Steaming Compost

KB3GZW

Leafing Out
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
22
Location
Zone 6B - Lehigh Valley, Pa
I have been composting for years now and I have never had a compost pie that steamed. I live very close to a mulch supplier and EVERY morning there piles are steaming. I add kinds of things like food scraps, plant clippings, grass, leaves and and other kind of brush. I soon will be getting chickens and I plan on putting the manure in there with it. What's the deal with no heat?
 

patandchickens

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
2,537
Reaction score
3
Points
153
Location
Ontario, Canada
If your pile isn't heating up (much), it's most likely either too small, or things are added too gradually, or it's too dry.

Stuff will still break down in a cold (so-called) compost pile, it just takes longer, and you can't count on seeds or pathogens being killed.

Pat
 

KB3GZW

Leafing Out
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
22
Location
Zone 6B - Lehigh Valley, Pa
I would suspect I add things to gradually and don't give enough water. The bin it is in is about 5x6x4 and it is about 2/3rds full. So I don't think it is to small. That is over the winter, during the summer I add the grass clippings and I bet it gets pretty hot after I add those. I just never checked that.
 

poppycat

Garden Ornament
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
111
Reaction score
0
Points
94
Well chicken poo and used bedding will help get the temperature up. Once I started adding the litter from my first four chickens it really improved the quality of my compost.

A compost thermometer is a fun tool too you can see exactly where things are and they don't cost alot of $$.
 

KB3GZW

Leafing Out
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
22
Location
Zone 6B - Lehigh Valley, Pa
Ya I looked around for those on the web. they look like a meat thermometer, but LOTS longer.

I wonder if there is a place locally that sells them?
 

patandchickens

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
2,537
Reaction score
3
Points
153
Location
Ontario, Canada
Enh, shove your shovel in, pry an opening big enough to get your arm into, and *feel* how hot the middle of the pile feels. If it feels HOT as in 'Yeow I Don't Want My Hand In There' hot, it is roughly hot enough to kill weed seeds etc... if it doesn't, it isn't.

:)

Pat
 

sparks

Garden Ornament
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
124
Reaction score
0
Points
94
Location
Eau Claire, WI
YIKES!!! 37 degrees today and when I turned my compost it was STEAMING!! for the first time in about 15 years. Kudos to chicken manure from my deep litter method. What a great day!:dance
 

MissPrissy

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Nov 21, 2007
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
27
We have a cart full of chipped apple wood from a downed tree we ground up. It rained 2 days before we could empty it. On the 3rd day when the sun came out and I turned out the chips it was all steaming and smelling wonderful!
 

KB3GZW

Leafing Out
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
22
Location
Zone 6B - Lehigh Valley, Pa
I haven't mowed the grass in a few months and I now remember how hot the grass clippings would be just dumping them out of the bagger. I get it now.
 

whatnow?

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Apr 15, 2008
Messages
91
Reaction score
0
Points
33
Location
SE PA
More nitrogen and most of it at once. I tried to turn my pile while it was cooking last year and burned my skin grabbing a rock out of the middle. It is 4' x 4' x 3'.
 
Top