Compost Bin Stimulus???

[MarkF48]

Anyone using any magic additives to promote composting in a bin? My bin of vegetable food scraps, garden and yard waste just doesn't seem to breakdown as quickly as I think it should. I have been stirring it up every so often to keep air in it.

 

[Lnk]

You need some form of dried grass, and dried poo. Mix in your scraps. Add a little water and monitor for temperature. Rotate at 160 degrees. Repeat. Don't let it get too hot, or you will kill the good bacteria and promote the bad bacteria. Don't water too much. Keep it fluffy or it will go anearobic. Bad bacteria again. 15 days to good compost.

Here is a link to a very smart lady who knows this stuff.

Dr. Ingham's CV

 

[CalG]

comfrey!

Plant it in a place you want it, it grows well almost anywhere, but likes sun. Propagates by root division, so you just about can't "dig it out", trying only spreads it! ;-)

It has almost zero"hard to break down" cellulose it's self, but it's a compost heap innoculant. Thrives on "waste" of all types. Useful for animal fodder, but we humans may be advised to avoid it (jury is not out)

Folk named "knit bone" for it's healing properties when applied as a poultice.

There are multiple beds all around my property, I harvest whenever the plants begin to flower by cutting 95% of stems at ground level.
The leafy material gets mixed into the compost pile and soon turns "mushy" (if it doesn't start growing! ;-)

Great stuff, High in Nitrogen. A good plant in every way , (depending on your attitude towards alkaloids.)

 

[jeff9366]

Ammonium Nitrate is 35-0-0. Available in Florida from any farm oriented store selling farm fertilizers. It does not require much ammonium nitrate in a compost pile to kick off a hot breakdown once warm weather arrives.

Ammonium nitrate: concentrated, unblended, unbranded, generic, therefore cheap.

 

[brown40]

Hopefully you have enough nitrogen and moisture (but not too much of either) to get the pile to kick. Seaweed, downed grass, leaves, and aged woodchips will all introduce IMO's (Indigenous Micro-Organisms) from collection flora. There are compost activators that have a variety of an- and aerobic fungi and bacillus mixed with some sugars and/or nitrogen fertilizer. Some have trichoderma and protozoans as well.
If the temperature is high enough, the pile is aerated, and the waste products are not in giant chunks then in time the IMO's of the pile will eventually colonize.
Molasses or other simple sugars will produce a more aggressive bloom when added to the pile, provided there is enough moisture and nitrogen.
Cow manure will introduce MO's and is nearly perfect "soil" to begin with; others add nutrition to the pile but are often too hot to use direct in the garden.
Unless you compost bin is inside, getting the pile to kick before ambient temperatures stay up may not happen... the Northeast is currently refrigerated pretty well, and thats no good for biological activity from the MO's in compost.

 

[OldMcDonald]

CalG, Absolutely spot on about using comfrey. I have a blog dedicated to the single issue of using comfrey. Old McDonald's Comfrey or linked through my website below. I eat quite a lot of it and have done for many years.

The product I sell is not available in USA, but there are plenty of sources. Be absolutely certain you are buying Russian (also known as Quaker in the US) Comfrey and not one that sets seed otherwise it will become a weed all over the place. Obviously that means you do not buy seed to grow your own.

One of the best things to put on on any compost heap is urine. It is extremely easy for us blokes to do that. Lawrence D Hills, the man who knew more about comfrey than anyone else is ever likely to learn, called it HLA No1 (Human Liquid Activator No.1).

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Ammonium Nitrate is 35-0-0. Available from any farm oriented store selling farm fertilizers. It does not require much ammonium nitrate in a compost pile to kick off a hot breakdown once warm weather arrives.

Ammonium nitrate: concentrated, unblended, unbranded, generic, cheap.

We can't get Ammonium Nitrate here, at least I can't find it since the Murrah bombing. I've heard it's available to farmers, but I don't know that for a fact. Urea is available though, it works, but it takes a lot longer because the bacteria have to convert it to available nitrate before it's effective.

 

[rgr33]

I buy it in liquid form, a 2 1/2 gallon jug at the farm store. It is added to a tank of Round up to speed the burn down process up. You might check that source out.