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Soil, Compost & Mulch

pile 2, day 12; & i got steam!!!

15 years ago

WOW!

(Hi. My name is Leslie, and I am addicted to composting)

Holy Smokes... I actually saw my first steam this evening from Pile #2. It's just a little steam so far... but still.

Noticed some 'heat' in there this morning. So, I bought a compost thermometer, like you guys advised me to. And yes YES! It's definitely warming up in there. The hottest part I could find is only 102 degrees.... but was out there tonight with a flashlight and THERE IS STEAM!!!!

What do I do now?

Also... between that 'warm layer' and the ground... the temp drops down to only 80 degrees.

What I've done to combat the arid climate at this altitude, is to cover the pile with a really old (full of holes tarp. This seems to really help keep the moisture from escaping, whereas the pile kept drying out before. I've been mindful of my C/N ratios. And then two days ago, I injected the whole pile with a molasses solution... something I was planning to inoculate my potato beds with. There are no bad odors at all.

My next questions:

1. What do I do now?

2. How do I get this heat to be more evenly distributed throughout the whole pile?

3. Is it okay to turn it tomorrow, or would I shut down the biological activity by doing that?

4. Or is there a certain target temp I should be holding out for before I start flipping it over.

(I'm also noticing some slight 'pile-shrinkage'... but overall... this pile has grown considerably since I started it 12 days ago. It's going to be a major back-breaker to turn. (not that I'm complaining.)

About the other two piles. I used up ALL the black gold from pile #1 already. I'm officially out of finished compost now. BUT, today, I scored on a new supply of FREE mulch today. (A practically endless supply too, from a neighbor who cuts firewood, has a chipper, and hasn't hauled any scrap out for YEARS! It's been just sitting there on his property, piling up forever. So, I literally have mountains of this stuff of various ages just blocks away. In fact, some of it is almost compost already! I've hauled 6 yards home already, bucket by bucket. Feel like I've died and got to heaven.)

If this is wacko-dom... I never want to be 'normal' again.

Thanks SO MUCH for all the help guys... this is quickly becoming my favorite GW forum. Composting addicts rock!

Leslie in CO

Here is a link that might be useful: Here are some pics

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Comments (3)

Kimmsr
15 years ago
1. Wait
2. You can do nothing about how the bacteria, that are what is generating the heat, are working now.
3. Turning your compost before the bacteria slow down on their own may well disturb them and slow the process, but then there are those that have turned their compost frequently and made compost in 14 days and that involves turning daily.
4. a general rule of thumb to use is about 135 degrees and then when that temperature starts to drop.
jbann23
15 years ago
Hi Leslie. Nice job you're doing there. Indeed it's always a thrill when the pile heats up - now you know it's working. I've found that keeping the pile contained rather than sprawling helps to concentrate the activity and a 3' x 3' x 3' bin is about right. Easy to make out of just chicken wire or hardware cloth. Keep the pile moist and the bacteria really get to working and the heat is somewhat amazing. When the temp drops then it's time to turn and mix the exterior towards the center. The pile will surely shrink but that's desirable too. When you have the carbon/nitrogen mix just right there's no stopping it. Best of composting to you.
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ConvexLes72
Original Author
14 years ago
(Hi My name is Leslie, and I am addicted to composting.)

Update...

After all this time, I finally hit 130 degrees in the designated hot pile. This morning temp had dropped to 122, so I turned the pile... this afternoon temp is rising again steadily.

Also 'innoculated' piles 2 & 3 today with the 'bug juice' recipe someone sent me on another post. (Would you believe, I'm up to 8 compost piles now... plus one empty bin for a load of aspen leaves I'm expecting today.)

Also built a sifting table for sifting the fines out of ancient wood chips... plan on using that to sift compost also. Clearly, I'm really getting into this project... and grateful for this forum. Will post more recent pics soon...

Leslie in CO

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