If you want compost quickly, then you should look into hot composting. As opposed to regular or cold composting, which may take months to create a usable humus, hot composting relies on bacterial action, producing heat up to 140 degrees. Your compost or humus can be ready to use within a month!
The best way to begin is to store up enough materials to make a one cubic yard compost pile. You will need equal amounts of green (nitrogen rich) and brown (carbon-rich) material. If your pile is any smaller, the pile will not build up enough inner heat to reach these high temperatures. If it is much larger, the same problem will arise. You can also build the pile as you collect the composting ingredients, but composting will be slower.
Choose a level place for your composting bin. Start with a thin layer of rough stems such as corn stalks or rough flower or plant stalks from your gardens, so air can reach the bottom of the pile. Place a good base of carbon-rich leaves, straw or chipped garden waste on this, and add some good soil or active humus. The soil or humus is your beginning source of heat-generating bacteria and organisms that will kick-start the decomposition.
Chipping or chopping up leaves and stems is a good idea, as smaller pieces will decompose more quickly. This is a good rule of thumb for all materials you plan to add to any compost bin.
Once your bin and the base layers of stems, carbon-rich ingredients and soil are in place, add green ingredients. This can be kitchen scraps, again with larger pieces cut or chopped up. Now alternate brown and green ingredients in thin layers. They should be added in roughly equal amounts. By separating the green (often moist kitchen scraps) from the drier leaves and straw, any smell or odor is reduced. As you add them, you can lightly mix them together.
You need certain conditions for the composting to occur. The heat-generating bacteria need some moisture and warmth, and some air. Keep your pile damp, but not wet, and aerate it regularly by turning it. Turning the pile will also move the cooler materials on the edges to the center, where they can heat up and decompose. If you have a compost thermometer, you can use it monitor the inner temperature.
It doesn’t take long for the pile to reach temperatures hot enough to kill most weed seeds and disease-causing organisms. As the pile composts, you will notice the temperature will decrease. When the pile no longer gets hot in the center, let it cure for a few days, and your new and clean compost is ready to use!
Gardening expert Nicki Goff offers a free e-mail starter course all about her main passion… herb gardening. Visit her website for access, and even more great tips in her new comprehensive e-book on creating, maintaining and enjoying your own home herb garden, along with bonus e-books on specific aspects of herb lore.
Look for more gardening tips, links and articles on her general garden blog.
Popular Questions
How can hot composting help you make rich garden compost quickly?
Build a pile with a balanced mix of nitrogen-rich materials, such as fresh grass clippings and vegetable scraps, and carbon-rich materials, such as dry leaves and shredded cardboard. Keep the pile about 3 feet wide and tall so it can retain heat, and moisten it until it feels like a wrung-out sponge. Turn the materials every few days to add oxygen and maintain rapid decomposition.
What ingredients are best for making rich garden compost fast with hot composting?
Use roughly two or three parts brown materials for every one part green material by volume. Include chopped leaves, straw, untreated paper, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and fresh plant trimmings. Chop bulky ingredients into smaller pieces, avoid meat and diseased plants, and mix the materials thoroughly to help the pile heat evenly.
How hot should a compost pile be to produce rich garden compost fast?
A hot compost pile should generally reach about 130 to 150°F in its active center. Check the temperature with a compost thermometer, and turn the pile when the center cools or becomes noticeably less active. If the pile stays cold, add more green material and moisture; if it smells sour or slimy, mix in dry brown material and improve airflow.
How do you know when hot composting has produced usable garden compost?
Rich, finished compost is dark brown, crumbly, and earthy-smelling, with few recognizable food scraps or plant pieces. The pile should have cooled and shrunk substantially after its hot phase, although some woody bits may remain. Let the compost cure for several weeks before spreading it around plants or mixing it into garden soil.
