Epic Gardening That's what I do, scavenge all my neighbour's waste because they can't be bothered to compost. I end up with tons and then they say " your soil looks better than mine, ours is like concrete" and I tell them to compost and they say ohh no! No helping some people. They have now installed a plastic lawn and they are constantly sweeping it. I'd rather play around with soil.
In Vermont, we do this type of composting on a corner of our land. It’s different in that you don’t need any structure to hold your compost. More likely, we fix a tree line somewhere and designate some footage to walk along and spread a short line of compost. I see a big difference where animals visit my compost. In that, they separate out things they don’t like. I.e. brown coffee filters and egg shells. There are so many visitors. We can see the tracks in snow and hear them at night. It’s a really great relationship, I try to only promote good and healthy recycling. P.s. great video
I have watched countless gardening videos and have, just now, discovered yours. After an extended, binge watch session, I can definitively say that yours are the best I have seen so far. Please keep them coming.
I just saw this today, thank you so much! I couldn't figure out why my compost wasn't heating up. After turning it thoroughly, I could feel it starting to give off a bit of heat. So thank you
Thanks for this video, it was super helpful. My bins weren't hitting the right temp, so I put your tips into practice and BAM. They're working a charm now. My problem was lack of airflow and not enough water. All resolved now!
Thank you so much for this video, it showed me that I need more moisture in my starting pile, so even though it wasn't the issue you were having I appreciate you showing how much moisture you added throughout.
Oh man... You gotta shred that stuff! Get a used mulching mower toss all that stuff on the ground, add some wood chips and run over it a bunch of times. Problem solved. What I see in your pile is material that is practically still alive. You gotta break open those cellular structures to allow the microbes to access the material. The cell walls prevent them from doing that. Also, when you shred with a mower, it mixes all the C's with the N's intimately so the microbes have an ideal environment to operate within. You might think: I've done that before and it gets all slimy. That's because you don't have enough wood chips or leaves to absorb the excess moisture (and nitrogen) released when the cells are busted apart and then it goes anaerobic. I've got a 19 cubic yard pile of mostly wood chips (mass/area relationship) that got up to 169F which I know is too hot but this means a much smaller pile can easily go thermophilic using this technique. No smell, either. If anything it smells sweet but barely detectable. I live in frigid Alaska, so if it's possible here, it's possible almost anywhere.
@@robertgoldrick1703 Thanks bud! I will also mention that in the fall when the ambient temps start to drop, the compost pile can no longer maintain the heat no matter what the size or what you do. It freezes solid all winter. It's around zero F right now. Cheers!
If one is ever in need of a lot of greens to add (my yard is mostly shaded, so I have more leaves than I know what to do with), you can get all of the squeezed pulp from juice bars that you need. They produce a ton of it every week. It will charge your biochar as well.
I had a lot of hay left from what I carved in those bales. I ran it all through the lawn mower twice. Same with some cardboard. A local restaurant saved me a bunch of egg shells and Starbucks had coffee grounds galore. I also added a bunch of green stuff. The pile heated up quite hot. I have been mixing/ turning the pile every day. I'm guessing when the whole thing won't get hot anymore then its finished. doesn't make sense to keep adding stuff to it because there will always be something not composted. Anyway, I'm learning too. Asking neighbors for waste could be a hindrance. Especially when it comes to lawn grass. Don't want to use their poisoned grass clippings. Keep em Komming, Kevin.
Excellent video. Yup my pile had that steady 80.. I disassembled the pile. Layered wheat straw, grass clippings, and ofcourse watering at every step. In 24 hours, 120F. 36 hours .. 150F !! I had to touch the thermometer and burn my hand to be sure lol. Grass clippings, straw, water + my old pile = scaring me now :) I will water the pile to keep the temp below 160.
Condo Compost: I use a Walmart plastic garbage can with a lot of holes drilled all over, add equine pine nuggets (secret sauce), grass or brown leaves cut up, and starter soil . Most importantly I cut up all my fruit/veggie scraps with a scissors into little cubes so as to break it down into compost super FAST. I juice daily and the pulp is also used to feed the compost. Finally, I put a brick or 2x4 under the compost trash can to tilt it for better drainage. Every now and then I mix it up with a hoe or trowel from the bottom up to improve air flow. Tip: Rain water is 10x better than facet watering and produces a breakdown in a few days. Those microbes are like my pets, lol, so I feed them well.
Bucket composting at the moment (1 bucket). Temperatures are maintaining 99-103 degrees F and I wondered if it is doing what it is suppose to do? I picked some over hanging grass (green material) did not chop them smaller though so will do so next time. Got some dried banana leaves (didn't chop smaller either). I won't give up. Thanks for the tips and video.
My pile couldn't break 80. I sprayed the top every other day. While turning, I sprayed in "layers" like in this video. Within 6 hours, I was at 140. Water is key.
I have a compost that turns out to be clayish or clumpsy. I think I lack the carbon material (cardboard or carton) during the first few attempt to do a compost. I improve with the ratio now 😅 And the availability of carbon. Question: Is there something I can do to amend it? I can hardly use it in my medium. (By the way, it is not hot compost before when I was making it. Or hardly saw it warms up) Can I still have it Black Gold?
Once they dry should have turned brown all i use is all the dead leaves from hedges and garden grasses from shedding lilies and irises and from time to time clippings that i lazily leave in the lawn the keys are the water and air along as you can see brown and green i mix asi add don't layer. I start with majority all green and just let it go let it dry in the in and some greens will turn brown in the bin
Sorry, Im really late. Avoid putting diseased plants into your compost. The exception is if the type of mold isn't going to harm you or the plants you want to feed, then it will likely just help with the compost breakdown.
If your compost is heating up, I would recommend: Knowing where your compost is coming from and how various microorganisms are involved in that process...and how you can husband all of this.
In "husbanding" all of this, I would include making sure to care for all the microorganisms (et cetera), small invertebrates, and basically all the tiny organisms that make our life possible, but which we effectively NEVER even acknowledge.
you did a video, showing a tumble compost bin and you added some 'accelerator' to it and I cant find that video. but I wanted to know what the material was you added to the bin? I think it was some brown pellets or something , but cant remember specifically. Thank you for any help
Hello, thank u for this video! It was very helpful to me. I am a beginner at composting. I have been having a problem with gnats in my compost!! Can u help me?????
Thanks for sharing and explaining. Was hoping you could answer this tho. If I add browns to my compost does that mean Its like starting the cycle from the beginning all over again? Like when adding greens during mid compost?
I have a couple red oaks that shed like crazy... just came up with this same idea. I am trying to figure out how many bags of leaves I will need to hold to last me until next fall. Hopefully there isn't an expiration factor to using brown fall leaves.
Where can I get that bin you are using? I tried following the link to Amazon for it but that particular one isn't what came up. The link for the thermometer however was correct. I would love to have that bin. Thank you @Epic Gardening
same with my compost bin not heating up. goin to do same get every thing out and mix it up again. what is the name for you compost probe thing please? im in UK England any links to ebay as thats were i buy my stuff from. thx hunn x
I little bigger would be better. I build mine 6 feet wide and as high as I can. Usually about 4 to 5 feet tall. With the small size you will get a much smaller hot zone or no hot zone at all. Everything looks pretty good, just needs to be bigger. Maybe try spreading the straw out on the lawn and run over it with your mower with a bag. Starting with smaller material will speed things up for sure.
By volume/mass does most of the pile need to be made of greens? When I make my pile mostly of browns, it never heats up. When I add more greens it always seems to heat up. What’s the deal?
Ideally you want to shoot for 2:1 green:brown ratio. Part of the reason greens heat up easier is because there's more water in them to feed the microbial life!
your compost needs a ratio of of 30 to 1, carbon/nitrogen (or brown/green). All things being equal (moisture and air) save your urine for 24 hours, then pour it in to your compost. 24 hours later, your compost will heat up, and ,no, it won't smell. I think human urine contains 2% nitrogen ....
Thanks someone accidently placeda spray paint can in my pile must have been when i first started but any way though i initially thought i had went cold because i was not turn my pile over at all was peeing in it and adding s little water every now and then but was sure my neglect had me ice cold plus I'm in s trash can with two holes in the bottom corners and s drop cloth over the top slightly ajar nothing fancy when i tell you im on fire man decided to remove in wheel barrel and reconstruct with the layer method completely started over. Pitched fork a pile out and hear hissing in thinking snake so I'm panicked then out of no where boom granted i can't see because I'm in the game with black goal for ground midway up and hot? The can over heated and all i did was pull a pile out that happened to contain the pressurized can and then she blows scared the hell out of me then it made me feel really good because i was already in the game composting and didn't know it. Weird right but of course it starts to rain so i would have thought i was in trouble and rush to get everything back in the trash can but you showed me that the pile needs hydration so of course I'm playing in rain allowing layers to saturate but not too terribly i literally understand the science behind the process thankfully due to your demostration. I filled her back up brown green brown green with new veg majorly in the middle then continuef Pat t to top covered with layer of the compost then s thin layer of soil making sure to add a few worms and covered went back 10 later to adda new bucket of clippings and could feel the heat already just that quick. Again thanks I'm so excited about rotten veg crazy huh
So I have a problem with my 43 gallon tumbler (2 chambers, only one used atm). I tumble it really good about every other week. Its been raining a lot but it doesn't look like water is getting into it but everytime I check it everything is wet. I looked it up online and they say add more browns, but my trash bin (w/ lid) of just grass clipping is steaming freely despite the rain. The tumbler isn't warm at all. Steaming grass, wet compost bin. Do I just add browns to dry it up a bit or do I add greens to make it cook?
@@epicgardening I'm also an "urban composter" and I'm mainly running a shredded paper & coffee compost pile for my greenhouse heating. The pile is similar in size to what you have (but insulated). It gets amazingly hot (155 deg) but loses heat faster than other mixtures I've tried. I bought the paper shredder a couple years ago and estimate that I shred at least a pound a week. So. much. junk. mail. I do compost food waste, but run it through a bokashi cycle first to get it broken down faster. All this FYI/FWIW. ;-)
Yeah, not sure why you think you need to ‘layer’ your N-rich vs C-rich components. Mixing is always essential, but why increase that issue by layering?
Anyone: I'm trying to decide between a tumbler or a system similar to this. The 2-chamber tumblers in the $80-$100 range seem to be only 20 gallons per chamber.... Is that enough space to get it up around 130 degrees? Even the ones near $400 seem to be well short of 27 cubic feet. (But some have insulation that seems to help raise/maintain temperature.) I'm thinking of using 4x4 feet square untreated boards-- perhaps coating with something like linseed oil (4x4 would later become raised beds), stacking them two or three high.... Even 4x4x2 = 32 cubic feet, which seems like it may be a great size. Would the wood of the walls break down a lot quicker than if it was only used for raised beds? If a $400 tumbler (such as the smaller Joraform) did the job quickly + well, while keeping everything contained and making it easier to turn the pile, I'd invest in that.... I have a worm bin and I think I'm going to upscale that (multiple, or one huge one) to up to roughly 100 gallons of volume. The combination should be enough compost / worm castings for roughly 100 sq ft of raised beds as long as my inputs are good, right? (There is plenty kelp/seaweed nearby, so that is one source.) I'm in Central Coast CA, so our winters are mild. (mid-40s low in winter, on average.) Would that factor into the decision of a system?... Is it easier to heat up a $100 tumbler (without much insulation), or does the ambient temperature not matter much? I'd love to learn others' experiences with tumble vs a tiered stack, like this one.
I will do a tumbler vs. static video soon...my vote is for bins always though - tumblers I find somewhat annoying to use but I'll get into more detail soon in a video
90% of the time its lack of fresh greens like lawn grass. STRAW SUCKS, latches onto the pitch fork its just a pain in the ass. The best compost i have made was sawdust, lawn clippings and water. Turn your pile every 24 hours is best
1 yard = 0.91m so a qubic yard is 764,555 Liters of volume. If you want to go easyer in terms of math on it, take 1m³ which equals 1000Liters of volume.
My compost pile was bubbling. Has anyone ever seen that before? Lol I mean it's def breaking down...I was just thrown off by it looking like it was moving😮😂😂there was a thick layer of white mold that looked like a melter marshmallow. Lemme know ur thoughts😂😂😂
I feel you. 😯 I finally got my thermometer delivered. Went out to check the temp, and it WENT DOWN to 60°! Pathetic! That's how I found this video. It seems my pile needs to be bigger.
Joanie S so, I tore mine apart about 6 times. The last time, I added lots of plain cardboard, water and a ton of grass clippings. I got it up to 123, which isn’t bad, but I was aiming for about 150. I believe that you need way more green matter than what most folks on UA-cam are admitting. The last time I took it apart, all the green matter was broken down, and it only took just over a week, which surprised me! What is the takeaway? getting a hot steamy pile of compost is a ton of work!
Ask your neighbors for their wast to add. Just a thought. Love your videos, and thank you for sharing them with us. Take care my young friend.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll be on the lookout for scraps from the neighbors. Appreciate the comment my friend!
Epic Gardening That's what I do, scavenge all my neighbour's waste because they can't be bothered to compost. I end up with tons and then they say " your soil looks better than mine, ours is like concrete" and I tell them to compost and they say ohh no! No helping some people. They have now installed a plastic lawn and they are constantly sweeping it. I'd rather play around with soil.
😂 couldn't help but laugh at their comments about your soil. Some people never learn!
Epic Gardening I laugh as well, because they are always going on about their crappy soil. Happy growing to you, have a good one.
You too!
In Vermont, we do this type of composting on a corner of our land. It’s different in that you don’t need any structure to hold your compost. More likely, we fix a tree line somewhere and designate some footage to walk along and spread a short line of compost. I see a big difference where animals visit my compost. In that, they separate out things they don’t like. I.e. brown coffee filters and egg shells. There are so many visitors. We can see the tracks in snow and hear them at night. It’s a really great relationship, I try to only promote good and healthy recycling.
P.s. great video
I have watched countless gardening videos and have, just now, discovered yours.
After an extended, binge watch session, I can definitively say that yours are the best I have seen so far. Please keep them coming.
That is a HUGE compliment. Thank you so much for this!
I love learning watching other people’s
trial-and-error stuff.
Keep up the great work.
I just saw this today, thank you so much! I couldn't figure out why my compost wasn't heating up. After turning it thoroughly, I could feel it starting to give off a bit of heat. So thank you
Thanks for this video, it was super helpful. My bins weren't hitting the right temp, so I put your tips into practice and BAM. They're working a charm now. My problem was lack of airflow and not enough water. All resolved now!
Thank you so much for this video, it showed me that I need more moisture in my starting pile, so even though it wasn't the issue you were having I appreciate you showing how much moisture you added throughout.
Oh man... You gotta shred that stuff! Get a used mulching mower toss all that stuff on the ground, add some wood chips and run over it a bunch of times. Problem solved. What I see in your pile is material that is practically still alive. You gotta break open those cellular structures to allow the microbes to access the material. The cell walls prevent them from doing that. Also, when you shred with a mower, it mixes all the C's with the N's intimately so the microbes have an ideal environment to operate within. You might think: I've done that before and it gets all slimy. That's because you don't have enough wood chips or leaves to absorb the excess moisture (and nitrogen) released when the cells are busted apart and then it goes anaerobic. I've got a 19 cubic yard pile of mostly wood chips (mass/area relationship) that got up to 169F which I know is too hot but this means a much smaller pile can easily go thermophilic using this technique. No smell, either. If anything it smells sweet but barely detectable. I live in frigid Alaska, so if it's possible here, it's possible almost anywhere.
Charlie, you are the king!
@@robertgoldrick1703 Thanks bud! I will also mention that in the fall when the ambient temps start to drop, the compost pile can no longer maintain the heat no matter what the size or what you do. It freezes solid all winter. It's around zero F right now. Cheers!
I never throw kitchen scraps in without dicing them up small.
Great info thank you!
If one is ever in need of a lot of greens to add (my yard is mostly shaded, so I have more leaves than I know what to do with), you can get all of the squeezed pulp from juice bars that you need. They produce a ton of it every week. It will charge your biochar as well.
I had a lot of hay left from what I carved in those bales. I ran it all through the lawn mower twice. Same with some cardboard. A local restaurant saved me a bunch of egg shells and Starbucks had coffee grounds galore. I also added a bunch of green stuff. The pile heated up quite hot. I have been mixing/ turning the pile every day. I'm guessing when the whole thing won't get hot anymore then its finished. doesn't make sense to keep adding stuff to it because there will always be something not composted. Anyway, I'm learning too.
Asking neighbors for waste could be a hindrance. Especially when it comes to lawn grass. Don't want to use their poisoned grass clippings.
Keep em Komming, Kevin.
Yeah, it won't get hot once finished because the food is all consumed! Thanks for tuning in Mark.
Excellent video. Yup my pile had that steady 80.. I disassembled the pile. Layered wheat straw, grass clippings, and ofcourse watering at every step. In 24 hours, 120F. 36 hours .. 150F !! I had to touch the thermometer and burn my hand to be sure lol.
Grass clippings, straw, water + my old pile = scaring me now :) I will water the pile to keep the temp below 160.
Condo Compost: I use a Walmart plastic garbage can with a lot of holes drilled all over, add equine pine nuggets (secret sauce), grass or brown leaves cut up, and starter soil . Most importantly I cut up all my fruit/veggie scraps with a scissors into little cubes so as to break it down into compost super FAST. I juice daily and the pulp is also used to feed the compost. Finally, I put a brick or 2x4 under the compost trash can to tilt it for better drainage. Every now and then I mix it up with a hoe or trowel from the bottom up to improve air flow. Tip: Rain water is 10x better than facet watering and produces a breakdown in a few days. Those microbes are like my pets, lol, so I feed them well.
Wow super smart, glad to hear you've made this work in a condo. The equine pine nuggets are GENIUS
I only got a sprinkle today in Lemon Grove It didn't get any thing wet glad you get some
Oh man, sorry to hear! There wasn't a whole lot here either, but there was enough that I felt like I wasn't in San Diego for a second
Hows lemon grove these days?
Thanks for this video. Just started composting 2 days ago, would try your advise
Bucket composting at the moment (1 bucket). Temperatures are maintaining 99-103 degrees F and I wondered if it is doing what it is suppose to do? I picked some over hanging grass (green material) did not chop them smaller though so will do so next time. Got some dried banana leaves (didn't chop smaller either). I won't give up. Thanks for the tips and video.
I live in New Mexico and know what you mean about the rain, or the lack of it! Good vid!💧
Mix it up thoroughly, chop it up finely as possible, spray with fine mist of water while mixing it thoroughly. And seal it up.
Very nice information! That thermometer 🌡 looks like it works great. I love all the signs you have around your garden. TFS 😊
I got those from The Common Sign on Etsy!
My pile couldn't break 80. I sprayed the top every other day. While turning, I sprayed in "layers" like in this video. Within 6 hours, I was at 140. Water is key.
Nice video, you have a lot of great information. Proper composting is essential to keeping a health garden. Keep it up!
Thanks for watching!
You have a really cool channel, it's great watching your process.
Appreciate that :) definitely let me know if you there's anything you want me to cover in the future !
Will do!
Hello ! when the compost is ready where do you store it? and for how long can you keep it stored ? Thanks a lot
Just what I needed, thank you so much!!
I get PSTD just thinking about trying to effectively turn compost inside an enclosed container.
I have a compost that turns out to be clayish or clumpsy. I think I lack the carbon material (cardboard or carton) during the first few attempt to do a compost. I improve with the ratio now 😅 And the availability of carbon.
Question: Is there something I can do to amend it? I can hardly use it in my medium. (By the way, it is not hot compost before when I was making it. Or hardly saw it warms up)
Can I still have it Black Gold?
Thank you, my compost is also not heating up but maybe that is due to winter period..I am in zone 5
@epicgardening can I use pulled weeds as compost?
Second, what about colder, central North American composting?
You answered my question!!! Thank you!!
Great show 🌲
Question: If I have a bunch of green leaves in a pile that have dried up, is it considered green or brown for composting?
Once they dry should have turned brown all i use is all the dead leaves from hedges and garden grasses from shedding lilies and irises and from time to time clippings that i lazily leave in the lawn the keys are the water and air along as you can see brown and green i mix asi add don't layer. I start with majority all green and just let it go let it dry in the in and some greens will turn brown in the bin
The art of compost is piling a variety of green , brown and moisture with weekly turning once heated.
Thanks for this video. My compost never heats up and takes for ever.
Hi Kevin. Should I put plants with mold to my compost bin or not? thanks
Sorry, Im really late. Avoid putting diseased plants into your compost. The exception is if the type of mold isn't going to harm you or the plants you want to feed, then it will likely just help with the compost breakdown.
Great job 👏 👍
I believe that channels on youtube make composting waaaaaayyy more complicated than it actually is. It's not hard. It's not a complicated process.
So you can't get any heat when you use large buckets?
If your compost is heating up, I would recommend:
Knowing where your compost is coming from and how various microorganisms are involved in that process...and how you can husband all of this.
In "husbanding" all of this, I would include making sure to care for all the microorganisms (et cetera), small invertebrates, and basically all the tiny organisms that make our life possible, but which we effectively NEVER even acknowledge.
More videos please. Thank you
you did a video, showing a tumble compost bin and you added some 'accelerator' to it and I cant find that video. but I wanted to know what the material was you added to the bin? I think it was some brown pellets or something , but cant remember specifically. Thank you for any help
Hello, thank u for this video! It was very helpful to me. I am a beginner at composting. I have been having a problem with gnats in my compost!! Can u help me?????
Usually an issue of not covering your greens with more browns
Love this
Thanks for sharing and explaining. Was hoping you could answer this tho. If I add browns to my compost does that mean Its like starting the cycle from the beginning all over again? Like when adding greens during mid compost?
Some people have a hard time finding browns.
Me: I pull 300 pounds of leaves every fall on one acre.
I only do leaf composting because if I add food it starts smelling I don't add a lot
I have a couple red oaks that shed like crazy... just came up with this same idea. I am trying to figure out how many bags of leaves I will need to hold to last me until next fall. Hopefully there isn't an expiration factor to using brown fall leaves.
Hey Kevin. Can I use an outdoor trash bin or an oil drum for hot composting??
Where can I get that bin you are using? I tried following the link to Amazon for it but that particular one isn't what came up. The link for the thermometer however was correct. I would love to have that bin. Thank you @Epic Gardening
How long time compost has high temp...2 months or more?
Yes
same with my compost bin not heating up. goin to do same get every thing out and mix it up again. what is the name for you compost probe thing please? im in UK England any links to ebay as thats were i buy my stuff from. thx hunn x
I read where tomato pruning into the compost pile could lead to disease
Larry Clausen nah it’s ok in a hot pile it is ok
cool bin where did you get it?
I little bigger would be better. I build mine 6 feet wide and as high as I can. Usually about 4 to 5 feet tall. With the small size you will get a much smaller hot zone or no hot zone at all. Everything looks pretty good, just needs to be bigger. Maybe try spreading the straw out on the lawn and run over it with your mower with a bag. Starting with smaller material will speed things up for sure.
Oh totally agree, if I had the space to have a larger one in the front yard I would! 3x3 is just the min
By volume/mass does most of the pile need to be made of greens?
When I make my pile mostly of browns, it never heats up.
When I add more greens it always seems to heat up. What’s the deal?
Ideally you want to shoot for 2:1 green:brown ratio. Part of the reason greens heat up easier is because there's more water in them to feed the microbial life!
Wednesday Notifications pee on it
Thanks for sharing....
Garden of Hope project
I can smell that "black gold" from HERE! Mmmmmmmm. Seriously.
Oh it's some good stuff Lorie!
your compost needs a ratio of of 30 to 1, carbon/nitrogen (or brown/green). All things being equal (moisture and air) save your urine for 24 hours, then pour it in to your compost. 24 hours later, your compost will heat up, and ,no, it won't smell. I think human urine contains 2% nitrogen ....
Yup. This.
Human urine is the best advice. I used to do it
Thanks someone accidently placeda spray paint can in my pile must have been when i first started but any way though i initially thought i had went cold because i was not turn my pile over at all was peeing in it and adding s little water every now and then but was sure my neglect had me ice cold plus I'm in s trash can with two holes in the bottom corners and s drop cloth over the top slightly ajar nothing fancy when i tell you im on fire man decided to remove in wheel barrel and reconstruct with the layer method completely started over. Pitched fork a pile out and hear hissing in thinking snake so I'm panicked then out of no where boom granted i can't see because I'm in the game with black goal for ground midway up and hot? The can over heated and all i did was pull a pile out that happened to contain the pressurized can and then she blows scared the hell out of me then it made me feel really good because i was already in the game composting and didn't know it. Weird right but of course it starts to rain so i would have thought i was in trouble and rush to get everything back in the trash can but you showed me that the pile needs hydration so of course I'm playing in rain allowing layers to saturate but not too terribly i literally understand the science behind the process thankfully due to your demostration. I filled her back up brown green brown green with new veg majorly in the middle then continuef Pat t to top covered with layer of the compost then s thin layer of soil making sure to add a few worms and covered went back 10 later to adda new bucket of clippings and could feel the heat already just that quick. Again thanks I'm so excited about rotten veg crazy huh
Great Video
Thanks William!
So I have a problem with my 43 gallon tumbler (2 chambers, only one used atm). I tumble it really good about every other week. Its been raining a lot but it doesn't look like water is getting into it but everytime I check it everything is wet. I looked it up online and they say add more browns, but my trash bin (w/ lid) of just grass clipping is steaming freely despite the rain. The tumbler isn't warm at all. Steaming grass, wet compost bin. Do I just add browns to dry it up a bit or do I add greens to make it cook?
Both
TY for the vid. Good info to know.
You're welcome 😊
You won’t be disappointed by adding a large slug of coffee grounds
Very true
@@epicgardening I'm also an "urban composter" and I'm mainly running a shredded paper & coffee compost pile for my greenhouse heating. The pile is similar in size to what you have (but insulated). It gets amazingly hot (155 deg) but loses heat faster than other mixtures I've tried. I bought the paper shredder a couple years ago and estimate that I shred at least a pound a week. So. much. junk. mail. I do compost food waste, but run it through a bokashi cycle first to get it broken down faster. All this FYI/FWIW. ;-)
why not just sift the finished compost out of the pile then throw the raw stuff back in and wet it down? works perfectly well here in Australia
how do I start my own? interesting video :D
I'll make a video on how to begin a compost pile as well - good idea :)
awesome!! cant wait!
hi, what if too hot
Yeah, not sure why you think you need to ‘layer’ your N-rich vs C-rich components. Mixing is always essential, but why increase that issue by layering?
So how much water is a right amount?! That is the part I’m not getting right, but I’m thinking not enough water…
Anyone: I'm trying to decide between a tumbler or a system similar to this. The 2-chamber tumblers in the $80-$100 range seem to be only 20 gallons per chamber.... Is that enough space to get it up around 130 degrees? Even the ones near $400 seem to be well short of 27 cubic feet. (But some have insulation that seems to help raise/maintain temperature.)
I'm thinking of using 4x4 feet square untreated boards-- perhaps coating with something like linseed oil (4x4 would later become raised beds), stacking them two or three high.... Even 4x4x2 = 32 cubic feet, which seems like it may be a great size. Would the wood of the walls break down a lot quicker than if it was only used for raised beds?
If a $400 tumbler (such as the smaller Joraform) did the job quickly + well, while keeping everything contained and making it easier to turn the pile, I'd invest in that.... I have a worm bin and I think I'm going to upscale that (multiple, or one huge one) to up to roughly 100 gallons of volume. The combination should be enough compost / worm castings for roughly 100 sq ft of raised beds as long as my inputs are good, right? (There is plenty kelp/seaweed nearby, so that is one source.)
I'm in Central Coast CA, so our winters are mild. (mid-40s low in winter, on average.) Would that factor into the decision of a system?... Is it easier to heat up a $100 tumbler (without much insulation), or does the ambient temperature not matter much?
I'd love to learn others' experiences with tumble vs a tiered stack, like this one.
I will do a tumbler vs. static video soon...my vote is for bins always though - tumblers I find somewhat annoying to use but I'll get into more detail soon in a video
@@epicgardening Awesome!
Your compost bin link isn’t for the same 3 tier bin u use in the video 🙁
They're currently unavailable, the manufacturer discontinued them :/
Are you in OB? Kinda looks like it.
SD for sure
Thanks, dude. I'm coming to eat your compost.
What should I do if it's to wet
Add more dry material and turn
The only dry material I have is hay and I think it would mess up the carbon nitrogen ratio 😞
do you add worms to yours? I'm about to start mine and read that the worms begin dying at around 95 degrees.
Try adding ice cubes within the layers., I saw that on worm farming same concept.
My compost have lots of bugs crawling inside... What have I done wrong 😭😭😭
Tumblers are so much easier.
Help with fruit flies!! What do I do?
Cover scraps with more browns
Methyl Eugenol traps are amazing, ask your local Master Gardeners re: how to make and where to buy
Bogie!! I can't imagine those evil thorns, but then I get my hands into my compost I guess.
I got pricked once or twice :P
Just turn it over
90% of the time its lack of fresh greens like lawn grass. STRAW SUCKS, latches onto the pitch fork its just a pain in the ass. The best compost i have made was sawdust, lawn clippings and water. Turn your pile every 24 hours is best
I just dump hot water
1 yard = 0.91m so a qubic yard is 764,555 Liters of volume.
If you want to go easyer in terms of math on it, take 1m³ which equals 1000Liters of volume.
Really long so can get deep in there 😅😂
I bought the Geobin and my bin is at 57'F or 14'C any ideas why it's colder than outside
time mark 1:17. im straight as they come but dude.... you have like... medically fascinating eyes...
My compost pile was bubbling. Has anyone ever seen that before? Lol I mean it's def breaking down...I was just thrown off by it looking like it was moving😮😂😂there was a thick layer of white mold that looked like a melter marshmallow. Lemme know ur thoughts😂😂😂
It isn’t that easy!!!! I am going nuts and can only get my pile Luke warm. I am at a loss....
I feel you. 😯 I finally got my thermometer delivered. Went out to check the temp, and it WENT DOWN to 60°! Pathetic! That's how I found this video. It seems my pile needs to be bigger.
Joanie S so, I tore mine apart about 6 times. The last time, I added lots of plain cardboard, water and a ton of grass clippings. I got it up to 123, which isn’t bad, but I was aiming for about 150. I believe that you need way more green matter than what most folks on UA-cam are admitting. The last time I took it apart, all the green matter was broken down, and it only took just over a week, which surprised me! What is the takeaway? getting a hot steamy pile of compost is a ton of work!
Too much work
Too much water u soaked it
Clickbait thumbnail haha. Otherwise, great info
You ever think about just buying dirt? You spent way more time and money doing it yourself
wow amazingg