Backyard compost makers unite!!

[Suby]

Good post CC,

I have found the same thing about using large lava rocks in the bottom of my containers or even geolite, they house the microherd nicely.

It had never once occured to me that composting could make the perlite better though, that's a cool plus to recycling soil.

It's also a factor since perlite doesn't get used up in a grow, thus recycling the soil mix has to factor this in, you can't keep adding 30% perlite every remix.

S

 

[texas grass]

i love the art of composting

 

[organick]

Hello Organic Growers.

This is the story of my compost pile (micro-herd resort). I use the name micro-herd resort because I want to give my micro-herd the atmosphere to thrive.
I’ve been gardening for 20 years, 15 years organically.
But this forum, it’s threads, post, but absolutely most importantly the posters themselves, have been the inspiration to get off my ass and do this thing . Organic gardening knowledge at it’s very best, with entertainment, humor and occasional tempers (occasionally justified), solidified my commitment to the organic way.

Main Ingredients:
Coffee Grounds, spent (gathered from local coffee shop)
Dry brown leaves (gathered from my apartment complex)
nitrogen/inoculation tea (“day aged water”, pee, boxed organic fert and whatever mixed “light” {see threads})
Two tablespoons dolomite Lime (of course) or a sprinkle here and there to keep things sweet
After reading a thread by Suby about pimping favorite organic fertilizers. I thought “Wow, I really don’t have my favorite, Naturally composted organic matter. I need to get on the ball or I’m a poseur.”
I put the leaves in the large storage tub (dumpster dived, recycled) and mixed in the limed coffee grounds (mixed two tablespoons of lime per 2.5 gallons of coffee grounds or there about, not sure. Just want to get some lime in there, coffee breaks down really acidic. Not like I’m going to go buy a PH meter or anything).
Leaves where then smashed (not too tight) into 5 gal. buckets and about one and a half gallons of tea poured over them. I let this soak about 20 min then poured into another 5 gal. (if the leaves look a little dry or no tea pours out when transferring leaves I add a little water) Back and forth a few times to get them good and soaked (I work in the garden, around the house, gather more leaves, read, yada, yada, while leaves are soaking) . I found I could do this easier with the storage tub. As long as the dry leaves are well exposed to water (half soaked).I live in a dry area, breakdown is a lot faster if leaves are wet and mixed well with coffee.

The “pile” as it sits now. Going on vacation for two weeks so hopefully when I get back the center should be getting some heat generated.

Won’t have the finished product for a while but I believe my ground is already happier having it around. If things stay cool, below 90 degrees around here, I might start a worm bin using some of the compost , otherwise I’ll wait till fall.

Any and all comments welcome.

Peace out.

 

[quadracer]

Here's some pictures of my new compost pile. It was created on July 15th, photos 2 days later on July 17th.

It is made up of:

%40 Coffee grounds (some sitting for months with plenty of growth)
%40 Chicken bedding (hay, chicken manure, feathers, old fruits and veggies)
%10 old veggies from Organic Grocery Store
%10 compost from previous pile.

It looks pretty good. I think it's going to finish a lot quicker thanks to the coffee grounds being grounded, plus all the chicken shit.

Temp before turning. Right where it should be.


Some growth:


More growth:


Pile as a whole:


Pile half-way turned:


Temp. after turning



A couple of things about my pile. First, the wood backing. A compost pile will eat through the wood given enough time, but I don't have that kind of time.

Also, the giant logs that go through the compost is there to give it some structure, so the pile wouldn't be bogged down at the beginning too.

 

[Smurf]

Great job with your compost quadracer, I like the effort you've gone to! K+

(I normally use all my twigs & branches from previous grows to help aerate the pile)
This coming grow season will be my first time using coffee grounds in bulk for my high N compost (among other stuff).
I found a coffee shop that supplies as much as I want.

 

[strain_searcher]

I managed to read the whole thread and I still have a question. I have about a 3x3 area for my outside compost are. I dug up about 2 1/2 feet and lined the bottom with lava rocks. I have been adding lots of juiced veggies ,paper ect.. even tossed in a small bag of organic compost to heat things up a bit.

My question is its been about 2 weeks and I have been mixing with a shovel and chopping and turning. The pile is starting to smell fresh and clean with slight old veggy smell and even growing apple seeds out of it. I have extra stuff to throw in there but I want the compost to finish so i can make a tea. Should I just stop adding stuff maybe start another bucket on the side ? Also from what I have read I should use a cup of compost to 5 gallons water.

Also I will take any suggestions on improving my compost.Thanks guys this thread is awesome.

 

[jaykush]

it really depends on the type of compost you want, you can make batches or you can do a long term pile. both work just some work better in certain situations. it seems you want to basically do batches. pretty much you need to start one pile, make sure the carbon to nitrogen ratio is close to 30:1. and a good diversity of materials. at that point your tryin to get your pile to reach a temp like above in the pics from quadracer. so you will stop adding material and start another on the side. by the time the hot pile is finishing up your next pile will be heating up, and then start another on the side. and so on. if you keep adding materials the pile wont heat up nearly as fast. eventually you will have compost sitting and "curing" as we say with our herb. getting better and better.

 

[strain_searcher]

it really depends on the type of compost you want, you can make batches or you can do a long term pile. both work just some work better in certain situations. it seems you want to basically do batches. pretty much you need to start one pile, make sure the carbon to nitrogen ratio is close to 30:1. and a good diversity of materials. at that point your tryin to get your pile to reach a temp like above in the pics from quadracer. so you will stop adding material and start another on the side. by the time the hot pile is finishing up your next pile will be heating up, and then start another on the side. and so on. if you keep adding materials the pile wont heat up nearly as fast. eventually you will have compost sitting and "curing" as we say with our herb. getting better and better.

Awesome Jay that clears that up. Now for the next question and then I will chill.

I just went to a cool beach with lots of pebbles(not much sand) to collect seaweed and to my surprise their was a ring around the entire beach FILLED with 5 different types of SEAWEED. I got about 5 pounds of of it. From nubby octopus looking, white thin to dark and medium colors.There were also tiny dried out crab shells looked like crabs but empty. I tossed most of it in my pile with some leaves .

1.Should I dry the left over seaweed ,if so how do you guys do it to make a fine powder?

2. When I started turning the pile at the bottom I found my GOLD very different lite colored soil very fine and smelling like heaven. This is what I would use to make compost tea right?


3. how long does fresh seaweed take to break down in compost?

 

[jaykush]

i dont live near a beach or collect any of me resources from it. im in the complete opposite the mountains are my place. im sure someone else will know.

 

[MrFista]

Just a note on using lava rocks for Suby

I got this from a vegetable seminar run by Bob Webster on youtube, I recommend everything he does and theres a fair few videos there to watch, though I've already been dissected in another forum for posting the guys thoughts and methods on compost tea...

Also termed paramagnetic rock - of igneus origin - volcanic... lava rock...

The dust and grit will increase sugars in plants making them more cold hardy (sugar doesn't freeze). A cup per sq ft for the really late bloomers...

In aquaponics I use lava rocks as a component in mediums as they...

Hold heavy plants up, increase cec, house bacteria very well in porous bits, provide means for a sulphur cycle in a highly aerobic environment (in the heart of the stones inside built up aerobic layers), degas sulphur and nitrious oxide which decreases greenhouse gases...

And they're cheap. I used to collect the gravel from the bottom of washes (wash lava rock a long and painful process before making new systems) and put it in my compost. I just did this because I could, it's better there than dumped somewhere. Now it turns out it was an inadvertent good move.

It increases soil cec, and makes plants cold hardy, and the degassing thing...

Upshot of it is I have some very cold hardy stuff growing in places around here. I threw 2 tobacco plants out of the greenhouse that were infested with aphids, stripped off the dirt off the roots and all, chucked on the compost heap that just got some lava wash. Fast forward several weeks and 3 frosts later the damn things are alive, the aphids are gone, and they look better than ever. Whole time the root mass is exposed, but in shadow, and lying on the heap. So I lay them in a shady spot where wild nightshade varieties grow and threw some of the compost around the root ball.

Now they're not just looking great they're growing again.

 

[Smurf]

Some intersting trivia from the latest SFI newsletter........

George Washington: Experimenter in Compost

We all know of George Washington and his role in achieving American independence. And even of his landscaping efforts on a cherry tree with a hatchet. But he was also an owner of significant estates and an experimenter with various means of improving the soil, and hence the growth of his crops (mainly tobacco).

Washington built one of the first stercoraries (a building for storing dung) in America. Animal manure was stored and fermented in the stercorary and then later spread onto the fields of his estates. He also experimented with river bed mud and fish heads in an effort to improve the the soil, and he grew buckwheat, clover and peas to be ploughed under to replenish the soil.

Washington’s diary for 14 April 1760 describes experiments he conducted with varying mixtures of soil, sand, river mud, horse/cow/sheep dung, and “black mould taken out of the Pocoson on the Creek side”. In each mixture he planted wheat, barley and oats to determine which resulted in the best plant growth.

Washington’s “composts” don’t correspond to what we consider compost these days as they didn’t contain plant materials (other than those pre-processed by animals), but they indicate an awareness of the need to replenish the “goodness” in the soil.

(Source: “Resurrection in a Bucket: The Rich and Fertile Story of Compost”, Margaret Simons, Allen & Unwin, 2004 ISBN 1 86508 588 X pp 49-51 )

Po`co´son
n. 1. Low, wooded grounds or swamps in Eastern Maryland and Virginia.

smurf

 

[jaykush]

cool stuff, washington used to grow lots of hemp as well. nice to know he was an organic pot grower lol.

 

[emmy75]

hey all
my compost has been going now for a couple of months but ive noticed there are worm type maggots in there. i dont know why they crawled up in my compost bin. the bin is off the ground and well the little bastards are breeding and i dont know if its normal for them to be in there at all. can someone please enlighten me on this. im not vermicomposting and i dont think theyre doing the same thing. theyre quite disgusting and i dont wish them to be there but if its all normal then ill let them stay. but if not ill have to dump my whole compost bin.

 

[jaykush]

got a picture? or can you get one. could be black soilder flys they like compost and are beneficial. no harm to humans at all either.

 

[quadracer]

did you add any meat or dairy products to the compost? For the most part, I wouldn't worry about them. They all play their part and help break down organic matter.

 

[emmy75]

sure Jay ill get a picture but im going to google bsf first to see if its the same thing. i know that if my compost was on the ground then awhole lot of buggers would be making their home in it so i do justify the presence of these insects. but to mee they look like maggots and ive never heard anyone mention them before.

quadracer i dont add meat or dairy to my compost bin. just the usual. if they play their partly correctly then they can stay.

 

[emmy75]

hey Jay youre too smart hehe. yep i guess those are the larvae of the bsf.

so when my compost is finished should i sift them out. if i were to use my compost for outdoors i would just leave them in but indoors i definitely want them out of the compost.

 

[jaykush]

hehe emmy, you dont need to take them out. once everything is broken down and no use to them. they will pupate into flies, and fly to another place. dont worry about them messing with you, they dont even have mouths. there sole purpose in life is to decompose as maggots, pupate, mate, die and repeat.

so eventually they will high tail in when the food is gone and your compost is ready for use!

 

[quadracer]

heer's a little status of my pile. Lookin' good. There's alos a few pictures of the chickens who deserve a little credit, they leave me with beautiful compost and delicious eggs!!!

The compost is awesome. Crumbly but still holds form. I sifted a couple of wheelbarrow loads too for indoor use..

 

[marali]

well hello to you too! Great stuff man. Hi, my name is marali and i'm a compost addict.