General Discussion

TexasProgresive

(12,834 posts)

3. When there is a balance of carbon to nitrogen of 25-30:1.

Tue May 6, 2014, 02:52 PM

May 2014

and enough but not to much moisture + air the pile will support aerobic bacteria which will cause rapid breakdown of the organic material and at the end the fermentation will create so much heat that the bacteria kill themselves off. Any one of these factor off and the pile is not properly composting. Manure tends to higher nitrogen and so is a good addition to straw and other carbonaceous materials. Too much carbon and the pile never really heats, too much nitrogen and it stinks, water is critical and air. When there is not enough air the pile can be anaerobic and these are bacteria you don't want plus the pile stinks.

When you have a good pile and you turn it in the winter it will steam from the heat and the material will look ashy.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

23 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

The Shocking Carbon Footprint of Compost [View all] HuckleB May 2014 OP

Um, ick. Erich Bloodaxe BSN May 2014 #1

When there is a balance of carbon to nitrogen of 25-30:1. TexasProgresive May 2014 #3

Thanks for that info Erich Bloodaxe BSN May 2014 #6

What you did there is indeed "composting". waddirum May 2014 #22

treated properly, animal waste is safe and beneficial for composting. in fact, entire animal piratefish08 May 2014 #18

This is not smart TexasProgresive May 2014 #2

agreed. Furthermore, the article is about very large scale (factory farm) manure piles magical thyme May 2014 #4

Absolutely right. silverweb May 2014 #5

Exactly. nt laundry_queen May 2014 #7

perspective...we need more of it Supersedeas May 2014 #9

Especially since the point of composting is to grow new (co2 absorbing) plants. n/t lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #12

Thanks for confirming my hunch... sendero May 2014 #20

The only thing animal-connected I put in my compost pile Le Taz Hot May 2014 #8

Yes, I'm mostly talking about commercial-scale composting grapedoc May 2014 #10

Welcome to DU lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #13

It's not industrial exploitation of natural resources on an epic scale, it's compost and cow farts! killbotfactory May 2014 #11

thats why you turn a compost pile. this is nature doing exactly what it is supposed to do. piratefish08 May 2014 #14

it's the uncomposted waste from factory farms that is a REAL issue. piratefish08 May 2014 #15

What some don't seem to understand TexasProgresive May 2014 #16

the state of VT (where I live) is mandating commercial and then household composting over the next piratefish08 May 2014 #17

That is a good thing to do TexasProgresive May 2014 #19

My neighborhood Dorian Gray May 2014 #21

Well I guess we'd better pipi_k May 2014 #23