Making your own soil amendments (Part 1)
Hot Compost
Problems organisms in a compost pile will be killed if temperatures are:
● Above 131ºF for 3 days (72 hours) or more
● Above 150ºF for 2 days (48 hours) or more
● Above 165ºF for 1 day (24 hours) or more
THERMO (HOT) COMPOSTING TIPS
Get the ratios right
EXAMPLE: 10 (5-gallon) buckets works out to:
3 buckets green (immature biomass – leafy greenery/grass clippings/green leaves)
6 buckets brown/carbon (mature biomass – woody/dried leaves/straw/wood chips)
1 bucket high nitrogen (alfalfa/animal manure)
Get the heat up to 131˚F or more (up to 160˚F) to kill pathogens and weed seeds.
Not heating up?
Does it have enough greens and nitrogens (alfalfa/animal manure)? Or, do you have too much?
Is there enough moisture? You should be able to squeeze your compost in your hand with a wee bit of moisture coming through between your fingers.
Add biodynamic preparations to enhance compost vitality.
Test It & Try It
In The Soil Summit, Dr. Elaine Ingham, Soil Microbiologist, helps troubleshoot composting problems and suggests making a sample pile…
In a large jar, make a 10-cup version of your compost with your materials:
1 cup high nitrogen
3 cups green
6 cups woody (and not all the same wood)
Watch the temperature to see if it rises on its own within a couple hours. If the jar version does well, expect your pile to do well.