compost problem

 hello,
the first batch of compost i made in my new! tumbling! composter!! was
absolutely tops. this second batch is not going well at all - would anyone
have any thoughts?

at first, it dripped profusely out the holes. then, it heated up. my
goodness!! i had inadvertantly made an incendiary device (don't tell john
howard) and it was actually smoking. i cooled it by turning it often &
leaving the lid off for 4-5 days until it cooled. after it cooled, it
recommenced to drip profusely. now, several weeks later, it's too cold & the
composting stuff has merged into big wet gobs about the size of two fists, i
can't get it heated & the gobs won't break up naturally & to do so with my
hands is extraordinarily unpleasant (whereas i don't normally mind _what_ i
put my hands in, so it's really not nice at all). i added some lime to no
effect. it doesn't smell bad - it just doesn't smell like anything at all
(certainly not that lovely composty smell).

my idea was that tomorrow i'll empty it out & break up the lumps with a
spade, & then put it back in for a while with some more lime & some
partly-decomposed chicken-pooey straw (for carbon with a poo-boost) & see
what it's like after a week. if still no good i might just dump it out to
break down on its own & start again.

does anyone have a better idea? does anyone know what went wrong? i strongly
suspect the materials were just too wet & nitrogenous (iirc it was mainly
fruit peels & such, from the cafe) & not enough carbon, even though there
was quite a bit of paper in there.

thanks for any thoughts!
kylie

 When its smoking, its just right according to the taliban!

Add some shovel fulls of ordinary garden dirt, and the bacteria in
dirt will help a bit, also add some blood and bone.
If you dont add dirt the system wont work normally. Also there's
usually some worm castings in the dirt, which all goes to help.
Let us know how you get it right!
PS a lot of compact stuff is not a good idea. You should use mixed
sizes of compost to allow air into the system....But that may not
aplly to a rotary composter.
I have had this idea for a drum type composter with small wind
assisted rotation attachment.
Will get around to it one day I guess!



0tterbot wrote:

 
it's worth pointing out that tumbling compost isn't really "normal" :-) for
ordinary compost in a bin, you should have it on the ground directly & i
know some people like to put a layer of soil in their recipe (although
others don't). if it's in a pile on the ground, it will eventually break
down into nice compost come what may & no matter how long it might take, yet
i suspect that if a tumbling composter was just walked away from, you might
not get that, because it's seperated from the normal bugs & usual rotting
environment.

in tumbled compost, you won't have any worms, slaters, & other creatures
that you normally would. it's a different & rather more artifical system.

 Also there's

i know!!! i wish i knew why it conglomerated into disgusting gobs. i think
the whole mix was just wrong.

You should use mixed

it's an interesting idea! i'm pretty sure you wouldn't want it rotating
constantly though, unless you had a really really biiiiig one, so that the
bacteria weren't being constantly tossed about. my theory is that, like with
soil, they need an element of peace & quiet to do their thing, which they
can't do if constantly disturbed (that's just my theory though). you tumble
it a few times every two days with the model i have.
kylie

 OK got you this. Hope it helps.Re rotation, I reckon we need to keep
the oxygen into the pile, and constant rotation while it may disturb
the buildup of heat, mixes the pile better and you should still
manually stop the rotation of the device.

  Decomposing organisms need four key elements to thrive:

     1. Nitrogen 50%
     2. Carbon   50%
     3. Moisture
     4. Oxygen

  For best results, mix materials high in nitrogen (such as clover,
fresh grass clippings,

and livestock manure) and those high in carbon (such as dried leaves
and twigs).

If there is not a good supply of nitrogen-rich material, a handful of
general lawn fertilizer

will help the nitrogen-carbon ratio. Moisture can be  provided by
rain, but you may need to water

or cover the pile to keep it damp. Be careful not to saturate the
pile. Turning or mixing the

pile provides oxygen. Frequent turning yields faster decomposition.

  Getting started

  Many materials can be added to a compost pile, including leaves,
grass clippings,

straw, woody brush, vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds,
livestock manure,

sawdust, and shredded paper. Do not use diseased plants, meat scraps
that may

attract animals, and dog or cat manure which can carry disease.
Composting can be

as simple or as involved as you would like, and depends on how much
yard waste you have,

how fast you want results, and the effort you are willing to invest.

  Cold or slow composting

  With cold or slow composting, you can just pile grass clippings and
dry leaves on the

ground or in a bin. This method requires no maintenance, but it will
take several

months to a year or more for the pile to decompose. Cold composting
works well if

you are short on time needed to tend the compost pile at least every
other day,

have little yard waste, and are not in a hurry to use the compost.
Keep weeds and

diseased plants out of the mix since the temperatures reached with
cold composting

may not be high enough to kill the weed seeds or disease-causing
organisms. Add yard

waste as it accumulates. Shredding or chopping speeds up the process.

To easily shred material, run your lawn mower over small piles of
weeds and trimmings.

Cold composting has been shown to be better at suppressing soil-borne
diseases than

hot composting. Cold composting also leaves more non-decomposed bits
of material,

which can be screened out if desired.

  Hot composting

  Hot composting requires more work, but with a few minutes a day and
the right

ingredients you can have finished compost in a few weeks depending on
weather

conditions.>>> The composting season coincides with the growing
season. <<<<External temperature has an effect too!

When conditions are favorable for plant growth, those same conditions
work

well for biological activity in the compost pile. However, since compost

generates heat, the process may continue later into the autumn or winter.

  Hot piles do best when high-carbon material and high-nitrogen material

are mixed in a 1 to 1 ratio. A pile with the minimum dimensions of 3'
x 3' x 3'

is needed for efficient heating. For best heating, make a heap that is
4 or 5

feet in each dimension. As decomposition occurs, the pile will shrink.

If you don't have this amount at one time, simply stockpile your
materials

until a sufficient quantity is available for proper mixing.

  Hot piles reach 110 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, killing most weed seeds

and plant diseases. Studies have shown that compost produced at these

temperatures has less ability to suppress diseases in the soil since

these temperatures may kill some of the beneficial bacteria necessary

to suppress disease.

WOW what a lot of things to take into account.
Back to my compost heap. It seems to work, and I'm in no hurry...so
its not being watched either.

 

(snippage)

i agree with all of that :-)

tried to up the carbon content in my replacement batch back to my usual sort
of mixture. left the gobby compost in an unappetising pile on the ground. my
dog loves compost - he's been making bottom music all night. (sigh).

i think i need to have a better look at the stuff that is coming to us from
the cafe before it goes in. this time around there's much less fruit & much
more coffee grounds so it should go much better. other things that were in
there while it was waiting to go into the tumbler seem mostly broken down
and unidentifiable...


i never had any problems with mine when i wasn't in a hurry either :-) it
just used to sit there, really. eventually i'd get to it & it would be so
old & broken down i've ended up with hardly any <g>. now i am a grown-up
lady i have two standing bins & the rotating one.
kylie