Compost tips

[desertdave]

My last post about Kansas's silt he got for his palms reminded me of something. I cannot get a good batch of compost to save my life! Does anyone in any hot dry climate have suggestions? Most of the suggestions I have read are written by garden writers in the Mid-Atlantic states, for Mid-Atlantic gardeners, where there is plenty of humidity so the compost does not dry out. That is my biggest problem; the compost just gets too darn dry in the summer, esp. when the intense 100 degree heat comes. Doesn't help that my dad loves to spray weed killer all over; that makes most of our yard waste unusable. I generally do not have a problem with chemicals but if you put stuff contaminated with herbicide in a compost pile, the compost becomes herbicide, which defeats the purpose of cooking compost...

[Kansas]

I am in undeveloped areas every day in my job. I often must walk thru acres of woodlands and have been thinking of the untouched ground cover. The soil is dark black under all the leaves and evergreen needles. Maybe this would be good for you? Find a housing development that is going up, and wonder into the trees around it.
Also, My Grandfather is a Dairy farmer. Can I just simply scoop up a dried up pile & mix it into my pots????

[Randall]

My last post about Kansas's silt he got for his palms reminded me of something. I cannot get a good batch of compost to save my life! Does anyone in any hot dry climate have suggestions? Most of the suggestions I have read are written by garden writers in the Mid-Atlantic states, for Mid-Atlantic gardeners, where there is plenty of humidity so the compost does not dry out. That is my biggest problem; the compost just gets too darn dry in the summer, esp. when the intense 100 degree heat comes. Doesn't help that my dad loves to spray weed killer all over; that makes most of our yard waste unusable. I generally do not have a problem with chemicals but if you put stuff contaminated with herbicide in a compost pile, the compost becomes herbicide, which defeats the purpose of cooking compost...

If round-up herbicide is being used, it won't hurt your compost because it becomes inactive after about 2 weeks.
If you're not under water restrictions, use your garden hose to keep your compost damp.
Randall

[oppalm]

during spring time when we get alot of rain I will throw a tarp over my compost pile so it does not get too wet. You could do just the opposite and wet your pile with the garden hose and then throw a heavy duty tarp over it to both hold in the moisture and help heat the pile up.

[Alchris]

Kansas; Fresh manure will burn your plants if you add too much. If your grandfather has a manure pile that is at least 4 months old help yourself and add it as if it is compost.

Most people prefer well rotted manure because it has little smell. If you don't mind the smell, fresher manure is stronger and less is needed.

My sister-in-law uses manure that is about 6 months old for her flowers and shrubs. They live on an acreage and her husband has a gravel truck. The neighbors don't complain about the smell(we don't visit for a couple of weeks after she fertilizes) and it is easy to wash everything that is used to carry the manure. Her flowers and veggies are up to 50% larger than average as she uses way more than I would.

She has volunteered to get me a couple of yards if I bring out my trailer. I don't think I could stand the smell and some of my neighbors would complain. I'm sure that silly council has passed a by-law sometime that makes it illegal to use fresh manure.

Allen

[lucky1]

Oppalm's idea (Kent) is bang on.
In hot dry windy areas, we must keep the water/moisture IN the pile, but stop short of creating a swamp.

I would also make sure to layer grass clippings more frequently (yup, even the Roundup ones).

Grass clippings heat up so fast it's amazing.
But they do need to be consistently moist to make the breakdown process work.

Barb

[Dean W.]

I have had excellent results with compost piles that were derived of mostly leaf litter and compost. I used to obtain raked bagged leaves via the popular web site Craig's List. I even acquired a certain amount of manure from local horse and cow raisers. Of course it was a bit of work and a little messy. However, the results were and have been black gold. Excellent Compost, which has been spread about my most needy plants.

However in the last year I must admit I have fallen behind a bit. I didn't acquire the normal 30-40 huge trash bags I normally do. I wanted to kind of eliminate some of the mess in my small yard so have been a little guarded.

Regards,
Dean

[lucky1]

Ah, heck, Dean you're just gettin older

I used to drive around subdivisions and -- are you sitting down -- actually pick up people's leaf bags to bring home to add to my compost. One guy even brought me a coffee and said "see you next year".

Now I don't have the energy or time it seems to pick up my own leaves for the compost.

Barb