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Belgium

How are you guys doing?

I started a compost pile today with a 2 cu. foot bag of pine bark mulch, 3 20-25 lb bags of chicken manure, and a bunch of grass clippings. I was wondering if I could add kelp meal to it and if so how much? And also, I heard you can put blood meal in it. How much of that?

Thanks,
Jake Byrd

9/25/2004 1:35:10 PM

Mastic Beach, New York

i would add some leaves too.i would use a cup of blood meal/kelp meal..keep it moist and keep turning it say 1x a week..hope this helped

9/25/2004 2:23:00 PM

Belgium

thanks a lot

9/25/2004 2:26:05 PM

Belgium

a cup of blood meal and a cup of kelp meal or a cup of both mixed?

9/25/2004 2:27:06 PM

Mastic Beach, New York

1 cup each..i sprinkle some on to each layer..put your muich down then your grass clippings then sprinkle some your blood/kelp..then lay down another layer.. at the end water the pile good and sit back and let mother nature do her thing...i use fish/seaweed and molasses and fresh hosre manure to get it going...cant go wrong either way ,it takes time...as soon as it lose's heat ,turn the pile..

9/25/2004 3:51:09 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Try to balance greens with browns to keep the Carbon:Nitrogen ratio correct. Don't be afraid to add Coffee grounds & other green kitchen wastes. The Blood meal will add Nitrogen so you can add more brown than greens for a while.

9/25/2004 4:32:32 PM

Sheridan . NY

also add fish 2ozs --6ozs molasses and 4ozs of symbex if you have it mix all to the gallon of water and mix in with your compost by spraying or drenching

9/25/2004 8:08:37 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

The chicken manure will give ya plenty of nitrogen too. I would avoid the real woody stuff for quicker breakdown. To much wood and it will tie up the nitrogen to long for next years use. Keep that pile hot!

9/26/2004 8:58:58 AM

Follansbee, Wv

Since you used pine bark mulch, you may want to watch for low pH levels in your compost. Also, pine needles, bark and mulch are very slow to decompose, as compared to other woody materials. To get the pile really hot, put a chimney in the center of it. Building the pile on a bed of sticks 3-4" deep will allow air to circulate under the pile and up the chimney, providing air for the microbes. The chimney provides the added benifit of allowing you to check the heat of your pile. Check my diary for pics of a small setup.

9/30/2004 7:14:27 PM