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Compost composition

alfharris8alfharris8 Posts: 513
in Tools and techniques
Does what you put on a homemade compost heap make any difference to how it turns out or the end quality of it or is it just about getting the ratio right of green/Brown and the natural bacteria doing the rest?
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  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I think it is the size of what goes in that decides it. Everything natural rots down eventually, but if you want fine compost, either shred it or mow it first or be prepared to sieve large lumps out to go back in again.
     Avocado stones seem to sit there forever or actually germinate.
  • alfharris8alfharris8 Posts: 513
    Thanks @fidgetbones
    I don't eat a lot of Avocados but I will remember not to bother sticking them in if I do.
    I didn't know if it mattered if you put in a lot of the same things, for example - apple peelings or if once the bacteria got going it evened things out nutrient wise.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited August 2022
    alfharris8 said:
    Does what you put on a homemade compost heap make any difference to how it turns out?

    It's an interesting question. How would we measure the outcome to find out? There seems to be quite a lot of debate as to whether there are (can be) high level of nutrients in homemdade compost ("Black Gold") or hardly any at all (mostly good for soil structure).  I don't really know.

    The "goodness" in a compost seems to often come from the poo of whatever lives in the compost - worms, beetles, woodlice, ants, mites etc. A healthy load of worms will be digesting a lot of your pile and converting it to good stuff, living out their lives. A good pile will be "full of life" and so you would want to get as much diverse "life" into it as you. This would want fungi, microbes, invertebrates like cleaner mites and worms ... Add all this to your soil will enliven and diversify it, as well as adding "organic matter" which will hold moisture well and be good to plant into.

    To add to the diversity of your compost pile (and speed up conversion) it can help to add a bit of your garden soil and/or some manure. Human pee can add good stuff too. 



    I daresay if a full third of your compost was made up of lemons or pine needles you might end up with an out of whack mix.  It would be interesting to find out instead of speculating.


  • alfharris8alfharris8 Posts: 513
    Thanks @Fire - great answer.
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    You need to add time to your equation.
    If your quantities (50/50 green brown) are close or correct then it'll make well balanced compost quicker, if they are biased then it'll make biased compost quickly or more well balanced compost slowly.
    A compost made from mainly green (lawn cuttings) will be a slimy, stodgy, fairly useless mess for a while until nature breaks it down.

    There are different types of compost of course and it's end use is different. For instance I've just made some high nitrogen compost which is good for greedy feeders, but put radishes in and it's a disaster. Other root veg too (carrot, parsnip) would not grow well and prefer poorer soils.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I mix it all up so it is like a xmas cake.  At the moment there is a lot of apple peelings going in. I will mix that into the stuff that is already partly decomposed so it is not a sludgy mess.  In winter there is a lot of citrus peel, so long as plenty af potato peelings go in as well the worms don't seem to mind.  Grass cuttings on their own just go slimy.  If that is all I have, again I mix it up with the stuff already in there that is already partly decomposed.
  • alfharris8alfharris8 Posts: 513
    @MikeOxgreen and @fidgetbones

    Thank you both again for responding. 
    Can the composition be adjusted/retified at any time during the process, eg adding more brown stuff if compost slimy then allowing more time?
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Yes, if it's slimy mix in some browns, and some air while you're at it. Torn up brown cardboard will do if you've no woody prunings that you can shred or cut up.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Chris-P-BaconChris-P-Bacon Posts: 943
    alfharris8 said:
    Does what you put on a homemade compost heap make any difference to how it turns out or the end quality of it or is it just about getting the ratio right of green/Brown and the natural bacteria doing the rest?
    Yes, just throw in green and brown in near enough the same amounts and you'll get good compost...anything else just makes things unnecessarily over complicated.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2022
    Don’t forget you should be turning and mixing your compost heap throughout the composting process. 

    This site suggests x3 per week … I think that’s a tad excessive .., but the principle is there


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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