phrygian44
Well-Known Member
OK, so my post is limited to 1000 characters, so i'll have to break this out into Part 1 and Part 2. Here is Part 1:
There are as many different types of composting systems as there are people composting, so I'm not going to get into any specifics on how to build your own. There are so many great DIY vids on YouTube, so get out there and spend weeks of agonizing deliberation, just like the rest of us have gone through. : P
What i will do, however, is provide you with some good basics on composting, and provide you with some great tips that i have developed along the way, a lot of which can only be found exclusively on Rollitup.
First of all, I do have an advantage in that i have a somewhat elaborate composting system for all my gardening needs - my pseudo dream system. My real dream system would be a 10-bin system: 5 bins, side-by-each, and then back-to-back. (And, no, i'm not mad. At least the voices inside my head haven't warned me about it yet.) However, I want to stress that you DO NOT need a big system like mine. You can build a much smaller one just for your cannabis needs. As mentioned, there are so many DIY solutions on YouTube, so start clicking.
My 3-Bin system:
-plywood
- 2x4's
- 2x1x6's pine boards
- some rebar to keep the open ends stable
- 1x2 slats to hold in the removable pine boards
Source of Compost Materials:
In MHO (other professionals as well, so I'm not alone here), the best compost material is "Maple Tree" leaves. Nothing beats maple leaves for nutritional density, fungal activity, compost quality, and final end product. That doesn't mean to say that you can't use other types of tree leaves, it's just that Maple leaves are considered the Cadillac's of composting. Other than that, all kinds of organic matter (vegetable food scraps from your kitchen; green lawn clipping - which is an excellent source of nitrogen (used very sparingly, and evenly distributed in the pile, though, otherwise lawn clipping will seriously clump up); or any other green, leafy material works fine.
I even crush up egg shells and throw them in the pile, as they will break down and provide an excellent source of much needed Calcium (and then i add, sparingly, some Epson Salt. Now you have your CalMag solution built into your compost), and seaweed, washed up on the shore, if you have access to it. Seaweed is F'n fabulous, as it contains the full spectrum of macro and micro nutrients - everything that a plant needs. That goes for people food, too.
Do not includes:
To get your composite system to do any real composting, you will need lots of organic material, and that means lots of leaves - a minimum of a 4' high stack (that's 121.92 cm for you's metric folks - you know who you are. ), so much so that I drive around and appropriate about 150+ bags of mainly Maple Tree leaves every late October.
The most i ever collected was about 190 bags, and then i ended up having to put a lot of them back on the street for collection - yeah, i may of been a weee tad overzealous. I can just imagine what all the neighbors think. lolol
anyway, back to the post. . .
It's the weight and volume of the 4 foot stack that compresses the material (compresses out the air) that produces ideal conditions for the anerobic bacteria to start feasting and breaking down your pile - more on anerobic and aerobic processing later. You do Not need to have a 4' stack, but the composting process will be considerably slower, and anything less than 4' tall will not generate enough heat and compression for the anerobic activity inside the pile, so you'll be just left with natural decay, which is alright, but damn slow. However! Any compost is good compost! And always better than none at all.
Process Types:
There are two main types of processes that go on inside your compost pile: Anerobic (which does not require oxygen or any air), and Aerobic, (which does require air in order for the microbes and bacteria to do their thing). Either method works, and each has its own advantages and disadvantage. For maximum efficiency, i have incorporated both types, and use each to their advantage, at the appropriate time. This combined method accelerates the entire process so that i have finished compost in one single season. 1 season, you say? Yes, I say. 5-6 Bins worth of material down to one bin of finished product. Most composters can have finished product in 2 seasons, but I've perfected my system, which I will share here exclusively for my fellow Rollitupians/Rollitupeites.
to be continued. . .
Up Next up: Composting - 2 of 3 - Composting Bins and Tips (Part 2)
Happy composting, Happy Harvesting, and Happy dreaming of next year's strains and growing season.
There are as many different types of composting systems as there are people composting, so I'm not going to get into any specifics on how to build your own. There are so many great DIY vids on YouTube, so get out there and spend weeks of agonizing deliberation, just like the rest of us have gone through. : P
What i will do, however, is provide you with some good basics on composting, and provide you with some great tips that i have developed along the way, a lot of which can only be found exclusively on Rollitup.
First of all, I do have an advantage in that i have a somewhat elaborate composting system for all my gardening needs - my pseudo dream system. My real dream system would be a 10-bin system: 5 bins, side-by-each, and then back-to-back. (And, no, i'm not mad. At least the voices inside my head haven't warned me about it yet.) However, I want to stress that you DO NOT need a big system like mine. You can build a much smaller one just for your cannabis needs. As mentioned, there are so many DIY solutions on YouTube, so start clicking.
My 3-Bin system:
-plywood
- 2x4's
- 2x1x6's pine boards
- some rebar to keep the open ends stable
- 1x2 slats to hold in the removable pine boards
Source of Compost Materials:
In MHO (other professionals as well, so I'm not alone here), the best compost material is "Maple Tree" leaves. Nothing beats maple leaves for nutritional density, fungal activity, compost quality, and final end product. That doesn't mean to say that you can't use other types of tree leaves, it's just that Maple leaves are considered the Cadillac's of composting. Other than that, all kinds of organic matter (vegetable food scraps from your kitchen; green lawn clipping - which is an excellent source of nitrogen (used very sparingly, and evenly distributed in the pile, though, otherwise lawn clipping will seriously clump up); or any other green, leafy material works fine.
I even crush up egg shells and throw them in the pile, as they will break down and provide an excellent source of much needed Calcium (and then i add, sparingly, some Epson Salt. Now you have your CalMag solution built into your compost), and seaweed, washed up on the shore, if you have access to it. Seaweed is F'n fabulous, as it contains the full spectrum of macro and micro nutrients - everything that a plant needs. That goes for people food, too.
Do not includes:
- do not include branches or thick fibrous stems into the piles, if you can avoid it. you can, but they compost very slowly, and they're a F'n pain in das ass to pull out of the finished compost when you're done.
- Also do not put any meat/protein into your pile. again, you can, but you'll have the neighbourhood wild life association having midnight parties at your place (and I'm not talking about Swing parties, here. ), plus the pile will smell F'n brutal after a few weeks - trust me, not recommended.
- do not put wood ash into your pile. I know, some of you may do this for the potash, and i certainly did this for many years, but i recently read that wood ash inhibits microbial and fungal activity, especially in compost piles, so it's best to mix the wood ash with your compost after your material has finished composting, and then you will get the exact same results, but with faster composting.
To get your composite system to do any real composting, you will need lots of organic material, and that means lots of leaves - a minimum of a 4' high stack (that's 121.92 cm for you's metric folks - you know who you are. ), so much so that I drive around and appropriate about 150+ bags of mainly Maple Tree leaves every late October.
The most i ever collected was about 190 bags, and then i ended up having to put a lot of them back on the street for collection - yeah, i may of been a weee tad overzealous. I can just imagine what all the neighbors think. lolol
anyway, back to the post. . .
It's the weight and volume of the 4 foot stack that compresses the material (compresses out the air) that produces ideal conditions for the anerobic bacteria to start feasting and breaking down your pile - more on anerobic and aerobic processing later. You do Not need to have a 4' stack, but the composting process will be considerably slower, and anything less than 4' tall will not generate enough heat and compression for the anerobic activity inside the pile, so you'll be just left with natural decay, which is alright, but damn slow. However! Any compost is good compost! And always better than none at all.
Process Types:
There are two main types of processes that go on inside your compost pile: Anerobic (which does not require oxygen or any air), and Aerobic, (which does require air in order for the microbes and bacteria to do their thing). Either method works, and each has its own advantages and disadvantage. For maximum efficiency, i have incorporated both types, and use each to their advantage, at the appropriate time. This combined method accelerates the entire process so that i have finished compost in one single season. 1 season, you say? Yes, I say. 5-6 Bins worth of material down to one bin of finished product. Most composters can have finished product in 2 seasons, but I've perfected my system, which I will share here exclusively for my fellow Rollitupians/Rollitupeites.
to be continued. . .
Up Next up: Composting - 2 of 3 - Composting Bins and Tips (Part 2)
Happy composting, Happy Harvesting, and Happy dreaming of next year's strains and growing season.
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