Composting ratios

[SamClemensMT]

I have read that depending on the intended use of your compost, The ratio of green leaves to wood and food scraps should be carefully managed. Can anyone elaborate on this?

 

[zigs]

I tend to manage the green/brown ratio more to get a useable compost rather than a stagnant wet heap that you could get if you only composted greens.

Grass clippings are best mixed in with other stuff as they tend to clump.

 

[ChanellG]

My compost is mostly food scraps covered with a bit of soil. I occasionally throw in cardboard and sometimes I add plain white paper towels that have only been used for wiping my hands or a washed food (like fruit) dry. If I have them, I will add dry leaves from time to time, but I recently set up a leaf bin in the back yard by cutting the bottom off of a black trash bag and putting it around a tomato cage.

If I have them I sometimes add coffee grinds and eggshells, but different plants have different needs, so you could compost grass clippings separately to prevent adding too much nitrogen, etc. I don't like chemicals and bacteria so I stay away from printed paper.

 

[Chuck]

I try to do a 70/30 brown to green. In my experience to much green leads to an odoriferous pile

 

[Mockingbird]

70/30 is what I do, I tend to stir the heap. When I mix the compost into the soil I add a bit of peat and sand. There are areas here that still have quite a bit of clay. Maybe this is not the right way? If there is something better let me know, it just seemed if I did not mix in the additional the plants did not seem to thrive as well.

 

[Chuck]

70/30 is what I do, I tend to stir the heap. When I mix the compost into the soil I add a bit of peat and sand. There are areas here that still have quite a bit of clay. Maybe this is not the right way? If there is something better let me know, it just seemed if I did not mix in the additional the plants did not seem to thrive as well.

Sand + clay= Brick Add organic material instead of sand and also use molasses or anything else with a lot of sugar in it to speed up the composting process and it will loosen up the clay

 

[claudine]

To be honest, I've never thought about proportions. I just compost everything that can be composted. From now on, I will try to add more wood chips and leaves to my bin.
Thank you for sharing this chart!

 

[ChanellG]

Sand + clay= Brick Add organic material instead of sand and also use molasses or anything else with a lot of sugar in it to speed up the composting process and it will loosen up the clay

I've never put anything with sugar anywhere in my garden because I don't want to attract ants. I hate the idea of them in my flower pots and generally discourage them from building colonies in my yard, yet they keep on coming and they get into the house.

Have you ever seen ants swarm over an earthworm? I wouldn't want them in my compost.

 

[ChanellG]

BTW, this is a chart I posted a while back...

 

[Chuck]

BTW, this is a chart I posted a while back...

I routinely add stale beer, soft drinks and molasses to my piles. I never get ants. About 3 years ago a bunch of fire ants moved in, not because of the sugar but because it was flooding and spinosad made quick work of them. By using molasses you are speeding up the composting process and raising the interior heat of the pile. thereby killing off any soil pathogens that may be there and at the same time any insects or insect eggs that may be present

 

[ChanellG]

I routinely add stale beer, soft drinks and molasses to my piles. I never get ants. About 3 years ago a bunch of fire ants moved in, not because of the sugar but because it was flooding and spinosad made quick work of them. By using molasses you are speeding up the composting process and raising the interior heat of the pile. thereby killing off any soil pathogens that may be there and at the same time any insects or insect eggs that may be present

I don't have an open pile; I am in the city and use adapted storage bins that are probably semi-cold. I know they don't get that hot because I have tons of earthworms. The worms do the work fairly fast so I don't worry about speeding things up. I start a bin, when it's full I start another bin. By the time that one is full, the other one is ready.

I haven't been composting much at garden #1 because I'm not around as often/cooking. The bins at garden #2 are too moist, because a certain someone refuses to understand that you can't just dump kitchen scraps only into the bins. (Those bins are also in the shade, so no heat.)

I haven't started composting at garden #3, but there are some potential issues with that which could make it a problem, and adding sweet stuff is definitely out of the question.

 

[SamClemensMT]

BTW, this is a chart I posted a while back...

Wow, I feel like if I can just memorize this chart I'll be a composting expert. Thanks ChanelleG. I'll get to work on this one right now. Oh, and yes I have seen ants swarm an earthworm before. It's a sad sight, but that's nature.

 

[SamClemensMT]

I tend to manage the green/brown ratio more to get a useable compost rather than a stagnant wet heap that you could get if you only composted greens.

Grass clippings are best mixed in with other stuff as they tend to clump.

Is there a particular ratio that works best or do you just apply the compost as is to the entire garden. In other words, does that green pasty stuff have any use? Or is it just to be avoided.

 

[Chuck]

Is there a particular ratio that works best or do you just apply the compost as is to the entire garden. In other words, does that green pasty stuff have any use? Or is it just to be avoided.

The green stuff will compost in time on its on but when by itself it is very wet and will go anerobic. By mixing brown stuff with it you avoid this. You do not add green compost or green manure directly to your plants

 

[ChanellG]

Wow, I feel like if I can just memorize this chart I'll be a composting expert. Thanks ChanelleG. I'll get to work on this one right now.

Glad it helps! Just remember that there is no one way of composting. Everything depends on where you live and what resources you are trying to recycle. Start small and expand gradually as you learn what works for you. It's good to have more than one compost pile or bin, so have fun and figure out what works best for your situation.