Composting - Advice needed

[Cheib]

We've had a decent amount of clearance work done in our garden and now have two large piles of shredded hedges/trees and grass the will hopefully turn into compost over winter





Way too much to put into compost bins (the first pile is probably 10 to 15 foot long and five foot high) and I have been wondering whether to cover it though from what I have read I think it needs to be permeable rather than a ground sheet or similar?

Anyone got any tips/experience with this much compost?! The second pile has been composting for a couple of months already.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

It'll probably compost automatically, if you just 'turn' it every week or so - try to fork it over so that the inside ends up outside and the outside ends up inside, if you see what I mean.

[otolith]

I think I might be tempted to chuck a bit of pelleted chicken manure in to speed things up a bit if there is a lot of shredded woody debris there.

[Cheib]

Thanks gents....too big for a spade but I've been giving the first heap a turning over with my Kubota BX.

I put some of this Compost Activator on the first heap https://www.edenproject.com/shop/Compost-Activator...

But yes a lot of wood debris....so you think pelleted chicken manure is the way to go ? I read in a previous thread (which I now can't find) that someone recommended adding fertiliser.

[otolith]

Yeah, pelleted chicken manure is just a convenient source of nitrogen (like that compost activator). If your materials tend towards the woody, there will be a lot of carbon there and not so much nitrogen. It will rot faster with a bit added.

[Cheib]

otolith said:

Yeah, pelleted chicken manure is just a convenient source of nitrogen (like that compost activator). If your materials tend towards the woody, there will be a lot of carbon there and not so much nitrogen. It will rot faster with a bit added.

Excellent, I'll order some!

[Simpo Two]

otolith said:

Yeah, pelleted chicken manure is just a convenient source of nitrogen (like that compost activator). If your materials tend towards the woody, there will be a lot of carbon there and not so much nitrogen. It will rot faster with a bit added.

If you're after N, what about some lawn clippings?

[Silent1]

Surely ammonium sulphamate is the way to go?

[Simpo Two]

Silent1 said:

Surely ammonium sulphamate is the way to go?

Do you mean sulphate? sulphAMate is weedkiller.

[Cheib]

Simpo Two said:

otolith said:

Yeah, pelleted chicken manure is just a convenient source of nitrogen (like that compost activator). If your materials tend towards the woody, there will be a lot of carbon there and not so much nitrogen. It will rot faster with a bit added.

If you're after N, what about some lawn clippings?

The first pile we had (which is the second photo) has got a decent amount of lawn clippings in it and it probably pretty close to 50/50. The newer much bigger pile...we just don't have enough grass cuttings. It doesn't look that big in that photo but it's probably about the same volume as two VW Golf's parked end on.

[otolith]

Simpo Two said:

Do you mean sulphate? sulphAMate is weedkiller.

It's also a compost accelerator.

[Cheib]

otolith said:

Simpo Two said:

Do you mean sulphate? sulphAMate is weedkiller.

It's also a compost accelerator.

So it is

https://www.amenity.co.uk/compost-accelerators/amm...

So what would be better this or the pelleted chicken manure ?

[otolith]

Personally, I'd go for the manure. I do have ammonium sulphamate, but I use it as a weedkiller. It's good enough at killing stuff that I wouldn't want to be chucking it about anywhere I didn't need to!

(Note, the pelleted chicken sh*t is by far the most convenient stuff, being highly concentrated, dry and available in large resealable tubs, but any manure will do. Horse or cow or whatever will also add extra organic matter)

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Having reseeded my lawn six weeks ago, my supply of lawn clippings has disappeared as I haven't been mowing. So my hot compost bin has somewhat gone off the boil.

Mrs Oxgreen and I have been adding food waste and other garden prunings, together with biodegradable cat litter that the cat has weed on, and the temperature went up to about 40C, which is okay - but a splash of dissolved ammonium sulphamate a few days ago has really kick-started it and it is now back up to about 60C, where it should be.

Ammonium sulphamate appears to be good stuff!

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Tuesday 13th October 19:33

[Silent1]

otolith said:

Simpo Two said:

Do you mean sulphate? sulphAMate is weedkiller.

It's also a compost accelerator.

It's banned as a weed killer now iirc but is still legal as a compost accelerator.

As for the worry about using it, it should be fine as its broken down by microbes in the soil in 6-8 weeks in moist conditions so it's unlikely to be persistent and as there's a pile of compost on top it's very unlikely that it will get washed down into any kind of water course or aquifer.
Source

Edited by Silent1 on Thursday 15th October 19:45

[BlackZeD]

Copied again.

"Because it is a simple chemical the environmental effects are easy to judge. When it is sprayed onto the soil any plants will die but gradually the effect of the oxygen is to turn it back into sulphate of ammonia, the fertiliser."

[otolith]

Yeah, I don't have any qualms at all about using it generally and am delighted at what it's done to my horsetail infestation, it's just that if I get manure where it isn't wanted, it isn't going to kill anything. And it's relatively expensive. I'm sure it's fine if you're careful.

[Cheib]

Have just ordered 60kg of chicken pellets to mix in with the compost....no clue if that's enough. Will just have to wait and see.

[otolith]

That's a lot of chicken crap!

Don't overdo it to begin with, you can always add more.

[Cheib]

otolith said:

That's a lot of chicken crap!

Don't overdo it to begin with, you can always add more.

No I wont but it's a big pile of compost! I have a 1.25 ton trailer I use behind my Kubota....I reckon to move that pile of compost would take 20 plus loads easily.