Any Idea how I'd go about composting 4 cubic yard of used coco fibre? LOL
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Carbon/Nitrogen: Ratio of between 90:1 and 110:1. This combined with coir’s lignin content makes it a good long-term growing medium.
that's not too bad, so you just need grass clippings man, and go a 3/1/ ratio
another thing that is the coolest shit, is see if you can find dandelions, pull those suckers out and throw them in too, even better if you have a burly lawnmower and can mow down some.
so lets do some math here...
An optimal compost has a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 30 to 1 (some say 25/1) I like 30 to 1
your coco is lets say for math's sake, that its 100/1
so you need to "dilute" that with a third PURE nitrogen, problem is, pure nitrogen isn't available, even the best "green" is alfalfa, and it's ratio is 12/1
but fear not, some math can help out... just let me shake out the THC webs from my post holiday's usage..
umm... so if you cut it with grass clippings (20/1), at a three parts grass to one part coco, that's be roughly a 160 to 4 ratio
that would be a 40 to 1 ratio, which is pretty close to perfect.
now that's to COMPOST the coco, meaning it'll disappear, if you want the coco to still be around for a grow or two, you could do a 2 to 1, grass to coco.
so i'd do a half inch layer of coco, to a inch and a half of grass clippings.
that shit'll steam like a mofo in about a day, especially if the grass is fresh and wet.
heres a good link on the carbon/green ratios of composting stuff.
http://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/c-n-ratio/
for arguments sake, I layer leaves (apparently 60/1) with alfalfa, or grass at even amounts, and it does just fine BUT I also add amendments, kelp meal, fish meal crab meal, all those are loaded with nitrogen
especially the kelp and fish meal
EDIT--
so if anyone wants to be PRECISE...
here ya are
Typical C/N ratios and nitrogen values for many kinds of compostable substances can be looked up in published tables such as
Appendix A, On-Farm Composting Handbook. Some additional nitrogen and ash data is in the table of
Lignin and Other Constituents of Selected Organic Materials. (A
No-Frames version of the Table of Lignin is also available.) To calculate the carbon content given C/N and percent nitrogen, solve:
%C = %N x C/N
You may be able to measure the carbon and nitrogen content of your own materials and then calculate the ratio directly. Soil nutrient analysis laboratories or environmental testing laboratories can do the nitrogen test, and maybe carbon as well . Your local Cooperative Extension office can give you the names of soils laboratories in your area. The
Cornell Nutrient Analysis Lab has information about their procedures for total carbon, organic carbon, and total nitrogen analysis. You can also
estimate the carbon content from ash or volatile solids data if either is available. Once you have the C/N ratios for the materials you plan to compost, you can use the following formula to
figure out the ratio for the mixture as a whole:
in which: R = C/N ratio of compost mixture Qn = mass of material n ("as is", or "wet weight") Cn = carbon (%) of material n Nn = nitrogen (%) of material n Mn = moisture content (%) of material n
This equation can also be solved exactly for a mixture of two materials, knowing their carbon, nitrogen, and moisture contents, the C/N ratio goal, and specifying the mass of one ingredient. By simplifying and rearranging the general equation, the mass of the second material required would be:
Returning to the previous example of grass and leaves, lets assume the nitrogen content of the grass is 2.4% while that of the leaves is 0.75%, and the carbon contents are 45% and 50% respectively. Simple division shows us that the C/N ratio of the grass is 18.75 and the C/N content of the leaves is 66.67% For the same 10 kg of grass we had before, if our goal is a C/N ratio of 30:1, the solution is:
