On 12/11/2020 00:24, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
On 11/11/2020 10:48, Martin Brown wrote:
On 10/11/2020 22:57, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
Usually my compost heaps run cold, but I've currently got one running
hot. I've also got one built last autumn and winter which was a cold
heap, which has a lot of material (roots, grass leaves, even some
moss) that hasn't broken down. What is likely to happen if I mix some
of this in next time I turn over the hot heap.

Once a heap is hot you can mix other stuff into it and the combination
of heat and the enzymes sees it off pretty quickly. They don't stay
hot for very long and particularly not at this time of year.

It seems that the question is moot. I turned it over this afternoon, and
while there were a few hot spots left, most of it is now running cold.
For what it's worth I added some shredded paper. It had self-compacted,
and was rather wet, so perhaps the added aeration of the turnover might
give it a bit of a boost.

It is pot luck at this time of year mine is cold right now. If it ever
dries up I might just get it hot one more time with grass clippings.

The most impressive goes hot and catches fire heap I ever saw was a
forestry one where they had made a huge pile of the twiggy bits they
scrape off conifer tree trunks prior to shipping logs out. I could smell
oil of wintergreen from half a mile off and see the steam/smoke coming
off it.

My experience has generally been that if you add enough stuff at once
it doesn't really matter what it is provided that you don't compact it
then it will go hot in 3-4 days. About 1m^3 in a single day does it
for me.

Getting 1m^3 in a day is the difficult bit - I got mine hot this time by
adding that in a few weeks, rather than a few months (and shredding all
the material before adding it).

I think it is definitely volume added in one go with some air trapped
inside that does it. I try to put a few twiggy prunings on before bulk
grass clippings which might be the key to it. Before I had a large lawn
I used to sometimes use Garotta cut with ammonium sulphate as a started
culture to encourage the heap to run hot at the start of the season.

It might be worth a try if you have never had a hot compost heap or have
difficulty getting it going. It worked for me before I knew what I was
doing...

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Regards,
Martin Brown