The person I learned composting from is the best and most informed composte=
r I have ever met. His basic rule of thumb is to always use older, mature =
compost in a new compost pile. You are bringing in fungus and bacteria it =
took you a while to develop and you don't want to reinvent the wheel each t=
ime. Bacteria do not taxi so you have to mix the old with the new really w=
ell. Fungi will break off and start growing. Even if you heat it up, ther=
e will be enough there after pasturization to repopulate your whole pile fa=
ster. If you start from scratch, you have to find a way to introduce the f=
ungi after the thermophylic cycle is over.
Anyway, that was his advice and also, I have found, the advice of the Lubec=
ks who seem to know a couple of things about composting.
Ted Peterson
EW/SOE
----- Original Message -----
From: tim1233212001
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 5:24 AM
Subject: [compost_tea] Back yard compost
Some questions concerning my back yard compost pile. Basically made
up of leaves and grass from last summer and fall. Pile has a really
good smell to it. I tend to add to this pile so it still sits
unfinished. Ive added some bacterial inoculations to it as well as
tea. Ive heated the pile up on about 3 different occasions. The pile
gets great fungal growth. It is full of insects. Every handful is
moving. What I'm concerned about is the presents of fungus gnats, is
this good or bad? I would think that their larva would be good food
for the predators in my pile. I have searched the net on these gnats
and know there a nuisance. Just can't find info on them involved with
compost. Will they disappear once pile is finished or are they a part
of composting. I compare my compost to the compost I by in bulk which
is finished and has really no insects in it.
Should I start a new pile and let the one I have finish out?
Thanks for any info
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Received on Wed May 19 2004 - 22:33:59 EDT