Comments for Compost Guy

Comment on Pet Waste Composting by Niel

Niel — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:25:29 +0000

I refill my cat’s litterbox every day with sand on our plot. then in the morning empty it out and refill . I usually empty it (sand and waste) in one heap. What I want to know is, if i empty it in a spot where there is a lot of sunlight during the day will i be able to use the same sand again in the litter box at a later stage. Should i perhaps spread the sand out a bit or mix it so that the sun can affect the waste more adequately. I am afraid of using the same sand again and that it might still have some diseases from the old waste in it, causing illness for the cats and me.

Comment on Growing Sweet Potato Slips by penny

penny — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:01:57 +0000

this is very helpful im going to try it i bought some at the grocery store to see if they will sprout before i break down and buy shoots from richters online if they sprout how long will they last in the jar? until planting season?

Comment on Vermicomposting vs Bokashi by Yeti

Yeti — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:47:15 +0000

Oh and by the way, my hopes are that with this formulation of sorts I can quickly blend a fermented bucket, establish a curing time for the bokashi to inoculate the bedding materials aerobically and for the minerals to bring the pH up a little(~1wk), fill worm factory trays and forget it. The worms will get to it when they are ready. My thoughts are that they will process it much more quickly than they would conventional kitchen scraps.

Comment on Vermicomposting vs Bokashi by Yeti

Yeti — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:34:56 +0000

Hey all,
I know this article is long dead but I’ve been surfing these very questions for some time. I have been using bokashi composting and just filled my second bucket, the first finishing now, and am excited to find a good way to mingle this system with the worm factory.

I believe that the white fungi are plenty good for decomposition and exist in parallel with worms in almost any sort of compost bin. They are very common in animal manure/straw mixtures. Surprisingly I used the juice every few days from the 3wk fermented bucket on a fresh built 4x4x4 compost pile of my garden waste and have never seen so much of this white fungi so immediately, and have also never seen a pile diminish so quickly. It was dropping inches every day in height. Generally I see inches/week on these sized piles.

My plan with the full bokashi bucket is to add an equal part to twice as much of a mixture of paper scraps/egg cartons/peat moss/coco coir/leaf duff/leaves/whatever I have around. I will also add my mixture of minerals that I add to my soil amendments, including basalt, bentonite, oyster shell powder, and glacial rock dust. To this mixture I will be experimenting with the quantity needed of oyster shell powder to balance the pH as I have read a fully pickled bucket will generally gives pH readings as low as 3.0, which is probably quite a bit lower than any worms would prefer.

Hope this helps and if anyone still cares, feel free to respond.

Comment on Winter Composting by Where should I put my worms? | lovelandwormery.com

Where should I put my worms? | lovelandwormery.com — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:43:49 +0000

[…] This page is on composting but it might give you some ideas. https://www.compostguy.com/winter-composting/ […]

Comment on Garbage Gardening by steve mclean

steve mclean — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:57:36 +0000

VicinSea wrote “I have tried this in the past and had huge trouble with rats digging up the compost (& the plants) Do you have problems like that and what has worked for you to stop them?”

What’s worked for me – both for rats and raccoons – is a layer of coffee grounds. It needn’t be completely covering the composting material, I’ve found but enough to put off the scent of the compost.

Comment on Winter Composting by Simple Guy

Simple Guy — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 03:12:57 +0000

Dude,
I can’t get a compost pile going in the Summer and I’ve got one of the barrells that supposively makes it easy. lol
Is there an accelerant I need to add?
Thanks,
Mike

Comment on Why Raised Beds? by scott

scott — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:13:40 +0000

I note a few other items missing in your recomendations for raised beds…. you are correct in noting the ease of use when raised above grade, yes you can control the mix… if you want more acidic or sweeter soil conditions for different plantings just alter the mix accordingly. They also help to conserve water.
but to us who live even farther north?.. raised beds heat up faster in the spring … giving us a slightly better/earlier start…. and if you employ a simple hoop house system you can grow in feb/ march with cooler crops when their is still snow on the ground. Hoop house actually require venting they get so warm in the winter….

Comment on Garden Girl Aquaponics System by scott

scott — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:59:28 +0000

I too am fascinated by the aquaponics… even vermiponics as a potentially awesome growth method… I note that patti is using perlite in her grow beds… I had heard, or thought I had heard.. that perlite will breakdown in a AP system… it is also possible to cause havoc with pumps if it manages to get back into the fish tank… All grow beds will eventually need to be cleaned out also, you ever try to clean or rinse this stuff?
that being said… may different sources are being utilized for grow media… clay balls/pellets from various manufacturers… ( I find them too light to support taller plants… they want to fall over) , and many use lava rock… ( which is light,has sharper corners but appears to lock together better…. what seems to work is a plain old river gravel that has been washed thoroughly…( keeps dirt out of the tank) make sure it is not altering the ph none…. ( pro’s?.. smoother, more mass to support plant roots and keep them upright, probably more cost efficient to most people…. Cons… heavier than either perlite or clayball / pellets, or lava rock… and if you have large grow beds weight can be a concern.
Sorry, I dont want to discredit anything patti has to offer, I really enjoy watching many of her videos on gardening and her collection of various animals. But perlite is possibly not the best for this application.
One site I didn’t see mentioned was AquaponicsHQ… they are a very valuble sorce of free info also….

Comment on My First Winter Worm Composting System by Richard R

Richard R — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:55:22 +0000

This makes me feel much better about adding worms to an outside bin this winter. My outside bin is identical to the one in the picture and I was trying to solve a lot of the issues mentioned in this post. Really appreciate the information, thank you.