Page 22 - ALG Issue 1 2025

COMPOSTING
FIVE STEPS TO HOT COMPOSTING
Speed up your composting and kill pests and weeds
microbe growth and reproduction, as well as the production of the enzymes that break down the waste.The carbon rich browns provide them with a source of energy.
For normal garden waste, roughly equal quantities of each are required. However, if there is a high fruit or kitchen waste content, additional browns, such
as woodchip, will be needed as a bulking to absorb excess moisture and retain air spaces in the material.
Material size
When hot composting, enough waste should be collected to fill the bin in one or two days.The waste should be cut into short lengths and brassica stalks crushed and chopped. I use long handled shears to cut the material and a hammer to crush
it as it is added to the bin in alternate layers of browns and greens.This exposes a larger surface area to bacterial action. Larger pieces will expose less surface area
Most of us start our composting career by using a cold composting technique, adding waste organic materials to a heap or bin as they become available.As we learn a little more, we try to add about equal parts of green and brown material; once the material is in the bin we often leave to decompose without further intervention.This allows us to spend more time growing and gossiping on the allotment.We certainly have time as cold composting can take six months to a year which is quite a delay if we want to produce as much compost as possible.
Hot composting methods will provide compost more quickly with traditional hot composting producing immature compost in three weeks, or within six to twelve weeks if it is turned less often. However, hot composting does require more time and effort on the part of the plotholder but it is not complicated.
Bin Size
The bin, or heap, should be at least a metre square and preferably at least the same height. Size is important as there is a need to retain the heat produced by the microbial activity as they breakdown the plant waste. Some sources will advise using larger bins to provide their own insulation and I have seen eight-foot bins in some gardens but while these are good at retaining heat, they are very hard work to turn manually. Insulating the bin helps to maintain the warmth; you can achieve this by using solid sides, lining slated pallet bins with compost bags, carpet, tarpaulin, cardboard, or carpet.
Greens and Browns
A balance of these two materials is necessary for the composting microbes to break down the organic materials efficiently. Greens are high in nitrogen and promote
22 | Issue 1 2025 | Allotment and Leisure Gardener