small composting manual

7/29/2019 Small Composting Manual

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Kitchen scraps.Fruitandvegetabletrim-

mings,coffeegroundsandfilters,and

eggshellsaregreatitemsforthecom-

postpile.Donotuseanimalproducts

suchasgrease,fatormeattrimmings,

ordairyproductsbecausetheybreak

downveryslowly,attractrodentsandotherpests,andhaveanunpleasant

odorwhentheydecompose.

Grass clippings. Grassclippings(Fig.1a)

haverelativelyhighnitrogencontent

andmakegoodcompost.Mixgreen,

freshclippingswithsoilordryplant

materialsuchasleavestokeepthe

grassfromcompactingasitsettles.

Compactionpreventsairfromentering

thepileandslowsorpreventsthecom-

postingprocess.

Dry leaves. Theseareplentifulinthe

fall,andratherthanputtingthemout

bythecurb,puttheminyourcom-

postpile.Mostleavesdecomposefaster

andmorethoroughlywhenshredded

beforetheyareaddedtothepile.If

Ifwecompostedmanyofthethingswe

throwaway,suchaskitchenscraps,grass

clippings,leaves,andotherlandscapede-

bris,wecoulddivert20to30percentofthe

trashcurrentlygoingintolandfills.Bycom-

postingthesematerials,wecanreducethe

amountofwastewegenerateandproduceorganicmatterandnutrientsforourgarden,

landscapeandyard.

Compostingissimplytheprocessof

organicmaterialdecomposition.Theresult-

ingsubstanceiscalledcompost.Everygar-

denbenefitsfromtheadditionofcompost

becauseitsuppliesmanyofthenutrients

plantsneedandalso

Improvesthesoilsphysicalcharac-

teristics

Increasesthesoilcapacitytohold

waterandnutrients

Increasessoilaeration

Materials for Composting

Manymaterialscanbeputincompost

piles,including:

Joseph Masabni, Assistant Professor and Extension Horticulturist,and Patrick Lillard, Extension Assistant, The Texas A&M System

E-2783-11

Easy Gardeningosting composting composting compost


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dednewspaper,andhedgeclippings

canallbecomposted.Largetwigs

breakdownslowlysodonotuse

them.

Building a Compost Pile

Youcanbuymanytypesofcompostingbins,butyoucanalsomakeoneeasilywith

wirefencing,cementblocks,bricks,oreven

scraplumber.

Lessroomisrequiredifthepileisen-

closed,butifyouhaveadequateroomyou

canalsoleaveitfreestanding.Withanen-

closedpile,leaveanopeningononesideso

thecompostcanbeturnedwithaforkto

allowairtoenterthepile.Thecompostpile

shouldbelocated:

Inasecludedarea

Preferablynearthegarden

Inapartiallyshadedareatoprevent

thepilefromdryingouttoofast

Inaspotwithgooddrainagesoit

doesnotbecomewaterlogged

Ideally,acompostpileshouldbemade

upinlayers(Fig.2.)Thefirstlayershould

becoarseplantmaterial,suchasbranches

youdonothaveashredder,placethe

leavesinarowonyouryardandcut

themupwitharotarylawnmower.

Rakeupthechoppedleavesandadd

themtothecompostpile.(Figs.1a

and1b.)

Manure.Chicken,cowandhorsemanuresaregreatnitrogensources

forcompostpiles.Catanddogfeces

shouldneverbeputinacompostpile

becausetheycancarrydiseaseorgan-

isms.

Sawdust.Sawdustisplentifulatsaw-

millsinmanyareas,especiallyinEast

Texas.Alwayscompostsawdustbefore

addingittoyourgardenbecauseit

cantieupnitrogeninthesoilasitde-composes.Addextranitrogentosaw-

dusttospeeditsbreakdown.

Other materials. Sodremovedfromthe

lawn,hay,non-noxiousweeds,shred-

Figure 2. Layering of a compost pile.

Figure 1. Grass clippings and leaves (a) make

good compost. Leaves compost faster if they are

shredded before being added to the pile(b).

1b

1a


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andtwigs,toallowoxygentocirculateup

throughthepile.Thesecondlayershouldbe

6to10inchesoffinerplantmaterialsuchas

leaves,grassclippings,andkitchenscraps.

Thethirdlayershouldbea1inchlayer

ofsoilormanure,whichprovidesmicroor-

ganismsandnitrogen.Themicroorganismsarewhatactuallybreakdowntheplantma-

terial.Todothistheyneedfoodintheform

ofnitrogen.

Ifyouusesoilforthislayer,add13cup

nitrogenforevery25squarefeetofcompost

pilesurfacearea.Thenitrogencanbeinthe

formofammoniumnitrate,bloodmeal,or

bonemeal.

Repeatthesecondandthirdlayers

untilthepileis5feettallaftersettling.Acompostpileneedstobeofadequatesize,

usually4squarefeet,toprovideastable

environmentforthemicroorganisms.Ifa

compostpileismuchsmallerthan3feet

indiameter,itwilldecomposemuchmore

slowly.

Required Elements

for Composting Fordecompositiontooccur,theseele-

mentsandconditionsareessential:

Organicmaterial

Microorganisms

Air

Water

Nitrogen

Organicmaterialcomprisesallthe

itemspreviouslylisted:kitchenscraps,leaves,grassclippings,etc.Thesizeofthe

materialinthecompostpilegreatlyinflu-

encestheamountoftimeittakesforitto

breakdown.Thesmallertheitem,thefaster

microorganismscanbreakitdown.

Microorganismsneedafavorableen-

vironment,whichincludesair,water,and

nitrogen.

Airistheonlypartthatcannotbe

addedinexcess.Turningthepileoftenwill

provideanampleamountofairandspeed

thecompostingprocess.Ifthereistoolittle

airinacompostpilebecauseofcompaction,

anaerobicdecompositionoccurs,producing

anodorlikethatofrottingeggs. Acompostpilecanhavetoomuch

water,sothepilelocationshouldhavegood

drainage.Duringthesummer,youmayneed

toaddwatersothatthecompostpiledoes

notdryout.Acompostpileshouldbemoist

butnotsoggy.Ifyousqueezeahandfulof

thematerialitshouldbedamp,butwater

shouldnotdripout.

Organicmaterialshavevaryingratios

ofcarbon(C)tonitrogen(N),andthisratioinfluenceshowfastmicroorganismsbreak

themdown.IftheC:Nratioistoohigh,de-

compositionwillbeslow;iftheC:Nratiois

toolow,thepilewilllosesomenitrogento

theairintheformofammonia.Theideal

C:Nratioforacompostpileis30:1.

OnewayofestimatingtheC:Nratiois

bytheamountofgreenandbrownmateri-

alsinthecompostpile.Cutgrass,kitchen

scraps,andmanureareconsideredgreenma-

terialsandhavelowC:Nratios.Sawdust,tree

leaves,andstrawarebrownmaterialsand

havehighC:Nratios.Anequalamount(by

weight)ofgreenandbrownmaterialswill

giveyoutherightC:Nratio.

Table 1. Carbon:nitrogen ratio of common

organic materials.

Organicmaterial

C:N ratio Organicmaterial

C:N ratio

Alfalfa hayFood wasteGrass clippingsRotted manureFruit waste

12:115:119:120:135:1

CornstalksLeavesStrawSawdustWood

60:160:180:1500:1700:1

From Composting and Mulching: A Guide to Managing OrganicLandscape Refuseby Wayne J. McLaurin (retired) and GaryL. Wade, Extension Horticulturists, The University of GeorgiaCooperative Extension Service.


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Asmicroorgan-

ismsbegintobreak

downtheorganic

material,heatisgen-

erated.Withinafew

daysthecompost

pileshouldreachaninternaltemperature

of90to160degrees

F.Thisprocesswill

destroymostweed

seeds,insecteggs,

anddiseaseorganisms,producingrich,soft

humusorcompost(Fig.3.)

Turnthepileweeklyduringthesum-

merandmonthlyduringthewintertoin-

creasetherateofdecomposition.About90to120daysarerequiredtopreparegood

compostusingthelayermethod.Ifyouhave

room,makethreepilessoyouwillhaveone

readytouse,onebeingtilled,andonebeing

filledup(Fig.4.)

Figure 3. Humus ready

for use in the garden.

Figure 4. Compost bins.

Figure 6. Cover the composting material

with the original soil from the hole or

trench.

Figure 5. After digging a hole or trench,

fill it with newspapers and dry leaves.

In-Ground Composting

Compostingcanalsobedonedirectly

intheground,preferablywhereagardenrow

istobeplantedthefollowingseasononcethe

rawmaterialhascompletelycomposted.

Todoin-groundcomposting:

1. Diguptheareaalongrowora

raisedbedandremovethesoil.

2. Filltheholewiththeorganicmate-

rials,suchasshreddednewspapers

anddryleaves(Fig.5).


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Produced by Texas A&M AgriLife CommunicationsExtension publications can be found on the Web atAgriLifeBookstore.org

Visit the Texas AgriLife Extension Service atAgriLifeExtension.tamu.edu

Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, Acts of Congress of May 8, 1914, as amended, and June 30, 1914, incooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. Edward G. Smith, Director, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, The Texas A&M System.

New

Acknowledgment

The original version of this publication was authored byB. Dean McCraw.

3. Coveritupwiththeoriginalsoil

(Fig.6).

4. Letthisarearest,orcompost,fora

fewmonths.

5. Turnthesoilanduseitasanew

plantingbed(Fig.7.)

Table 2. Troubleshooting guide to composting

problems.

Symptoms Problem Solution

The compost has abad odor.

Notenough air

Turn it. Add drymaterial if the pileis too wet.

The compost

is not breakingdown, and thecenter of the pileis dry.

Not enough

water

Moisten and turn

the pile.

The compost isdamp and sweet-smelling but willnot heat up.

Not enoughnitrogen

Mix in a nitrogensource such as freshgrass clippings,fresh manure, orblood meal.

The compost isdamp and warmonly in the middle.

Too fewmaterialsand toosmall area

Collect morematerial and mixthe old ingredientsinto a new, larger

pile.

From Composting and Mulching: A Guide to ManagingOrganic Landscape Refuseby Wayne J. McLaurin (retired)and Gary L. Wade, Extension Horticulturists, The Universityof Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.

Figure 7. After the compost area has rested

for a few months, turn the soil. It is ready to

be used for planting.

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