Composting

[Edward W. Thompson]

Does anyone have any first hand experience on the effectiveness of 'compost accelerators' ?

What does this 'stuff' actually do. I think they are enzymes and assume they somehow accelerate the bacteria decomposition process. Confirmation would be enlightening and useful.

[Bob Minchin]

If you can build the compost heap with well balanced content that is well mixed into a thermally efficient compost container then no accelerator is needed. However most of us probably have no ideal compost 'heaps' fed with large influxes of grass cuttings in summer, leaves in autumn etc. using an accelerator in these circumstances does seem to help although I've not done scientific comparative tests. I don't know what is in them but the Garotta brand has been around for years (50?) so i doubt tat it is particularly high tech.

hth

Bob

[Tim S]

Bob Minchin coughed up some electrons that declared:

If there are stables nearby, a good idea (and free) is to take some bags and collect some fresh steaming manure. Mix that in and you'll get the heap going and the result is excellent compost. Worked a treat for me.

Cheers

Tim

[dennis]

I think its just a high nitrogen content fertilizer. You need a lot of nitrogen to kick start the heap.

[Roger Cain]

Why pay for the branded stuff - I use sulphate of ammonia which is cheaper.

[Tim S]

dennis@home coughed up some electrons that declared:

And that fresh manure of mine was almost certainly full of horse wee so lots of nitrogen, plus all the bugs. That probably explains why it worked well.

Cheers

Tim

[Adam Lipscombe]

I can vouch for that. Great for star gazing too!

Adam

[Stephen Howard]

They work - but they won't salvage a poorly-made heap.

Essentially you need to maintain a balance of nitrogen and oxygen, and this is done by layering the heap - alternating between soft, green material and harder, more woody stuff. Accelerators tend to add more nitrogen, which quickly increases the heat in the heap.

Some commercial accelerators contains enzymes and the like, but many gardeners add a nitrogen shot by using readily available ingredients such as nettles. One of the most effective solutions is to simply wee on your heap.

The bottom line is that is you build and maintain the heap correctly you shouldn't need to add any additional boosters.

Regards,

[Alan]

In message , Tim S wrote

Human urine works just as well as an accelerator and is readily available.

Search Google for 'compost and urine'

[robgraham]

Tim - I would be careful about that now. There was a question on the BBC radio garden programme some weeks back about plants that had failed - runner beans and the like - and the answer was that the farmers are using a new weedkiller that does *not* become inactive when in contact with the soil, passes through cows and the likes and retains it's activity in the manure.

Farmers are meant to notify manure users but no doubt they don't read all all the small print.

Rob

[Tim S]

robgraham coughed up some electrons that declared:

Oh...

They didn't mention if it was "Graze-On" did they?

Cheers

Tim

[NOSPAMnet]

But watch out for the neighbours ..maybe better to use a bottle first and take it to the garden ...LOL

[Lino expert]

S'alright for you gents ;o(

(And I don't mean women have difficulty Googling)

[Stephen Howard]

A beer in the garden, sort of thing? Sounds good to me! Good excuse for a couple of sneaky pints on the sly....topping up the nitrogen levels in the compost heap. Ah....but which beer is best??? Could take quite a while to find out...

Regards,

[Theo Markettos]

Aminopyralid:

[Huge]

in June and July 2008, and at the end of July 2008 Dow AgroSciences implemented an immediate suspension of UK sales and use of herbicides containing Aminopyralid."

And;

"As of July 2008 the following herbicide products that include aminopyralid in the UK include: Banish, Forefront, Halcyon, Pharaoh, Pro-Banish, Runway, Synero and Upfront."

[Onetap]

I was told by an elderly & dedicated vegetable grower that horse manure usually contains residues of the worming drug with which horses are treated and this will kill most of the earthworms in the soil &/or brandlings in the compost.

There's no stables near me, so I've never tested this wisdom.