Aeration Methods For Cheap Compost Bins
Aeration is a way to speed up the composting process for your organic waste.
It is one of many methods you can use in combination with one another.
It also produces higher quality compost which your soil will love! For this article I will concentrate on this aspect only.
Think about your compost as a tightly packed mass of natural matter.
The denser everything is packed the harder it is for stuff to move around and grow, or in our case decompose.
Aeration reduces the density and allows more air to get into the center of the mass, which is normally cut off from a good flow of oxygen.
Think of when a fire is being started, you will always need to fan it or blow on it in order for the fire to grow larger.
It is the same idea with aeration and compost.
Turning Your Compost The most basic way to aerate your compost is to turn it.
After piling it up inside of a compost bin, use a turning fork or a pitch fork about once each week to turn it, and that will speed up the composting process.
If you want to be really aggressive about the composting process you can use a compost thermometer to measure the temperature.
Once it gets below the minimum temperature (optimum temperature is 135-160F) you should begin to turn it.
The only disadvantage to turning is that the piles can get quite heavy if you build them to big, and consequently take a lot of hard work and energy to turn.
I want to Aerate but I don't like pitchforks! What shall I do?? For those of us non-athletic types, don't worry.
There is a device called a compost aerator which makes it possible to aerate without turning.
It is basically a pole with a pair of wings / spikes at the end.
The way to use it is plunge the pole into the middle of your pile, then much like how a barbed arrow works, when you pull it back up the pointy bits will fluff up much of your compost letting much needed oxygen in.
Another method I am fond of is using PVC pipes with holes drilled along the sides every few inches.
The best size I found is about 2 inches, any larger will have too big of a chance to lower the temperature too much.
You can place a few of these pipes after you have filled up your cheap compost bin with organic waste.
It is one of many methods you can use in combination with one another.
It also produces higher quality compost which your soil will love! For this article I will concentrate on this aspect only.
Think about your compost as a tightly packed mass of natural matter.
The denser everything is packed the harder it is for stuff to move around and grow, or in our case decompose.
Aeration reduces the density and allows more air to get into the center of the mass, which is normally cut off from a good flow of oxygen.
Think of when a fire is being started, you will always need to fan it or blow on it in order for the fire to grow larger.
It is the same idea with aeration and compost.
Turning Your Compost The most basic way to aerate your compost is to turn it.
After piling it up inside of a compost bin, use a turning fork or a pitch fork about once each week to turn it, and that will speed up the composting process.
If you want to be really aggressive about the composting process you can use a compost thermometer to measure the temperature.
Once it gets below the minimum temperature (optimum temperature is 135-160F) you should begin to turn it.
The only disadvantage to turning is that the piles can get quite heavy if you build them to big, and consequently take a lot of hard work and energy to turn.
I want to Aerate but I don't like pitchforks! What shall I do?? For those of us non-athletic types, don't worry.
There is a device called a compost aerator which makes it possible to aerate without turning.
It is basically a pole with a pair of wings / spikes at the end.
The way to use it is plunge the pole into the middle of your pile, then much like how a barbed arrow works, when you pull it back up the pointy bits will fluff up much of your compost letting much needed oxygen in.
Another method I am fond of is using PVC pipes with holes drilled along the sides every few inches.
The best size I found is about 2 inches, any larger will have too big of a chance to lower the temperature too much.
You can place a few of these pipes after you have filled up your cheap compost bin with organic waste.
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