The natural breakdown of organic matter in rich, fertile soil is a very slow process. Somewhere in history human beings figured out how to speed up this process by adding different components. Today we are going to discover 6 different ways to ecological compost accelerator.
A compost pile is productive when the right balance between carbon and nitrogen is achieved, always kept moist and turned frequently. By following these 4 rules you won’t need to add accelerator but if you are having trouble because the decomposition is slow for some reason you have these possibilities to use compost accelerator to improve times and composting.
Contents
Why is my compost not heating?
When it reaches temperatures between 65°C and 71°C, it decomposes much faster and the good microbes needed for decomposition do not die. Instead, weed seeds and pathogens die. For a pile to stay warm throughout the composting process, it needs several factors.
Volume
Small compost piles will not retain heat as effectively as large piles. More material would have to be added to reach 0.084 cubic meters.
Humidity
They should be kept moist but not soaked, around the ideal percentage is between 40-60% humidity at all times.
Aeration
The more often the pile is removed, the faster it will decompose. A compost pile that is turned daily will produce compost in 2 weeks under the conditions described above. Every 2 days, in 3 weeks. Every 3 days, a month.
C:N ratio (Carbon – Nitrogen)
Most often the problem with the stack is that the C and N are not balanced. The ideal ratio of browns to greens is 30 parts C to 1 part N.
The problem is that not all materials have the same proportion of carbon or nitrogen. The stack will tell us if it is staggered or not, if there is too much N the stack will start sucking and if there is too much C the decomposition will slow down considerably.
Fixing a pile with little nitrogen is easy, as it only needs to add more green matter which will provide the microbes needed to break down the materials.
Urine
It may sound gross to you, but it’s a good source of nitrogen and it’s free. As long as the drugs are not taken, it can be used in the heap and the best time will be in the morning, because that is when the greatest amount of urea will be in the liquid gold, which is an excellent fertilizer used in agriculture.
grass clippings
If you have mowed the lawn this will be great to add to the pile and it is a compost accelerator , because it will generate a lot of heat in a short time. When freshly cut, it is added and mixed well into the pile to prevent it from rotting and creating anaerobic conditions, generating “bad” bacteria that will make the compost stink. You would have to add the CN ratio to 2 to 1 to avoid this. And increase the ventilation so that everything goes well. (N,P,K – 4,1,2)
blood meal
If you don’t have any green material to add to the pile, you can opt for blood meal with a high nitrogen content (N,P,K – 12,0,0).
It is a by-product of the slaughterhouse, the blood is collected and left to dry. To add to a pile, for every 71 grams of blood meal, 0.76 cubic meters of carbon-containing material should be added. If we are going to add the flour to a pile where there is already green material we must add 1 or 2 teaspoons and wait from 24 to 48 to see if the pile warms up, if this does not happen we repeat the process.
CULIVERS Blood meal 5 kg. Ecological fertilizer with…
- Organic fertilizer with high nitrogen content, obtained from blood meal
- Force-protesan provides a fast and balanced nitrogen supply
- Balanced Growth Activator
- Its nutrients are released gradually, covering the needs of the plant during its development.
- 100% ecological product by caee, registration number: 26172
Alfalfa
It is a very useful plant to grow in the garden. It can be used to feed animals, as a green manure or to provide nitrogen to the soil since it is a plant of the bean and pea family. Growing alfalfa helps improve soil fertility and also has a striking bloom that will attract pollinators.
It can be fed to chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and other farm animals. The NPK it provides is 3,1,2. Because of the nitrogen it provides, it is a good ingredient for cooking in the compost pile. A handful or two can be added before stirring the pile to use as compost accelerator.
feather meal
Oddly enough, bird feathers are a rich source of nitrogen to add to compost. They contain up to 15% and the rest is keratin that microorganisms will devour until it is completely composted.
If you have chickens, ducks you will have no problem getting the feathers. The process of bringing the feathers is simple, just soak them for a day in a bucket with water to give them weight and adding them to the pile they decompose faster.
In case you don’t get feathers, you can choose feather meal 12,0,0. Which is nothing more than crushed feathers. One cup should be added to the stack, wait 24 hours. If it doesn’t heat up, add another and so on until you get it right.
coffee lees
Lees can be used in the garden for many things, but if you see the need, they can also be thrown in the heap. Due to its acidity, it is not recommended to add too much, 10-20% is enough, because if you exceed it, you can kill germs and worms. The lees bring us 2% nitrogen. And if you don’t drink coffee, you can ask a local coffee shop if they can hold the pitch for you.
Compo Composter 2 kg Decomposition accelerator…
- Decomposition accelerator in 6 to 8 weeks; suitable for kitchen and yard waste, fall foliage, tree trimming, lawn and surface composting
- For a quality fertilizer: acceleration of the natural formation of humus by activating putrefactive bacteria and other living organisms, earthworms; plant waste decomposition accelerator
- Pile composting: Pour and press the composting material into layers about 20cm high; sprinkle each individual layer with 130gsm, approximately 2-3 handfuls of accelerator; moisten and if possible cover with a thin layer of soil
- Surface composting: spread rapid composter, 80 g/m² on crop residues and leaves and mix with topsoil
- Contents: 1 x COMPO Plant waste decomposition accelerator, 2 kg
There are other ways to speed up composting with plants naturally like nettle, but we’ll get to that in another article. How to make a compost accelerator with plants.
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