@@the-green-homestead you can make a trap for the gnats, (or fruit flies) out of a plastic drink bottle by cutting it in half and putting the top, neck (down) into the bottom. You can put anything that attracts them (banana peels work well, or some sugar water and bakers yeast) . The way it works is that the gnats are attracted to the smell and go down the top funnel and are trapped when they can't find their way out. I've been using the Diego Footer version of the Johnson SU bioreactor, but your version may work better for me. I'm composting market wastes from the city market and need to be constantly making compost piles but still be careful on how much space I need over however much time it takes to finish the process. The wastes are high in nitrogen so I need to have a lot of high carbon material to balance out the process. How much time does it usually take for one of your biodigesters to give you "finished" compost?
Excellent!!! I am experimenting with doing pipes with holes both horizontal, and vertical, also at different levels of the pile. Also believe that I will use some type of liquid nitrogen/macro/micro nutrient that is water soluble that can be poured into the pipes, in addition to rain water periodically. I suspect those are fungus gnats that love compost!!!
That does look pretty dry. I guess you could wet it by dipping a bucket in one of those holes you dug for the nut trees! I have an allotment, and when we get heavy rain there, the problem isn't so much the run-off, as the water table getting higher.
Sorry, I didnt make an 'after' video about this compost. But here's some feedback. I left it for 10 months. Right now, we worked it into the veggie garden. So far, our germination of the seed planted goes fairly well. At arround 6 months, one of my tenants took it without my permission and worked a couple of wheelbarrows into his lawn. That disturbed the compost before I wanted to use it. So Im not entirely satsfied with how it turned out. In a new video, I repeat this process, with some more details as well. This video will be availible soon.
God bless you good idea to build it this way I guess but I´m no expert. You surely know also about Micorhiza Fungi which is extremely important for rather dry climates cause they are able to survive long dry periods. (Important to cause this fungi provides the plants with water where the plant roots can´t reach for water.) (Also important for the soil-life, microbiology and therefore crucial to break down the nutrients so they´re bioavailable for the plants. SRY if you already knew all this but maybe some other people are reading this as well. Greetings
I hope you have success. You'll only really know, if you use a microscope. A big disadvantage to me is you won't have that good chimney effect through the horizontal pipes instead of vertical ones. Greetings
If you watch the videos on the J/S method they water mist that come on 4 or 5 times every 24 hours for approximately 3 or 4 minutes each time. If you should turn it is determined by what quality of compost you are looking for. Turning it more will increase bacteria, turning it less with create a more fungal compost but is slower to compost
I would also like to know his stance on this. To me, it makes more sense this way - air/wind move horizontaly, and it will change the air more efficiently through the pipes.
When I first build this bin, my logic was to add oxygen to the bin. It simply was that I didn't even think about the option to place it vertically. So there is no real reason why this way and not the other way. In the follow up video (which I'm currently preparing), I placed the pipes in the upright position.
@@the-green-homestead I saw your bioreactor and wondered if the horizontal position of the air tubes might actually be better for areas with higher annual precipitation. ( like my own) The original Johnson-Su reactor was developed in New Mexico or Arizona I believe.
Maybe too wet after the recent deluge...but it was definitely too dry before then for a Johnson-Su Bioreactor. Watering almost daily is required to maintain ~70% moisture.
your heap looks fine, if maybe a touch dry... you should have no worries about going anerobic, but there is one thing: use of an air-permeable membrane having a membrane around the compost heap allows the 'skin' zone of the compost to be a lot smaller, so you get significantly more composted material a membrane also helps keep up moisture levels in the pile compost piles attract insects and pests; especially if it contains anything tasty... another reason to enclose your compost in a membrane and add a lid/cover of some sort, otherwise... you gonna have bugs. spraying with soapy water or maybe dusting a bit of diatomaceous earth may help? not sure if that last one is a good idea or a bad one... super soapy water applied at the right times can break the life cycle though... anyway, dont forget you can pull the pipes after the pile has been colonized by life. it can take a lot of time for the air in the voids left behind to be used, and the life forms in the pile help circulate air into the pile itself... also: there is a LOT of leeway in this sort of stuff so don't worry too much good results are easy to attain (edited for my typical typos)
Thanks for your upbeat comments, appreciated. I saw, after some time and after digging a little, that: Fortunately I don't see any unwelcome bugs and critters, only a healthy ammount of earth worms. They seems like red wigglers. It seems like the bugs don't like horse manure and bedding too much. Lol. Well innitially there where lots of flies/maggots, but they disappeared after a week or so. And the outside layer of about 2 inches is dry, and the inside is quite wet. When I squeeze a handful, only a few drops come out.
I think if new life forms are attracted,let them satisfy their wants and finish their composting activities and/or get recycled by other organisms as time, moisture and heat support.
This one is 1.2m (4ft) x 1.2m (4ft). Initially it started out a 1m (about 3ft) high. After 10 months, it was 30cm (1ft) high. Then we worked this compost into our garden.
Great Idea I've been using very similar in a open mound. But smaller volume, 2 pieces of PVC. Word of caution. Here they use herbicide on most of grass fields for hay to feed Horses. All that will Grow is grass. Deadly to veggie and fruit garden. Goes into manure and last 7000 Daze no spell check DAZED Me School of Hard Knocks
Thanks for the comment. Thats a good point to keep in mind. I'm very fortunate that this is not the case here. I pick up manure from the same stables for the last 2 years already, without problems. My guess is that it varies from farmer to farmer, region to region, etc. But for other viewers, if you're concerned that there might be herbicide in the manure, rather test a small batch in some corner of your garden, before you bring truckloads to your homestead, farm or property.
The initial point of Johnson Su bioreactor is to produce clay-like compost similar to worm castings. In fact a J-S reactor is just a big stand up worm bin. It needs to be treated like one. All this nonsense re: turning the compost, modifying it, or changing it somehow that would kill off the worms post cool-down phase is pointless. You won't get the fungally rich Johnson-Su compost, but rather some sub-par stuff that may or may not be useful. Follow the JS instructions. Use the landscape fab liner. Water it properly. Don't let it freeze or go hydrophobic. Creating one outside is an iffy proposition if you are in a temperate climate where bed temp can go consistently under 40 degrees & kill off the worms or bake in the sun 90 degrees plus & cook worms.
There is no "easy way" of doing this. If you want it to decay faster than you need to turn your compost pile. Adding pipes like that is probably not doing much for it. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. If it's cooking then it's fine. Anaerobic or Aerobic... they will both break things down for you. One will stink more than the other, but that's fine. You already have ducks pooping everywhere and the smell won't stand out. If you want to increase the bacteria there, add some sugar cane waste. That is full of sugar and the bacteria will multiply like crazy.
Great improvisation!
Thanks a lot!
@@the-green-homestead you can make a trap for the gnats, (or fruit flies) out of a plastic drink bottle by cutting it in half and putting the top, neck (down) into the bottom. You can put anything that attracts them (banana peels work well, or some sugar water and bakers yeast) . The way it works is that the gnats are attracted to the smell and go down the top funnel and are trapped when they can't find their way out.
I've been using the Diego Footer version of the Johnson SU bioreactor, but your version may work better for me. I'm composting market wastes from the city market and need to be constantly making compost piles but still be careful on how much space I need over however much time it takes to finish the process. The wastes are high in nitrogen so I need to have a lot of high carbon material to balance out the process. How much time does it usually take for one of your biodigesters to give you "finished" compost?
Excellent!!! I am experimenting with doing pipes with holes both horizontal, and vertical, also at different levels of the pile. Also believe that I will use some type of liquid nitrogen/macro/micro nutrient that is water soluble that can be poured into the pipes, in addition to rain water periodically. I suspect those are fungus gnats that love compost!!!
time for an update!!! love the videos.
That does look pretty dry. I guess you could wet it by dipping a bucket in one of those holes you dug for the nut trees! I have an allotment, and when we get heavy rain there, the problem isn't so much the run-off, as the water table getting higher.
do you have a new video with the update of the compost?
Sorry, I didnt make an 'after' video about this compost.
But here's some feedback.
I left it for 10 months. Right now, we worked it into the veggie garden. So far, our germination of the seed planted goes fairly well.
At arround 6 months, one of my tenants took it without my permission and worked a couple of wheelbarrows into his lawn. That disturbed the compost before I wanted to use it.
So Im not entirely satsfied with how it turned out.
In a new video, I repeat this process, with some more details as well. This video will be availible soon.
God bless you good idea to build it this way I guess but I´m no expert. You surely know also about Micorhiza Fungi which is extremely important for rather dry climates cause they are able to survive long dry periods. (Important to cause this fungi provides the plants with water where the plant roots can´t reach for water.) (Also important for the soil-life, microbiology and therefore crucial to break down the nutrients so they´re bioavailable for the plants. SRY if you already knew all this but maybe some other people are reading this as well. Greetings
Wow, thank you and no, I didn't know about this particular draught resistant fungi. But now I do. Thanks a lot for sharing.
I hope you have success. You'll only really know, if you use a microscope. A big disadvantage to me is you won't have that good chimney effect through the horizontal pipes instead of vertical ones. Greetings
If you watch the videos on the J/S method they water mist that come on 4 or 5 times every 24 hours for approximately 3 or 4 minutes each time.
If you should turn it is determined by what quality of compost you are looking for.
Turning it more will increase bacteria, turning it less with create a more fungal compost but is slower to compost
I'm just wondering,
Why are your pipes not
vertical with caps ?
I would also like to know his stance on this. To me, it makes more sense this way - air/wind move horizontaly, and it will change the air more efficiently through the pipes.
@@mirelavb8751 might also cool it too fast with the wind blowing throuh
When I first build this bin, my logic was to add oxygen to the bin. It simply was that I didn't even think about the option to place it vertically. So there is no real reason why this way and not the other way.
In the follow up video (which I'm currently preparing), I placed the pipes in the upright position.
@@the-green-homestead I saw your bioreactor and wondered if the horizontal position of the air tubes might actually be better for areas with higher annual precipitation. ( like my own) The original Johnson-Su reactor was developed in New Mexico or Arizona I believe.
@@Katydidit Jip, that is a very logical assumption.
Maybe too wet after the recent deluge...but it was definitely too dry before then for a Johnson-Su Bioreactor. Watering almost daily is required to maintain ~70% moisture.
your heap looks fine, if maybe a touch dry... you should have no worries about going anerobic, but there is one thing: use of an air-permeable membrane
having a membrane around the compost heap allows the 'skin' zone of the compost to be a lot smaller, so you get significantly more composted material
a membrane also helps keep up moisture levels in the pile
compost piles attract insects and pests; especially if it contains anything tasty... another reason to enclose your compost in a membrane and add a lid/cover of some sort, otherwise... you gonna have bugs. spraying with soapy water or maybe dusting a bit of diatomaceous earth may help? not sure if that last one is a good idea or a bad one... super soapy water applied at the right times can break the life cycle though...
anyway, dont forget you can pull the pipes after the pile has been colonized by life.
it can take a lot of time for the air in the voids left behind to be used, and the life forms in the pile help circulate air into the pile itself...
also: there is a LOT of leeway in this sort of stuff so don't worry too much good results are easy to attain
(edited for my typical typos)
Thanks for your upbeat comments, appreciated.
I saw, after some time and after digging a little, that:
Fortunately I don't see any unwelcome bugs and critters, only a healthy ammount of earth worms. They seems like red wigglers. It seems like the bugs don't like horse manure and bedding too much. Lol. Well innitially there where lots of flies/maggots, but they disappeared after a week or so.
And the outside layer of about 2 inches is dry, and the inside is quite wet. When I squeeze a handful, only a few drops come out.
I think if new life forms are attracted,let them satisfy their wants and finish their composting activities and/or get recycled by other organisms as time, moisture and heat support.
Might save some turning work!
Definitely!
Cover the top with more leaves to prevent pests from reaching organic food waste.
Great idea. In the next heap, in a new video, I covered it with shadecloth. At least it kept the chickens and wild birds out.
What dimensions is your compost pile?
This one is 2.4m x 2.4m (8ft x 8ft). And it's 1.2m (4ft) high.
This one is 1.2m (4ft) x 1.2m (4ft). Initially it started out a 1m (about 3ft) high. After 10 months, it was 30cm (1ft) high. Then we worked this compost into our garden.
Great Idea I've been using very similar in a open mound. But smaller volume, 2 pieces of PVC.
Word of caution. Here they use herbicide on most of grass fields for hay to feed Horses. All that will Grow is grass.
Deadly to veggie and fruit garden.
Goes into manure and last 7000 Daze no spell check DAZED Me
School of Hard Knocks
Thanks for the comment. Thats a good point to keep in mind.
I'm very fortunate that this is not the case here. I pick up manure from the same stables for the last 2 years already, without problems. My guess is that it varies from farmer to farmer, region to region, etc.
But for other viewers, if you're concerned that there might be herbicide in the manure, rather test a small batch in some corner of your garden, before you bring truckloads to your homestead, farm or property.
a compost pile is just like a fire... it requires oxygen to burn...
A few pipes do not a JS bioreactor make. If I put on a pretty dress, it does not make me a modified Salma Hayek.
You’re right, it would make you an LGBT looney toon.
The initial point of Johnson Su bioreactor is to produce clay-like compost similar to worm castings. In fact a J-S reactor is just a big stand up worm bin. It needs to be treated like one.
All this nonsense re: turning the compost, modifying it, or changing it somehow that would kill off the worms post cool-down phase is pointless. You won't get the fungally rich Johnson-Su compost, but rather some sub-par stuff that may or may not be useful.
Follow the JS instructions. Use the landscape fab liner. Water it properly. Don't let it freeze or go hydrophobic.
Creating one outside is an iffy proposition if you are in a temperate climate where bed temp can go consistently under 40 degrees & kill off the worms or bake in the sun 90 degrees plus & cook worms.
Some very good pointers. Thanks for your input.
There is no "easy way" of doing this. If you want it to decay faster than you need to turn your compost pile. Adding pipes like that is probably not doing much for it. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. If it's cooking then it's fine. Anaerobic or Aerobic... they will both break things down for you. One will stink more than the other, but that's fine. You already have ducks pooping everywhere and the smell won't stand out. If you want to increase the bacteria there, add some sugar cane waste. That is full of sugar and the bacteria will multiply like crazy.
Where to get that if you don't live in Hawaii?
@@lizhallengren5127 Elaborate.
Sugar cane waste makes me think of molasses. Would that work similarly?
@@cher3175 Sugar cane waste is great because it has residual sugar in it. That attracts even more bacteria and accellerates the process.