I have oranges, bananas, plums, apples, lemons, limes, celery, broccoli, onions, jalapenos, habaneros, potatoes, green and red bell pepper, catelope, watermelon, pears, lettuce, and a few others I cant think of at the top f my head. What is good to add to my plant and what is good to stay away from? I am using a dehydrator t dry out everything, should I just throw the peels in, or would it be beneficial to my plant to dry out the fruit n veggie meat as well? thanks
What can I add to marijuana compost?
- Thread starter chris h
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snew
Well-Known Member
All of this stuff is good. But I would not dehydrate it. You will find you are adding water often to a compost pile as it begins to cook. don't had massive proportions of citrus peelings it will make the soil to acidic. Add about 75-85% carbon. Leaves (dry), newspaper, etc. Turn often the more often the better. Some people say they have compost in 2-3 months. If you use a barrel you turn everyday this may be possible but I've found it to take about a year to produce good compost, except with vermi-composting. It took me about 6 months for my for my first batch and about 3-4 months after that. It fun, uses what would be stuff that would otherwise in up in the trash. Worms are great.
I would skip the oranges and lemons as they will shift the PH.
onions takes longer than the rest, so consider that.
no need to dry it out.
be sure to avoid seeds in your trash.
chopping it in a blender would increase by far the composting time. It will also heat it up faster.
onions takes longer than the rest, so consider that.
no need to dry it out.
be sure to avoid seeds in your trash.
chopping it in a blender would increase by far the composting time. It will also heat it up faster.
420God
Well-Known Member
Compost heats up on it's own when the microorganisms start to break down the materials, that's what becomes the plants food. Get manure in there to get it going real good and add nutrients to the mix.
420God
Well-Known Member
It's going to take a while for it to become actual compost, like almost a year, and it has to be stirred occasionally. If you're looking for a quick plant food, urine is actually very good and I've used it with amazing results. It has to be diluted 1 part urine to 10 parts water and there's no smell after it's diluted.
GooDGR3EN13
Well-Known Member
Add dolomite lime, it works as a ph regulator, it won't go past 7.0 when added to compost.
secretagent
Member
yeah dolomite lime is sold at garden centers/nurseries and much cheaper at home depots and the like. i think i paid $4 for about 40 lbs and you only need little bits of it........
as for the compost, it is very much possible to turn raw materials into finished compost in 2-3 months, i have done this more then once. however, one must build the pile properly, keep it moist all the time, have the proper balance of materials and give it a complete turn or two during that time. how to do this takes a little bit of research and studying, i highly reccomend the grow biointensive composting system, as it is explained very well, simple to understand, build and maintain. Check out the book "how to grow more vegetables then you ever thought possible on less land then you ever imagined" by John Jeavons, which is the instruction manual for the biointensive system. Not a ganja book at all, but the chapters on soil ecology and composting and micro organisms are all very applicable. I have always gotten good results using his system. Also, know that not all compost is created equal, whatever nutrients you put in is what you are going to get out. You can certainly use old newspapers and such in a pile, but if you went out and found some dry leaves or dry grass you would make nicer compost. Variety of compost ingredients equals a good balance of nutrients and trace minerals and such. Composting is part art and part science, but in all reality, everything will eventually break down one way or the other, if you just threw a bunch of random stuff in a pile and let it sit eventually you would have decomposed matter, as long as some water is present. hope this mad ramble helps a bit, i love composting and wish you the best on your composting adventures...
as for the compost, it is very much possible to turn raw materials into finished compost in 2-3 months, i have done this more then once. however, one must build the pile properly, keep it moist all the time, have the proper balance of materials and give it a complete turn or two during that time. how to do this takes a little bit of research and studying, i highly reccomend the grow biointensive composting system, as it is explained very well, simple to understand, build and maintain. Check out the book "how to grow more vegetables then you ever thought possible on less land then you ever imagined" by John Jeavons, which is the instruction manual for the biointensive system. Not a ganja book at all, but the chapters on soil ecology and composting and micro organisms are all very applicable. I have always gotten good results using his system. Also, know that not all compost is created equal, whatever nutrients you put in is what you are going to get out. You can certainly use old newspapers and such in a pile, but if you went out and found some dry leaves or dry grass you would make nicer compost. Variety of compost ingredients equals a good balance of nutrients and trace minerals and such. Composting is part art and part science, but in all reality, everything will eventually break down one way or the other, if you just threw a bunch of random stuff in a pile and let it sit eventually you would have decomposed matter, as long as some water is present. hope this mad ramble helps a bit, i love composting and wish you the best on your composting adventures...
Spanishfly
Well-Known Member
Compost is traditionally made from a mix of green materials - weeds, lawn clippings, green veg stalks and leaves, MJ trimmings, and brown materials - dried leaves, potato peelings, tea and coffee grounds, etc, etc. Despite what you might read from whackos on here do NOT add faeces or animal corpses. Vegetable sourced materials ONLY - well rotted manure can be added later to your soil mix along with your garden compost.
Pile onto a compost heap or put into a compostor - you can buy a compost activator to help get it all going. Mix often - water regularly. A well managed compost heap has a pleasant, earthy smell.
After a year or so you will produce garden compost, a dark humus, which looks nothing like the original constituents. If you use a composter you can easily shovel that out of the bottom.
Add to your soil mix.
Some folks make their own compost and have a wormery as well.
My composter - we call it the Dalek.
Pile onto a compost heap or put into a compostor - you can buy a compost activator to help get it all going. Mix often - water regularly. A well managed compost heap has a pleasant, earthy smell.
After a year or so you will produce garden compost, a dark humus, which looks nothing like the original constituents. If you use a composter you can easily shovel that out of the bottom.
Add to your soil mix.
Some folks make their own compost and have a wormery as well.
My composter - we call it the Dalek.
Matt Rize
Hashmaster
"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Spanishfly again." Someone help me out 
And as someone else mentioned DO NOT dehydrate your food scraps as the moisture content of your compost is crucial.
Peace - rize out
LOL, yeah, 420god knows what he is doing, BUT if you are new to composting I would NOT use urine or manure. Keep it veggie/brown waste. This is safer and less can go wrong considering it is your first compost run.
YES, do this. I have one of them spinner compost makers that supposedly speeds to compost time up. All i know is that "turning" the pile has never been so easy.
The or so part really depends on your climate and what you put in your compost. With the spinner compost makers it is supposed to take half that time if properly prepared.
And as someone else mentioned DO NOT dehydrate your food scraps as the moisture content of your compost is crucial.
Peace - rize out
Strongerrootz
Member
Avoid manure in your compost. Best thing to do for compost. If your using worms, big a hole as deep as you can, enough to place a 5 gallon bucket vertically in the hole. If you can chop up your materials in the blender as you start to discard it as the other fellow said. Best thing get a fast food cup for the kitchen to place your compost in and one for your egg shells, as you place your eggs in the cup break them up with a pint glass to smash them up as small as possible the smaller the better. I use toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, paper towels as long as they were for drying my hands and newspapers for my brown. I rip them up and place them in a 5 gallon bucket once my bucket is full I fill it with water place a lid on it and place it outside for 5 days in the sunniest spot to help it disintegrate. Now for the magic, I place another 5 gallon bucket drilled full of holes around the bottom and the sides. I place all the composted materials I can into the bottom bucket. I then pour out my browns and water into the bottom bucket let it drain out then I place some of the loose dirt from the hole on top of the composted material. Doing this will attract the hell out of all the earthworms you have around your home. This is the best way to collect them and keep your compost clean, after about a month get a small tarp and spread out your compost, you should collect as many worms as possible and toss the compost back into the bucket and place it back in the hole. Now place some newly rotted compost material into your new bucket no holes in the bottom just in the middle and on the top around the sides use the smallest bit as possible but drill as many holes as possible. This will help ventilate it, and keep the lid on on and shade it as much as possible, get a pantyhose legging and place it around the bucket to keep out any earwigs because they will eat your roots and kill your plants later. Doing this will give you the best compost mix for your plants oh and another quick fix if your going to grow outdoors get some oil drip pans for your plants as a tray go to your local hardware store purchase some copper pipes and some 90 degree elbows cut them to fit around the trays this will keep slugs and snails from your plants and will last forever get some CLR at the end of the season wipe it down to clean it and get it ready for next crop keep your plants happy and you will be happy remember bananas are the best for growth also remember the poop deal you are what you eat, you taste what you smoke, so no poop. Good Luck.
canefan
Well-Known Member
Still trying to figure out why everone seems to freak out at the use of manure in the compost pile? Certainly helps to speed up the process, introduces a wide variety of microbes naturally. You do need a proper balance of green and brown material to obtain the best results as with any compost. If the use of raw manure bothers you then I would suggest trying dehydrated cow manure and mixing in.
I don't have livestock anymore but where I live they still move the horses and cows down the road to the different pastures, lol. Me, my pipe, shovel and a sack enjoy our walks collecting the fresh goodness. After the walk, I spread a piece of plastic on the ground spread the manure out over it to dry. No smell no bugs at least after the first day, once dried 2 or 3 days, broken apart and mixed into the compost. I guess just the farm boy in me.
I don't have livestock anymore but where I live they still move the horses and cows down the road to the different pastures, lol. Me, my pipe, shovel and a sack enjoy our walks collecting the fresh goodness. After the walk, I spread a piece of plastic on the ground spread the manure out over it to dry. No smell no bugs at least after the first day, once dried 2 or 3 days, broken apart and mixed into the compost. I guess just the farm boy in me.