How to Speed Up Compost
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Green kitchen scraps provide essential nitrogen in compost.??plucher le ma?¡¥s image by fotogis?¡§le from Fotolia.com
Add the optimum proportion of carbon and nitrogen for effective composting. Carbon is in "brown" material like branches and leaves. Nitrogen is in green leafy material, grass clippings and manure. According to Eartheasy, there should be one-third green to two-thirds brown material in compost. - 2
Finished compost can be an activator in making compost.terre image by Claudio Calcagno from Fotolia.com
Add an activator to the compost pile to speed up composting. Activators include manure, alfalfa meal, bone meal, grass clippings, young weeds and finished compost. When a new layer is added to the pile, add activator and water well. - 3
Crush leaves before adding to compost to quicken composting.Leaves image by Simon from Fotolia.com
Chop up dry ingredients such as branches and leaves when you add them to the compost pile. This will speed up decomposition and result in having compost sooner. - 4
Worms speed up composting.worms image by Adrian Hillman from Fotolia.com
Add worms to significantly speed up the process, suggests Northern Gardening. - 5
Frequent aeration with a pitchfork will quicken composting.tools image by sorokka from Fotolia.com
Turn the pile frequently with a pitchfork to aerate and speed up the process. This will increase the oxygen in the pile. The more it is turned, the faster it will be ready, perhaps within four months.
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