard will rot down well in the compost heap so long as it is mixed in with greens and not layered. Corrugated cardboard works even better because the corrugations hold it open until they decompose.
In short, yes, you can compost bread.
Bread is an organic scrap that breaks down quickly and adds nitrogen to the soil. But some composters disdain it out of concern for attracting pests to the compost pile.
Weeds have many nutrients so they are a great addition to the compost pile, but you do not want compost filled with viable weed seeds. The best time to take care of weeds is when they are small and have not established deep roots or seed heads (easier to pull, too, especially if ground is still moist).
Yes, you can add tea bags to your compost bin or garden — with an important caveat. Before composting your tea bags, it is important to ensure that they are made from biodegradable materials. An estimated 20-30% of tea bags on the market are composed of polypropylene, which is not compostable.
Banana peels are a great ingredient for your compost or worm farm, adding lots of nutrients to the organic recycling process.
The immediate answer is yes! You can put potato peelings in the compost. However, the caveat is the conventional fungus growth that potatoes are associated with. It causes potato blight, which eats up the potato from the inside.
What types of water NOT to add. Basically, don't compost any water that has been mixed with anything on the “don't compost” list. Soaps and other chemicals are bad news for a compost heap.