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| I have filled one of my compost bins full but I have a 5 gallon bucket of chicken litter left over. I want to start another pile but the only thing I have on hand is a big (unknown gallon amount 30 gals?) wooden planter box that could double as a compost bin. The problem is I have some soil in it and the bottom of the wooden box is still intact. I am worried that because the bottom is still intact and the compost won't have any direct contact with the soil the worms and what not will not be able to move in and do their good work. Is it possble to turn a manure based ingredients into compost without direct contact with the ground? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Don't know the diameter of your pile, but if you have formed a dish shape in your compost pile, I would overlay the pile with the manure. N will move down with rain or snow melting which is what you want for the C. N on the planter box tends to biodegrade the wood (even teak or redwood) as it is soluble and would move through the soil with moisture. Just an opinion. hortster |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 20:20
| Yeah, It doesn't matter where or how your bin is located, if you make it conducive to their happy habitat, they will come.. I have concrete bins and piles on tarps and after they have finished cooking, the worms are abundant.
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- Posted by earthworm73 WA z8b (My Page) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 22:27
| jon that's smokin'. lol Do you use manure to get your piles hot? |
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- Posted by earthworm73 WA z8b (My Page) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 22:37
| jon that's smokin'. lol Do you use manure to get your piles hot? |
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- Posted by earthworm73 WA z8 (My Page) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 22:41
| jon that's smokin'. lol Do you use manure to get your piles hot? |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 22:46
| No.. Just greens (grass clippings/plant refuse) and such ;-) |
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- Posted by earthworm73 WA (My Page) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 22:52
| Thanks jon for the response and sorry for the triple posts. |
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| Many people seem to think that compost must be in contact with the ground so the earthworms, which are not part of the initial digestion process, can make contact with that material. If you material is in close to the proper proportion with just enough moisture the bacteria that do the digestion will generate too much heat for the earthworms to live in and any in your compost would then cook. Earthworms need a cool, moist environment to live in, not a hot, moist environment. |
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- Posted by belgianpup Wa/Zone 7b (My Page) on Sat, Oct 1, 11 at 0:55
| Your bin that is currently full won't be full for long, as it will shrink. You can leave the chicken manure in the bucket in a dry place, then add it later. |
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| Vermicomposting: is a compost process that specifically uses worms to create worm dirt/castings. there is an entire forum on gardenweb devoted to that subject... very friendly folks over there. I would think your chicken manure is a Nitrogen source... for me, i have lots more carbon sources (leaves) lying around than I do N, so i would love to add that bucket to a bunch of leaves and start cooking a new compost pile :) |
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| I suppose it depends on what sort of composting you're planning to do. My piles ultimately heat up, but I still get worms on the outside, and they do (I imagine, anyway) aid in the process. And sometimes my pile can sit for awhile without the proper proportions to heat up. For instance, right now I am starting a new one but don't have enough greens... so the worms are coming and I suppose they are helpful. But no, you don't need worms but they're not all going to cook, either, if you do have them... and I second the statement about wanting that bucket! |
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| I hope you don't mind me jumping into this discussion, but I also have a question. I have one of those four sided black bins from Lowe's with the flip-top lid. Last year the pile went down so fast it was almost funny. We laughed that we just kept adding stuff but it never filled up and at the end of summer we had some great compost. However............we had it up against the house because it was the best place for it to catch the late afternoon, hottest sun, but when I saw the amount of bugs and lots of people said NEVER put it against your house so we moved it. Now it is shaded from about 2pm because it is near our privacy fence, but there's no place else we can really put it. It doesn't seem to be composting, just sitting there rotting........ what can I do to help it heat up. I thought I remembered reading something about dumping a jar of molasses in. I'd appreciate any suggestions. TIA :) |
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- Posted by earthworm73 WA z8 (My Page) on Sun, Oct 2, 11 at 17:56
| Oops obviously I never got that email about never placing the compost against your house. What kinda problems can you have with that? Mine has been against my house for the past two seasons and I have not noticed ant obvious problems. |
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| I live in FL earthworm and there were HUGE roaches in there (Palmetto bugs to be politically correct...) and also large red ants. People were saying that they could get into the house........... |
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| Contrary to what some people think sunlight is not a major contributor to the composting process. My compost gets digested quite well on the north side of the yard tool shed where they are not getting any sunlight. I have seen composty piles in full sun that never heated up because the mix was not close to what it needed to be and other compost piles actively composting in January when the mix was close to optimal. Compost piles that attract vermin are not in optimal condition, there is a problem that need to be fixed. Flie larva (maggots) and other similar things need an environment that is too moist for optimal composting. Ants prefer an environment too dry for optimal composting. Any odor other then good rich earth (and I know there are people that have no knowledge of that) is not good and needs a good look to determine the problem. |
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| Jon - Your compost is only greens? Wow! |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, Oct 11, 11 at 17:15
| Hi Montcal, I was answering a question that was posed ....ie... jon that's smokin'. lol Do you use manure to get your piles hot?
No.. Just greens (grass clippings/plant refuse) and such ;-) I use appropriate amounts of Greens and Browns to have a well balanced pile...
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- Posted by gardenz4evr z7 MD (My Page) on Wed, Oct 12, 11 at 12:02
| This is a good thread. Thanks for the posts. |
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| The problem with putting compost up against your house is the decomposting stuff may cause your exterior walls to rot.. You need a good mix of browns and greens for it to heat up to the optimal temperature, not much else and it will happen naturally as per photos above ^_^ |
Here is a link that might be useful: things to put in your compost
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Wed, Oct 12, 11 at 15:08
| belgianpup, totally agree! I don't think of composting as a certain mix, it's just where any appropriate material gets deposited until the receptacle is full. Then it's left alone, stirred occasionally, until almost all of the pieces are unrecognizable. Then the contents are put where needed, and filling it up starts again. Any big pieces of stuff that aren't ripe" yet are thrown back in to keep rotting. If I waited for the mix to be "correct" I would never get any compost made. Whatever I have, whenever I have it, goes in the compost which is in a big plastic 55 gallon drum with the top cut off, and it's also sometimes a pile on the ground when it won't all fit in the drum, and I found a beat-up kiddie pool a few weeks ago and have managed to fill it almost all the way with more kitchen scraps, twigs, chunks of sod, dead veggie plants, and leaves/grass from the lawnmower bag. Even with the drought we had this summer, there was always some bugs in the barrel whenever I stirred it up, especially palmetto bugs (if you're a southerner, giant cockroaches to a yankee.) Wherever 2 or more dead leaves congregate, there will b some kind of bugs or worms or both eating them, just fulfilling their link in the chain. |
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| Great info. Thank you. |
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