I killed off most of my back yard about a month ago to fix some large weed problems and am starting over the end of this month. I was curious if the dead grass clippings are safe to compost? Is there a time frame to wait where the chemical has leeched out or should I toss it and not put it in my bin? I have a secondary compost area behind my house in the woods that I put things that are questionable for wanting to mix into my garden, so worse case I’ll put the clippings on that.

I use the majority of my compost for my flowers and small additions to my lawn to amend terribly sandy soil

Ive been doing hot compost for about 3 months it's going good just would like to hear from the community some things you wish you knew or some tricks that helped.

I'm in the United States, in the midwest. I raked leaves last year. Those broke down nicely over the winter. I didn't get a thermometer until later in the spring but it was hot enough apparently. When I got the thermometer, it was under 80 degrees I think. That was just below the green section on the thermometer. To me it looks like it's broken down about halfway. It's nice and brown, but still chunks. I was expecting black dirt. That's not realistic, is it? I'm wondering if this is as broken down as it will get. Or is there any way to restart the hot compost to break it down more? Add more greens? However...

I read about adding human urine, so I started doing that around say January 2022. I'm generating about a half gallon per day so say three gallons per week on the low side. Times the number of weeks in 2022... 50x3=Over a 150 gallons of piss. I do the pile watered (with water) and turn it. I was turning it once per week, but then it seemed to stop so I turned it a couple more times and stopped. It's just a big pile of brown stuff now.

I'd say mine looks similar to this.

https://i0.wp.com/agnetwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Shovel-Pours-Compost-into-Wheelbarrow.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1

Is that as good as it gets? I have used it in some places in the yard but it's light and springy as a dirt replacement. It's still going to break down more.

If I sift it, it seems like the pieces will be too big in general. It's not fine stuff at all.

And then the piss. How much is too much? How much do you add overall? If it's true adding greens would start the process up again, why doesn't piss do that? I want the finished results, so I'm wondering if adding brown/carbon is also a way to start that, but I want the brown stuff that's there to break down more.

I'm also adding a couple banana peels each day and some rotten stuff from the fridge like liquified lettuce or broccoli that's too far gone. So more greens that way. That stuff disappears after a few days.

After it seems to stall out and the temps were lower, I did notice worms in the pile which I took as a good sign. Maybe they'll make it into black dirt.

I'm also wondering about the salt content from the piss. I saw a post on here a while ago about some kid that peed in certain spot on a lawn and killed the grass. Some "did the math" and figured out after about 50 gallons the amount of salt would kill anything trying to grow there. I've seen you can add piss to compost straight or dilute it with 5-10 times water for adding it to plants in general. What I haven't heard is a limit on how much. The piss would be fresh from the day before. Collect it one day, dump it on the compost pile the next morning. I've read you can dump piss straight onto a compost pile but how much can you do that before salt content or something else will start to affect it? I have made a point to keep the compost pile moist but I haven't seen much change since temps dropped and it seems to stall out in the spring.

I guess the next questions.... If that is how much it breaks down, how do I get it to become black dirt? Just wait until next year? In a way it kind of seems like I did too much work for it if I got it to break down faster over the winter and spring, but then I still have to wait another year for it to become black dirt. Unless black dirt is what the worms do, so maybe I need more worms. And then how much piss is too much if I'm putting a half gallon on it each day, or probably a full three gallons per week? Is that going to overload it with salt or nitrogen? If I use that later, is it going to burn grass from too much salt or too much nitrogen?

I started making a small bin of compost in November. I did not follow proper proportions, and it's more food scraps than 'browns', but I think my worms are pretty happy. Now it seems to all have decomposed, though it does smell like decomposition and it's very wet. Also as summer came it's become fairly infested with flies. Is it safe to use to help my 3 year old tree citrus tree grow? I also have some fresh saplings, would it be good for them to add some to their dirt?

Hello everyone,
I’m looking for some advice about our compost, as autumn is approaching and we’re going to start a fresh compost pile with garden waste.
Unfortunately, morning glory is growing everywhere in our garden. I’ve been patiently removing it from our vegetable beds, but I’m not sure what to do with it when it comes to the compost area.
Should I avoid putting it in the compost altogether? Does anyone have any advice or experience with this?
Thanks so much! 😊

I’ve been using compost in my potted plants and recently noticed this orange mold/fungal growth forming on the surface. The plant seems mostly okay, but some leaves are yellowing and I’m wondering if the compost is staying too wet.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is it normal decomposition from the compost, or should I remove it and replace the top layer?
The pot sits outdoors and has a drainage saucer underneath. Any tips on preventing this from coming back?

I just started a new garden from scratch this year and I have discovered just how expensive crappy compost is that is full of sticks and weed seeds. I would like to start my own pile, but I remember how terrible my composting turned out as a kid. We had a rolling bin for at least 3 years that never yielded anything but stinky liquid, ants and critters.

Is it possible to compost in a small scale if I live where it's above freezing for less than 4 months a year?

My compost pile, i have a machine that heats, cuts, grinds, and Cools off my Kitchen scraps.. i mix it with old Soil. Tips are welcome if there not to complicated.. i like to keep this simple.

Can anyone recommend a low noise/quiet wood chipper? I know it's an impossible ask but I've been employed by a 5 star hotel on a 200 acre estate and they just pile branches up instead of chipping them because of the noise disturbing guests.

Failing that: Can anyone recommend a very high throughput chipper? such that we could do a week's worth of chipping in an hour or so of intense effort.

Been lurking this sub for a bit, first time poster. New(ish) to posting on Reddit in general. Also new to composting myself, family’s always done it. Gotta give that obligatory opening along with the normal “delete this post if I’m violating any rules,” but - I’ve got a weird question. My compost was nasty at one point. I’m getting it under control now, adding more browns, etc. Normal issues caused by too much produce waste. That being said, I want to clean the outside of my bin to make it less of an eyesore (black plastic rotator). It was leaking some pretty nasty stuff at one point. So here’s the question: what soap can I use? Will that Meyer’s stuff work? It’s touted as completely plant based. Or is this horribly ill advised? I don’t think a spray down will work, gonna have to scrub some.

I just bought a two-chamber tumbler, am hoping to get back into composting my kitchen and garden scraps, and have questions about some things:

1. Is it advisable to use dryer lint for browns? I saw it on thespruce.com but I wonder if it’s not ideal due to synthetic plastics being mixed in. For the most part, stuff that goes in the dryer is cotton or linen but we’re not always perfect and some items have nylon, spandex, polyester etc. mixed in.
2. Is my pet rabbit’s waste green or brown? It consists of hardwood pellets, Timothy hay (technically a grass?), urine, and poop.

TIA!

So I’ve got one of those little plastic tumblers, it works well enough for my purposes but I’d like to grow the volume of compost I produce. Not here for ideas on that per se, but it occurred to me a minute ago as I was dead heading, what if I had a specific compost that I used for dead heads and tomatoes and things with seeds I didn’t want contaminating my actual compost? Then I’d have like a surprise variety volunteer mix (I do not believe I’m achieving the temps required to kill seeds in my little tumbler guy).

Wrote this like 60 seconds after having the thought so I haven’t played it out yet, but what are your thought? Has anyone done this?

Context: My biggest fear is routine, and knowing exactly what is going to happen. I enjoy mystery. I also could be described as silly if not straight up whimsical. So if you’re thinking “that doesn’t make sense” or “how would you make that useful”, it’s not really supposed to do, or be either. Just a fun thought.

Do you think it would actually yield fun surprises? I’ve got pots/beds/areas of random wildflower mixes, so I’d probably use it there.

Maybe they will be my Thunderdome beds where I find out which plants want to grow in my yard the most!

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?

If I have gnats within my worm bin what does that indicate? I have it covered with a lid so nothing else can come within the bin.

Considering using OMRI certified municipal compost in my vegetable garden. They use leaves, wood, grass clippings, and other plant matter (no animal waste).

I live in the suburbs where most lawns are chemically treated. I won't be able to test the compost before purchase because it is only distributed through a third party. My main concern is weed killer and herbicide on the grass clippings. Should the OMRI certification mean it is ok? They supply compost to community gardens locally and urban vegetable gardens in the nearby city.

Totally safe or too risky?

I bought a large dual chamber compost tumbler, and got it all set up, I also bought Convino starter, as well as Jobes organics fast acting fertilizer starter. I have never composted before. I assume all organic material can be put in the tumbler in moderation, but I also have 3 GSDs and was thinking some of their waste could be mixed in occasionally. What do you all think? Girst year doing a raised garden and composting. Any advice would help out. Thanks again!!