The Compost Tumbler thread

[JackTheGrower]

Update:

i assume the things I did to optimize are now the reality for it still being 110+

This has been interesting to say the least.

There is Carbon and Nitrogen in there or it wouldn't have the stamina to continue as it has. So let it go! I turn it two or three times a day.. 3 to 4 rotation each and it's still steaming.

Good! That is what it's supposed to do albeit an bit on the delayed effect side of things.

 

[Spok]

so my backyard is a forest filled with dense ass vegetative plants.
the plant growth is amazing to me. anyways im thinking since the plants seem to be flourishing so much, the soil must be good.

so im wondering if it would be a good idea to add some wild soil to my compost. also Are there any risks to this?

-thanks

 

[JackTheGrower]

so my backyard is a forest filled with dense ass vegetative plants.
the plant growth is amazing to me. anyways im thinking since the plants seem to be flourishing so much, the soil must be good.

so im wondering if it would be a good idea to add some wild soil to my compost. also Are there any risks to this?

-thanks

There will be biology in the wild soil. Some good for your garden and some maybe not so good.

You can gather , screen and mix with other materials and age it.

You can set it out in the sun to solarize the critters into leaving if there are critters in it.

You can add plants and top soil to a compost pile.

So some reasonable precautions and you will benefit. It's always important to amend soils with the plant nutrients if we are counting on a soil to be productive.

 

[JackTheGrower]

Update.

Update.

It was suggested that the pH may have been on the high side with the oyster shell i added and so as this batch's pH heads lower the bacteria are much more happy.

It's on up there friends! Way high.. Good. "It's better to burn out than to fade away" in this case for sure.

I always learn something from these experiences.




So it's Turn, Turn, Turn and lets see the available nitrogen and carbon get locked up in biological processes! That's the Organic Ticket!

 

[Oregongrow]

pile with pvc pipes. drill pipes to allow air into pile. No turning. cost is about $10.

 

[JackTheGrower]

pile with pvc pipes. drill pipes to allow air into pile. No turning. cost is about $10.

Yes. Or even pile with tree branches from what I saw on a TV show.. As long as the air can get in there will be aerobic decomposition albeit cold composting.

Well on the Update mode the pile has plummeted to 100-ish again. This is the other side of the "Hill" I was expecting for a long time.

So "Now" I am waiting for the temperature to taper off.

Nature has it's lessons and I believe I have been in school once again and gladly so.

A few more days? I hope so... LOL I need to make soil blocks for the Reveg thread.

Oh and I was at HomeBase and they have a really nice crank-Handle unit for $90 it's bigger than mine and easier to use.. No liquid collector but for larger batches? It's the Snit!

 

[Lazyman]

Great thread, I just re-started my composting a few weeks ago in my backyard.

I live out in the sticks and have a big veggie garden, and some animals so I get a pretty steady "crop" of hay, rabbit manure, weeds and kitchen scraps to feed it with. Next week I'll ask the gardener to start leaving me the grass clippings too so I can up the N content.

I dug a 3X3X2' deep pit and filled it to about 2' overflowing (4' high) and made sure my sprinklers give it a spritz every morning. I use a pitchfork to flip it about once a week, it's rotting fast and has dropped almost 2' in height since I started. I gotta get one of those compost thermometers though to see how hot it's getting.

 

[JackTheGrower]

yeah! It's just magic the free fertilizer!

I was just writing a friend to suggest building an old-tyme hardware cloth screen so that once he had finished product that screening it makes it a uniform size.

I'd go for the grass and even some leaves if the pile is hot. But not too many leaves as they breakdown more with fungus than bacteria.

So Yeah! Way to Go Friend.. Nature knows how to do it right!

 

[JackTheGrower]

The composting of the used soil with new materials is done.

I made soil blocks for another thread and I present a copy of that post here for this thread.

The soil mix is done! Wow that was a long composting!

You read that I took some "used soil mix" and composted it with new materials. That is what many call Cooking the Soil. Not to be confused with sterilizing the soil.

One thing I can say is that I learn new things every time I do things.

So lets see where am I in the story... Oh yeah the upgrade. I upgraded the mother room air. I figure with six flowering Moms I need the full can with a dedicated fan in there.


That is a nice sheet-metal can I bought on Ebay years ago. Just refill it with 4mm pellet and we are off!

So now on to the soil mix.

After a long composting process I went and mixed what was left of a peat+coir and Earthworm castings mix I had with the active compost in the tumbler. That brought it home as they say. I mean it helped get it to the usable point.
Now I needed to screen that composted soil mix and so I broke out the Quarter-Inch and used a yard tub to collect the grind.
I had soil aggregates that were very rich and dark when broken open.
I also screened the peat and coir that I cut this rich soil mix with.

This Quarter inch "grind" is ideal for soil blocks.
Soil blocks have a history that goes back to Native Americans and how they reclaimed and managed the lands. Thread It's very natural and an easy process for plants. Very little transplant stress.

So once I had the rich composted mix combined with the Peat/Coir mix I had enough for the six blocks and to fill the six three gallon containers.



Now I will be ready to clone just as soon as those blocks age a week. With soil blocks and cloning it is necessary to let it stand and let any chemical reaction happen. usually this relates to the addition of raw materials into a mix and not the biologically processed soil like I have done but all is fair and it is better to be safe then sorry.

So these nice 4 inch blocks will enjoy the sunshine for a few days then we will cut some clones!

I was rereading JJScorpio's Cloning thread .. Again.. It took a day and a night but I reread it again.
It's these delicate matters that can be frustrating if they don't go well.
I just had 3 of 5 sprouts of some Widow-Warrior die. Why? They seem to be shallow rooters and delicate.
That leaves two on tall pheno and one short pheno. I hope one is a boy. I will be crossing the Tiki-jo ( Kush pheno ) with Widow Warrior if I can.
I am officially splitting the line here.
I had to pick two of the four females because of space limitations and that was sad but, friends, I have f1's of all 4 mothers and each was a different experience with qualities of their own. I'll bet there are some interesting traits in those f1's so we have to make choices some time. Roads not travelled and all.

So it's locked in. Who and what.. I will be interested in how it turns out myself.. Thank You for reading along.
I can't invite the neighbors in but I can share my hobby with the world.. Ain't it the truth?

Oh and Check the Chinese god of money. That came from India.. I mean a friend went to India and brought it back for me. Is the dish he holds meant for us to touch and wish for things? Is that the mythology?

Anyway I tossed them into the garden to keep Bird company. Bull is happy to nap all the time as I don't make him do much.

Okay.. Next is the test run on making Colloidal Silver solution. As I wrote i will be doing the first batch for the experience of doing it. Also I need a brown glass jug or jar.. Any suggestions of a source? I'll Google later.

Ernst

The soil mix ended with noticeable nitrogen smell. It could have meandered many days more but I cut it with Peat & Coir and made blocks.
Those blocks are slow drying and so they will cure well.
For plants the compost is fine as is but for cloning too much nitrogen is a bad thing.

So Score another one for the Compost Tumbler!

I will be updating the BSF thread soon. That plastic tub storing the BSF compost attracted the BSFs again when the temperature warmed up.


So can I answer any questions on general composting, recycling soil mixes or ??


Ernst

 

[blwd67]

I added kelp meal, blended bananas, and alfalfa meal to my pile yesterday. Mixed well and watered. I was gone all day, just got back. Pile is almost to hot to touch and stinks. I think way to much N, so I left the top off to try and let some excess escape. I think tomorrow or Monday I am going to place an order for some Azomite. Also going to go on a search for dolemite. We will see.

Black soldier fly compost? Interesting...
Did some reading, maybe I will consider this when I get a worm compost going. Seems they speed the process up quite a bit and really help the worms thrive.

 

[JackTheGrower]

I added kelp meal, blended bananas, and alfalfa meal to my pile yesterday. Mixed well and watered. I was gone all day, just got back. Pile is almost to hot to touch and stinks. I think way to much N, so I left the top off to try and let some excess escape. I think tomorrow or Monday I am going to place an order for some Azomite. Also going to go on a search for dolomite. We will see.

Black soldier fly compost? Interesting...
Did some reading, maybe I will consider this when I get a worm compost going. Seems they speed the process up quite a bit and really help the worms thrive.

No one has ever given the feedback you do. Thanks!

It's is actually easy to compost and mix materials. Since it's reasonable for small batches and exotic materials I am hoping you can validate the utility of composting soil mixes.

the BSF is a process of working without air or anaerobic style. It involves the grubs of an insect called the Black Soldier Fly.

I should update the thread as they came to my "box" of old BSF and started to lay eggs so I am feeding them again and the colony is thriving.

Nice critters really. The adults don't eat at all I understand but the grubs.. Well that is all they do 24/7 I think.

Organic soil is actually very easy. It seems difficult because we are disconnected from the soil for the most part.
By that just look in the "garden Section" of many stores and see the poisons, chemical fertilizers and other products that are supposed to be the synthesis of what is natural.
I am always amazed that in the Garden section that a huge amount of shelf space is spent on chemicals that kill things. Is it the American way?

 

[blwd67]

I am always amazed that in the Garden section that a huge amount of shelf space is spent on chemicals that kill things. Is it the American way?

Dude I'll maybe try and respond after I stop laughing my fuckin ass off hahaha

Seriously, though, there are no more frogs, turtles, toads, slugs, snails, lizards, skinks, etc in my yard because (my opinion anyway) every one of my neighbors pours gallons and gallons of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on their lawn every week. Sure, it looks like a golf course (cept my yard heh) but its frackin dead, man. Its like stepford lawns in this MFer.

From my limited research on BSF larvae they seem to be able to process the more raw organic materials that worms cant and produce a liquid(ish) byproduct that can then be further broken down by worms. Does this sound right? For what applications do you use the resulting sludge (I think I remember you werent a huge fan of worm composting)? Will be reading more.

 

[JackTheGrower]

Dude I'll maybe try and respond after I stop laughing my fuckin ass off hahaha

Seriously, though, there are no more frogs, turtles, toads, slugs, snails, lizards, skinks, etc in my yard because (my opinion anyway) every one of my neighbors pours gallons and gallons of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on their lawn every week. Sure, it looks like a golf course (cept my yard heh) but its frackin dead, man. Its like stepford lawns in this MFer.

From my limited research on BSF larvae they seem to be able to process the more raw organic materials that worms cant and produce a liquid(ish) byproduct that can then be further broken down by worms. Does this sound right? For what applications do you use the resulting sludge (I think I remember you werent a huge fan of worm composting)? Will be reading more.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=135093

and the video with nifty audio disabled.
https://www.icmag.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=588

Well they do process and the result is best described as composting without air.

Yeah EW is possible but perhaps not necessary.

The BSF are back and so I am feeding them. These guys can and will eat anything. A whole chicken? No problem.. Watch it sink in the masses.

I am going to watch the video now..

The Video is nicer with the Music.. Led Zeppelin and Yes..

 

[Spok]

are beans and pasta ok to compost?

 

[JackTheGrower]

are beans and pasta ok to compost?

The only issues are oils and meats. Meat will attract pests, animals and will smell bad.
I assume you are cold composting?

 

[Spok]

The only issues are oils and meats. Meat will attract pests, animals and will smell bad.
I assume you are cold composting?

this might be a dumb question, but does beans have any oils in it.

and im new to composting, what is cold composting?

 

[blwd67]

What kind of beans? Cold composting is basically just making a pile of organic matter and letting nature take it's course. This method provides high grade compost but takes forever. Hot composting is a more active aproach where by the composter turns the pile daily to speed up aerobic microbe activity, thus speeding up the entire process. Or just read this thread, man, jack knows his shit. Some great examples of both types and their benefits and shortcomings.

 

[Spok]

What kind of beans? Cold composting is basically just making a pile of organic matter and letting nature take it's course. This method provides high grade compost but takes forever. Hot composting is a more active aproach where by the composter turns the pile daily to speed up aerobic microbe activity, thus speeding up the entire process. Or just read this thread, man, jack knows his shit. Some great examples of both types and their benefits and shortcomings.

i guess im cold composting then. i started the pile about a month ago and have just been adding to it. i plan to use it next year.

il get back to you on the beans, i gota find out what kind they are.

 

[Spok]

i just foud out their organic baked beans so im sure their ok

 

[blwd67]

Yeah I am sure they are fine, I was just asking if they were prepared a certain way. You should look into starting a hot pile also. You can use a container, such as a large rubber trash bin, that is easy to flip. Hot compost is nice because you can kind of tayler it to your needs and likes.