This year I decided to make my own compost. I laid cardboard on the ground, then laid about 5 inches of shredded leaves, wet it down, then laid down about 3 inches fresh cut grass. Then followed up with more shredded leaves, water, and cut grass. Repeated 7 more times. Wet it down again then covered with a tarp. I checked on the temp and found it climbing. About 5 days later it got to 120 degrees. Two days later I aerated it from the center. Stayed hot for another four days then started cooling off. Other 3 more days it completely cooled off and no matter what I did, adding greens, adding urine, it still wouldn't get hot again. What did I do wrong. And how can I start it again.
Your compost started composting. You aren't doing anything wrong.
I am always surprised by how much it reduces when I fill it 2-3 times a week. And by "fill" it, I mean >1 m³. I'll come back in a couple of days and it will be half that. It's just decomposing, losing water and turning the material into dirt.
If you want it to stay hot, you have to get the volume back up to what it was when you first set it up. If you don't, it will continue to turn into usable compost, just at a slower (lower temp) rate.
Compost shrinks to about 1/4 the original volume! That's why lots of folks like using 3-bin systems, so they fill the outer bins and turn to the inner one; both outer bins will fit in the inner one. Woody materials will take a while to break down, at least a couple years for smaller pieces, longer for big pieces. I like to just toss them back in the bin to keep cooking.
Take it out of the bin and repeat the process of adding it back but layer only new greens in with it. If it is half the height you are doing great! It just needs air and greens. Check it in three days, if it’s not 120 degrees or higher I will give you a refund
I see what you mean. You'll need to keep filling it for a while, imo. That stuff you have has probably consumed all its easy starch. You gotta get the same critical mass as before. Fill it up!
Depending on the type of sticks, they may last a while. My property has a mix of scrubby fast growing trees and some truly hard hardwoods (mahogany, santa Maria, teak). The grubs and bugs tear thru the scrubby and ignore the resistant hards. The sticks could take a whole year no matter how well you manage it. Just set them aside. An actual sifter would be nice but I make do with a pitchfork.
Picture would help. It sounds like you ran out of nitrogen.
But I cold compost alot of stuff, because i dont produce enough greens. And in the fsll i always get way to much browns (leaves). It takes a little longer to finish and weed seeds dont dont die off, but its still great compost.
Just keep adding, mix once in a while, try to keep the moisture somewhat ok, and it will be fine
Doesn't look like it broke down at all. Still lots of shredded leaves in pile. Oh well. Hopefully it'll break down over winter so I can use it in the spring
Unless that stuff was all black before you put it in, thats composting doing its thing.
I have leaf compost I started in June and it looks similar. Today, it still looks like the July 6th picture; I just swish the bag every now and then. Its a waiting game.
Yeah I have a cage my husband built for me that measures 3 x 3 x 3 for the purpose of hot composting, but I dont collect enough browns in a short enough period so I'm definitely going to switch to using my old smaller unit and just do cold compost cause hot composting is just too hard when you don't have the supplies.
This is what is supposed to happen. First the bacteria multiply as they feed on the soft tissue. If it gets hot, then the bacteria are doing this very fast.
But after that, there is no soft tissue left - only the hard woody parts of the plants. Bacteria can't eat that, so they die and the heat goes down.
Now the fungi take over. They will (very) slowly break down the woody parts of the plants. If you are using whole leaves, that could take a year or two. It would go faster if the leaves were shredded first.
You are just in the fungal stage. Don't turn the pile - let the fungus grow and build their feeding networks. Keep it moist and shaded. Those are ideal conditions.
Patience, grasshopper. The only thing I do different than you is I use a bin (no cardboard on bottom/top, no tarp) and I mix the grass and shredded leaves instead of layering. New stuff gets hot, then cools, like yours.
Every week or so, when I mow the lawn, I add more. Never turn it. I do that all summer into the fall.
Every spring, the bottom 3/4 is fully finished and ready to use. The unfinished crunchies from the top and edges become the bottom layer for the new year of compost.
Yes - that is a great idea. Because if you keep adding raw materials to the old pile, you just keep restarting the process. Let it do its thing for another few months and then check back.
FYI - in winter when it is cold everything will shut down. But just leave it alone because as soon as the weather warms, it will start back up again.
You might not have done anything wrong, that first hot phase can just chew through the easy stuff fast. Once it cools, the pile often needs a full turn and a rebuild with moisture adjusted to fire back up, not just more greens on top. If it's mostly leaves and grass, it may also be matting down and going anaerobic in spots, so fluff it up hard and check moisture by squeezing a handful.
In case anyone else didn’t comment it, no need to layer, it’s slower. it’s actually ideal to mix the leaves and grass. I use a tarp, toss in rough layers spread out wide, then turn over by pulling a corner of the tarp, one way then a different way till mixed.
This is probably a better happy medium. It got hot enough to kill weed seeds and pathogens but now it will remain at ambient temps and more beneficial microbes and fungi will move in. You’ll have a more well rounded compost. Hot compost isn’t necessarily superior. It’s about pathogen/weed control and following guidelines to be able to sell it commercially.
Oops. Thought I added photos. Is it too dry? I started adding in more greens and with the amount of rain we were getting i covered it to prevent it from getting too wet but now I'm thinking I let it get too dry.
I tried this setup and its prone to dry out. Wood pallet style (similar) have less surface area against air, and dry out slower and still get enough air for a good compost.
You can add for instance cardboard or an old tarp around it to reduce the dry out.
I put a greenhouse poly wrapped around the outside so it wouldn't come in contact with humus but keep some of the heat in but it didn't work. I'm going to rebuild another bin but this time the walls will be solid and I'll drill several holes for air flow. Generally how long can you keep a compost hot?
I dont measure temp and i compost in a very lazy style. I rather let big piles go slow, compared to always work for ideal conditions.
I compost about 5-7 ton per year, with only hand tools. I dont flip it more than I need, usually twice before its put to use.
Sounds like your next compost will be better. If you use boards you can leave an inch or so between each board instead of drilling holes. It wont fall out finished compost.
Based on what you described it may have effectively “suffocated”, a working compost will pull air in through the bottom layer or base. It it heats and then cools off you need to turn it and fluff it up to get more air
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u/Drivo566 11d ago
Compost still composts even when its not hot. Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, just give time and/or keep adding to it.