Oh dear me, no! That sounds like terrible compost! In fact, it could be dangerous to keep it around, I'll be right over to remove this hazard from your property!

;)

Actually, sounds like perfection! Nice job!

Two things are helpful to keep the nitrogen in the compost.

First, keep the pH to less than 8.0. Test the last batch to see what the final pH is. A lower pH prevents the formation of volatile ammonia gas.

Also add some high CEC material like a clay slurry, soil, old finished compost or zeolite. The ideal way is to wet the compost pile as you build it with a slurry of clay and old compost.

I would not be worried about the pH of materials coming into the compost. The process of composting should give you an almost perfectly neutral pH regardless of what you put in it. I compost pine needles and oak leaves as my primary sources of browns and they both tend to be rather acidic but by the time the batch is done I'm sitting on compost that is between 6.9 and 7.1 on my pH gauge.

As for the ammonia gas smell, that's typically indicative of too many greens and not enough browns. When the microbes free the nitrogen from the greens, if there's not enough carbon to fix it to, it will be aspirated off as ammonia gas.

You heard about making Nitrogen Enriched compost from me? I don't really know what Nitrogen Enriched compost is, so I think you must have heard about it from somebody else. I make compost, but I do it by just tossing the ingredients together, mixing it every once in a while and watering it when it gets too dry.

It sounds to me like you've made some good compost, so if something I've said helped you do it, I'm glad I helped.

Sorry I can't be more helpful regarding the Nitrogen Enriched part.

I posted the wrong name, sorry bpgreen. I was looking at a different post, I guess I got the names mixed up.

Anyway I the correct user I heard about it from was billhill.

Thanks everyone for all the encouraging replies. This is my fist compost pile and Im already looking forward to starting another one.

Im not understanding the concept. Are we saying that this is souped-up compost with a higher % of N?? Whats binding up this excess N without burning?? Anybody sent off a sample of this stuff for testing to confirm the level of N?

Skoot Cat said:

"IÂm trying to make some Nitrogen Enriched compost which I heard about from Bpgreen, but IÂm not really sure how to do it. Would the below be considered Nitrogen Enriched Compost?"

I enjoy gardening with a "high nitrogen" content compost; however, I donÂt go about it in the same manner you have stated. For me, the ideal composting situation occurs when I employ the lowest amount of nitrogen (green) ingredients with the highest amount of carbon (brown) ingredients, keeping a ratio of three (3) parts carbon to one (1) part nitrogen. The goal being a finished (cured) compost with a C:N ratio of somewhere around 10:1 or lower. Obtaining said ingredients without any out of pocket costs makes the effort all the more rewarding.

The link below can explain one of the ways such compost can be created. Please look for the heading "Curing The Pile" for a through explanation. The key ingredient in this composting technique is "time". I trust this information will aid towards your goal in some small wayÂ

Blutranes

Here is a link that might be useful: Superior Compost

A compost pile with a pH of 8.0 would be so alkaline that the bacteria would not function. What you really want is a compost pile with a pH of 7.0 or less which it will naturally be because the majority of material will have a pH of less than 7.0. Because of the need to maintain that pH is why people are counseled to not add lime, or wood ash, to their compost, raising the pH of the pile will distrupt the function of the bacteria that wil lbe digesting that material.
There is no advantage to making "Nitrogen Enriched Compost" since any excess Nitrogen in your compost pile will gas off to the atmosphere as ammonia.

I admit using the non-technical term "Nitrogen enriched compost" to describe my homebrew stuff. There is a wide range of C/N ratio in different composts. Pure leaf mold as an example would have a higher C/N than a properly aged animal manure, urine, green grass clipping compost mixed with suitable brown material which would have a lower C/N. I agree 100 percent with Blutranes post and heartedly recommend reading all you can, the works of Sir Albert Howard. Although I have never tested, and probably will not test my backyard compost, I strive for the 10/1 C/N ratio described by Sir Albert in his writing of 70 years or more ago. I also agree with Kimmsr that excess Nitrogen will simply gas off. So build your pile just short of the gassing off point. The longer you let it cure, the lower the C/N will be in the finished product. Bill Hill
Blutranes: I am delighted to see you posting here again. I have enjoyed your sharing of knowledge and experience over the years and certainly hope you continue to share said knowledge, skill and experience with us in this forum again. Welcome back Blutranes.

blutranes, thats exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks for the link/article.

Let me explain why I want to do this. I currently feed my lawn and landscape plants organically with mainly feed grains. (Soybean Meal and Alfalfa) I also use Molasses and Used Coffee Grounds. The costs of grains are going through the roof and its getting expensive to feed my entire lawn/landscape with feed grains.

So, My goal if possible is to have finished compost with a low C:N ratio.(high nitrogen content) The purpose behind this is to grow plants like it was fertilizer without any out of pocket costs.

This is some great information, I had hoped to started my first compost started this week, but it is still snowing! Hopefully by next week I can get it started. I need to mow so I can get some green stuff...
Lora

I think Kimmsr is right, as usual. There is no way that I can think of to tie up any excess nitrogen beyond what would otherwise be available in the OM and since the point here is to increase your level of humus I don't see that its particularly useful to think of compost in terms of N-P-K.

yea, in terms of adding compost to soil as an amendment, I had thought the primary purpose was to increase the richness of bacterial and fungal microbes to kick-start/bolster the soil food web of the soil while at the same time increasing tilth by adding organic matter.

Skoot Cat said:

"The costs of grains are going through the roof and itÂs getting expensive to feed my entire lawn/landscape with feed grains."

From the link provided above:

"Rhizobia are not capable of being active in compost piles, but another class of microbes is. Called azobacteria, these free-living soil dwellers also make nitrate nitrogen~
~Once a compost heap has cooled, azobacteria will proliferate and begin to manufacture significant amounts of nitrates, steadily lowering the C/N. And carbon never stops being digested, further dropping the C/N. The rapid phase of composting may be over in a few months, but ripening can be allowed to go on for many more months if necessary."

This is the whole point of letting the compost "cure", so the azobacteria can manufacture nitrogen from the air. There is no need to buy nitrogen (feed meals) for the lawn when there are bacteria that are creating said nitrogen in your compost pile. And too, the C:N ratio continues to be lowered during the curing process, thus allowing for a more potent compost to be spread when deployed. All in all this is a win/win situation for the owner of the compost pile; the only price paid being some moisture (in the form of sweat) and time. Again, this is but one variety of composting that can give dynamic results for the effort.

I too must share there is another price to be paid for using such powerful compost on ones lawn. That is the fact that someone is going to have to maintain this lawn once this pile of dynamite is spread over ones landscape. All I can suggest is to keep your lawnmower blades sharp, for you are surely going to be cutting that grass on a very regular basis. Other than that, the endeavor is well worth the resultsÂ

Blutranes

hmm, I wonder what would be a suitable aging period. I have two piles of compost...

One, created out of purely shreaded oak leaves and used-coffee grounds, still looks like the second or third year if it was leaf mold that finished over winter and has just been sitting there.

The other, my first pile of compost has been finished for almost 10 months now and has been sitting there waiting to be incorporated into a new shade-garden bed under some cedars. The compost had a lot more twigs and woody material in it as it was everything I raked out of the yard when we first moved into the house. It has a very different consistency and seems much more like light brown, fluffy, pulp shavings - or the powdered remains of dry-rotted wood - of some sort...entwined in a mass of twigs of various shapes and sizes from 1" to 5" long.

I wish I had time to fashion together a quick screen to sift that stuff out to be mixed into my front lawn as OM though, I'm sure it would do WONDERS for the new lawn that I'm seeding next weekend.

I too want to welcome Blutranes back to the forum. I have missed you of late and hope you weren't having health problems or something.

Welcome back.

Karen