Topic: Helpppp....Tips for quick melching down of Compost heap

[Gadget]

OK I really do now think it is official that I do have a compost heap which is really too big, need help big stylie. ???

It has been suggested that I put some plastic sheeting over the top does this technique work and how long would it take to break down?

[Chrispy]

Covering it will help keep the heat in which will speed things up, but the best things to do are...

Make sure you have the correct mix of greens and browns, if it looks dry then add greens, grass clippings are great.
If it looks wet of slimey, you need to add more browns, shreaded newpaper or cardboard are ideal for this.

Make sure it is well mixed and airated, you do this by turning the heap.

[Gadget]

Thanks Chrispy, that is most helpful  :)

[grannyjanny]

Would getting the male species to relieve them selves it do any good ;D?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Yes, and the female if there's a bucket they can use, and they're not as fussy as my daughter was. 'I'm not putting my poo there!' summed up her attitude, when she was five and desperate.

[Pescador]

Gadget, Just how big is your heap? Normally the bigger the better to generate heat.

[Gadget]

Pescador(ee) my heap is the size of a blue whale :-[ I have put it to the oh and a few of the lads about alleviating themselves, and they came up with a great idea :-\ they said that it's time for another allotment BBQ which means lots of beer being drunk, then they will all pee in the bucket (hopefully not at the same time) and it will be ceromonially be pour over the heap :D

We had about 20 coal sacks which we have opened up and tucked over the top of the heap, so with all this sunshine hopefully it will start the process off. I have been banned from even thinking about putting another weed on there ...lol  ::) and Robert I am with your daughter on that one  ;D

[artichoke]

Forty years ago my nearest neighbours were an elderly brother and sister who grew the most perfect vegetables imaginable, and made all their own compost. It was the "Blue Whale" type of long bulgy heap, stretching for metres, and produced wonderful crumbly black gold.

They would never have dreamed of buying sacks of compost. Of course they had the space, with a whole farm to play with......they added fresh stuff at one end and took it away from other areas that were "ripe", and never seemed to do anything to it except use it (though of course I don't know what they did when I wasn't looking).

I wonder if I should start my own "Blue Whale".......pushed up against a neglected hedge along the side of my plot......

[A Year On The Plot]

Normally with a heap, bigger is better as a larger heap is more stable and generates more heat.  However, as previously mentioned you should really turn the heap on a regular basis to reintroduce air. 

If the heap has not broken down sufficiently to use, and you don't fancy turn it there are a few thing you can do. 

1) Dig trenches in the plot and shift some of the material from the heap into the trenches then turn back fill with the original soil.  This is especially good where you intend to grow beans and peas.

2) Use the heap for planting.  You'll be amazed how well pumpkins and squashes will do grown in compost heap. 

3) Remove a small portion to create a second, small heap.  Add plenty of horse manure and grass clippings.  Turn this new, smaller heap on a regular basis and you'll be amazed how hot it gets and how quickly it breaks down.

Good luck

Richard

[davyw1]

Sulphate of Amonia sprinkled on the heap also helps it to break down

[Robert_Brenchley]

I dump it on top of my potatoes, whether it's fully rotted or not, and cover with grass cuttings. It soon rots right down.

[Digeroo]

I threw in the stems of the sweet corn and brassicas deep under my sweet corn bed before last years crop.  When I dug it through this year there was hardly a sign of them left.  So another load went in.

I am adding things to my compost bins as fast as possible as the moment, and will give them to my beans in a couple of months time.  Though I am careful not to add perennial weeds since they really need the heat to kill them off.

Courgettes are also not too fussy about partly rotted compost.

As far as I am concerned the bigger the pile the better.

[louise stella]

Add shredded paper/cardboard/hoover bag contents- anything that has lived can be composted!  (ex's probably not allowed).

I add it to one of my beds in late winter and the weather and worms get rid of the lumps!  I use that patch for squashes and pumpkins - I add manure on top and cardboard and shreddings and the soil ends up brilliant!

[antipodes]

Yep I am with the trenching idea. I often bury either completely uncomposted stuff or partially under the places where the beans will go, and the squashes of possible. Do it a few weeks in advance (like now!) and make it pretty deep. by the time you sow, there will be loads of squishy oprganic material in the ground to feed the plants. I find if it's very deep, nothing nasty grows back from it.

[Gadget]

Thanks guys, that it really great help, like the ideas of trenching,  and also growing squashes over it especially as they take up so much room  ;D