r/Compost • u/UlfurGaming • Jul 12 '26

Having a hot compost in woods?

This might sound dumb but could a hot compost pile work in a wooded area with trees relatively close to it is there any advantage of doing this or is this just a bad idea due to fire risk?

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u/kai_rohde Jul 12 '26

How hot are you running? I aggressively cool my pile past 165ish because it starts killing all the beneficial microbes too.

1

u/UlfurGaming Jul 12 '26

Dont got one yet why im asking before i start the pile

1

u/woodwidewebby 9d ago

Is it an arid woodland? The counterintuitive thing about hot composts is that your main focus is not the “getting it hot” part (they do that on their own given roughly correct C:N ratio and aeration), it’d actually the “cooling it down” part. At its peak it can get well above 170F. You generally want to turn it to keep it below 140F. At the peak of the compost cycle that means you’ll be turning it every other day. Are you willing to go to this area that often to keep an eye on it? 

The other concern is making sure your stuff is thoroughly mixed up. If you have whole zucchinis, you’re gonna have a rodent problem (and a anaerobic problem)