How long should i let it sit?

[frankenstein2]

I just recently started a compost pile. I wanna be able to have my own dirt on hand instead of to have to keep buying it. I took about 20 bags worth of used happy frog dirt and dumped it on the edge of my lawn. I dumped lots of grass clipping from the lawn mower bag on it. Let it sit for two days, then mixed the shit out of it. Two days ago I added some bone and blood meal, prolly 3lbs. of each. Added some lobster compost as well. Gave it all a good mixing, and it's stewing right now.
My plan is to keep adding used happy frog, grass clippings, and in the fall, dead leaves. Then next spring I will have some nice dirt to use. What I wanna know is what everyone thinks is the soonest I can use it. I was hoping that I could use some of it this year towards the end of july. Just wanna put a few in small dishes to see how good it's gonna be. Is that too early to start using it. I have no problem waiting thru winter if it's just gonna burn and kill my plants. Almost forgot I will be adding Earth worm castings soon too.

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

What your making is compost...sort of. In 3-6 months, would I plant directly into this? The answer is NO. As soon as the pile cooled down, I would add it to my worm bin, wait a month or two, and then I'd screen it through 1/4" screen. This will separate the best castings from the worms. A thermophilic compost pile should be 3x3x3ft. The goal is 30:1, C:N ratio.

If you would like to recycle your used 'Crappy Frog' soil, add 20-30% lobster compost to it, and possibly 20-25% aeration amendment (I'm not looking at it, does it seem like it needs it?) and add 1/2 gallon of dead leaves per cu. ft.

I'd recommend some dry amendments to add to this ^^^^ but Id like to know what you did to it initially and how the plants performed.

Good luck
RD

 

[Mr.Fastcast]

When it smells good and you don't see the grass anymore( when It all looks like dirt)I love the smell of dirt!

 

[trichrider]

that's gonna be next year. Fastcast is right, when you cannot recognize what's in it.

decomposition...

yard waste will get you there, but read the ROLS thread for more ingrediants...you'll never look back!

 

[CheifnBud2]

hey rancho, why you call it "crappy frog" ??

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

Hey just so you know...I didn't neg rep the guy that is a perfectly reasonable question.

To be honest my answer kinda sucked...here's why:

I ain't exactly sure what the guy is workin w/ other than approx. 250 gallons of Happy Frog. Well over a yard 3ft x 3ft x 3ft...which is recommended to make a thermophylic compost pile.

What I don't know is the amount of grass clippings he has added to pile when he says 'lots' of grass clippings. I guess I pictured a pile as big as his Happy Frog pile...I dunno.

A small amount of grass clippings to get some more organic material/humus into the Happy Frog would be great.

If the pile does turn into compost it's a beautiful thing. Simply add peat/aeration/liming mix into it...and now ya got even more soil to play with. I throw grass clippings, massive amounts of coffee grounds, chicken shit, leaves, hardwood sawdust, kitchen scraps, fish I catch, and wild harvest plants like stinging nettle, yarrow, horstail, etc...just about anything and everything I can get my hands on. When the compost is ready...I feed it to my worms. I feel like this works well because quality EWC is very hard to find and expensive if you can get it. Peat/perlite/lava/ pea gravel are all cheap and easy to find.

Chief2Bud-

Hey no offense man...I feel that way about all bagged commercial soil mixes Roots,
Foxfarm etc, etc. You can make a much higher quality soil simply and more economically by doing it yourself and the OP is on his way to doing in a round a bout way ... just that.

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

Edit: Goddamn I'm high this morning. Really I'm trying to make a judgement call on something that has happened yet. Keep doing what you're doing man or just go the compost route and in 3-6 months you'll know what you're looking at.

 

[frankenstein2]

Thanks guys!! I don't care about the neg rep. Just some pussy who can't speak their mind, lol. So essentially I'm making a recycled organic soil, with a little bit of composting to boot. I'm definitely gonna wait till next year to use it. By then it should be just what i'm looking for.