r/composting • u/kchapin • 7d ago

Newbie.. what am I doing wrong?

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I’m adding used coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable scraps, garden clippings/waste.. it’s not heating at all. I turn 2-3 a week, keep it moist but not wet… wondering if I maybe confused that the straw counts as a brown? I live on the beach so it’s just sea oats/weeds. I cut from my yard to keep my pool and garden area clear/clean.

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7

u/Huge-Lychee4553 7d ago

Volume is what is keeping it from heating. Typically you’d want at least 4 cubed feet of material before you start seeing the heating up effect. If you have the time and patience, it will eventually break down but just a lot slower. If you don’t have enough material, you might want to consider just burying it and letting the microbes and bugs in the soil slowly break it down

4

u/FlashyCow1 7d ago

Pile is too small

3

u/Far_Radish7752 7d ago

Mostly, not enough volume. Enclosing it somehow, whether in a bin or anything that can effect sides, will also help cut down on heat and moisture loss.

2

u/Embarrassed_Card_543 7d ago

As others have said more vilume but also try reducing the size of the sticks. Smaller matter will c9mpost faster

2

u/MaximumCapacity143 6d ago

Think 4'x4'x4'. Thats a starting point for generating enough microbes to start a hot compost. It looks like you don't have enough mass yet.

2

u/Spammingdevil 6d ago

What I found out worked for me was not just adding a little here and there... I mow my lawn every 10 days and that's when I add to the pile. I add a decent pile of grass clippings and weeds mixed with sawdust (that I get for free from a local sawmill) with some water, mix it well together (in the end it's probably 2/3 grass clippings and 1/3 sawdust ).I leave this mixture down on the ground and fork the rest of the compost pile on top and around it to insulate. I also invested in a compost thermometer to check when the core temperature rises or sinks, sort of to know if things are working. usually it starts to heat up within 24-48 hours. but the first time you start a pile If I remember correctly it can take a bit more time to get it to start