organic

Howdy y'all

Brindie has a horse farm and unlimited horse manure to work with. This is fortunate for her, because horse manure is nature's perfect compost starter.

But how do we go about turning horse poop into plant food? That's what this thread is going to be about. The techniques we'll go over here can be used to compost anything from vegetable scraps to rabbit raisins, and help to create some damn fine food for your plants.

Stay tuned while I figure out how to get away from my own compost pile to write about other peoples'.

- Big

Slim

I know I'm jumping the gun with Q's before you begin, but I'm very interested in using a mix of compost and perlite for future indoor grows, so I want go ahead and get in on this thread...

I've noticed all the leaves and junk stuck in the eave gutters is already partially broken down from rain, would it be good compost?

Are there any specific kinds of fecal matter that should be avoided?

*Sits down up front*


Slim

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Delta

poop are full of pathogens. Don't use these. There are probably others, too. Like cat poop.

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Lizzie Borden

Thanks a lot Organic. I am really looking forward to learning about this.

I wonder if it depends on if the animal eats meat, whether or not you can use their manure. I have only heard of composting manure from herbivores.

Would it be possible for me to produce all of my plants' growing medium from the compost and the worm farm? That would be awesome if so. I really hate spending $2-$3 each for dozens of bags of perlite and vermiculite every time I start a new crop. Or does the compost and worm castings only replace the potting soil portion of the mix?

smokinrav

Can you make compost in the winter?

Smokin

Thanatos2

Try making a cheap worm bin as well to compost your leaves, wheat/bread products, vegeatbles, coffee grounds, etc.

organic

Everyone's in their seats and asking questions before the class starts...gotta love that

OK I'm still a little stressed for time, so I won't have a presentation ready just yet. But I will quickly answer questions. By the way feel free to break in and ask questions whenever you have any, it's the best way to learn.


- you could use the leaves from your gutter, but it kinda depends on what your roof is made of. If it's composite roofing then I definitely wouldn't, because of likely chemical runoff from the shingles. If any chemicals have been used on the roof (i.e. moss killer) then don't use 'em. If you have a metal roof or untreated shake roof then it's probably OK. Leaves by the way are excellent compost material, full of nutrients.

- Brindie is correct, as a general rule you should only use manure that comes from herbivorous (plant-eating) animals, because carnivore poop contains pathogens that are potentially dangerous to humans. Horse, cow, sheep, duck, chicken, rabbit: all good. Dog, cat, pig, people: no good. And gross!

- You can compost in the winter but it takes extra steps, like insulating the bin area with straw bales or bags of leaves, and covering the pile (usually with black plastic.) It will also probably take a lot longer, as composting is a thermal process.

- Compost and worm castings should be viewed as a soil amendment rather than the main soil constituent. Although if anyone is interested in trying experiments using them as your main soil, I'd be interested to see the results. I'm particularly intrigued with Slim's idea of compost and perlite; you'd probably want to use a lot of perlite, but it just might work.

On that note, Brindie, even if you could use just compost and w.c., I would recommend using perlite, fine gravel or sand just to increase the porosity of the mix. Compost in particular will hold water for a long, long time - I once went a month without watering my plants that were in a 30% compost mix.


OK, as a primer go check out the Organics section of the grow guide once more, and be sure to look at the sub-page with the organic nutrient chart.
You can also look at a more nicely formatted version at http://www.geocities.com/nonamuss/organic_npk.html

I've got a big pile of books and notebooks full of composting info sitting right next to me so I'll be back soon with the first lesson.

Big

Slim

To maintain good drainage, it sounds like a compost/perlite would be difficult at best. (A month to drain? ) Would my medium have to be like 90/10, or perhaps a perlite/potting/compost is my only route?

I'm going to avoid fish emulsion due to smelling up the indoors. Are there any organics to avoid where the smell or taste of the final product is concerned?

Are oak leaves the only benificial ones?

Will my compost pile need to be rain-protected?

If your lessons cover these Q's, I'll just read it there.

Slim

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organic

This installment will give a basic overview of some of the concepts in composting. Later on, we'll get into methods.

We're going to go over the process of aerobic composting, that is, using air flow to help drive the process of decomposition. This method will cause heat to build up in the pile, which increases organic activity, and if done correctly will break down pathogens and kill weed seeds.

(The contrasting method, generally known as cold composting, is where you just throw everything in a pile and let it sit for a year or more. Not that it takes a genius to figure this one out )

The key to proper composting is balance. Your compost will be made up of materials that are either high in Nitrogen - things like fresh grass clippings, animal manures, and vegetable trimmings - or high in Carbon, such as dried leaves, dried grass, straw, and sawdust. The relative amount of these materials is known as the C:N ratio.

The optimal ratio of carbon-rich materials to nitrogen-rich materials (C:N ratio) is:
30:1
(although a range from 25:1 to 40:1 also works)

The optimal moisture content of your compost is:
55-65%
In real life, this translants to "damp like a wrung-out sponge"

If you're lucky like Brindie, and have access to horse manure, you're set. Horse manure has both the proper C:N ratio and moisture content for composting. In this case, all you have to do is pile it together in an area where it won't get rained on (as this would throw the moisture level off) and turn it once a week or so. Or you can use one of the low-effort aeration methods which I will describe a little later.

If, like most people, you don't have horse manure, a little more effort has to be put in when putting together the pile. Something that should be noted is that you will not be adding anything to the pile once you have it mixed together and started composting, as it would interfere with the composting process. I'll also discuss this a little later when discussing the various structures you can use for compost building.

A note should also be made that you can really boost the nutrient level of your finished compost by adding amendments, such as bone, blood, and kelp meal. As well as increasing the nutrient level, these products will be broken down during the composting process and become more bioavailable to the plants.

More to come, stay tuned

Lizzie Borden

I'm thinking of taking six bales of straw, and making a rectangle two bales long on two sides with one bale on each end. This will make sort of a trough with which I can fill with horse manure. Then I have some sheets of black plastic I can lay over the top, with rocks or something heavy securing it down.

Does this sound like a good plan? I grow 16 plants at a time, taking about eight females to maturity each crop. Would a compost bin this size provide me with enough for my growing operation?

Hmmm I noticed that my neighbors have what looks like a box surrounded by piles of leaves in their yard. I wonder if they also grow and make compost for their plants.