Composting additives and activators

Composting although in many ways is a natural process can sometimes lack all the necessary elements in the correct quantities to guarantee quick and efficient composting. Good compost when finished should be a complete growing medium for plants as well as a fertiliser. This means for your compost to be effective it should have all the minerals and nutrients of a very healthy soil.

Sometimes it is hard to completely control the materials that go into your compost bin and in what quantities. Home composting is a matter of household recycling.  Obtaining all ingredients at the correct ratios and grading can be a challenge so adding some additives and accelerators can help the process.

Rock dusts

One of the scarcest elements in healthy soil today is minerals historically found in rocks and sediments that make up healthy growing substrates. Some of the most fertile areas on the planet are found surrounding volcanoes or sedimentary basins of rivers and this is due to the fine amounts of rock dusts found in the soil. Composting making although high in nitrogen vary rarely contains any trace minerals which are beneficial to plant growth and soil life as a whole. There a number of rock mineral dusts and powders on the market you can add to your compost bin or pile at home.

Nitrogen

Most Commercial compost activators contain high levels of nitrogen and sometimes microbes and bacteria to get your compost kick started. Nitrogen can come in many forms for composting, blood meal, organic cotton seed meal, Alfalfa pellets and manures of grass feeding animals but especially chicken manure. Bacteria’s and microbes in compost usually thrive in high nitrogen conditions so nitrogen is vital for efficient compost creation. If your compost bin or pile begins to smell fowl this may be an indication your compost has too much nitrogen and will require some more carbon based materials. 

Carbon

The most common error in home garden composting is not adding enough carbon based materials to your compost heap or bin. Every other weekend in summer bin full’s of fresh grass cuttings and kitchen waste gets heaped into the composter and I don’t want to forget that glut of apples from the apple tree in the corner. All these high nitrogen products soon sludge down to a fowl smelling mess and scream out for some woody dry materials to create a more bulky firm structure. Carbon helps to create the main body of your compost and can be added in the form of wood chippings, shredded paper, straw, hedge clippings, leaves twigs and cardboard.

Bacteria

The type of bacteria that contributes to the formation of compost is everywhere but mixtures and compost bio activators have condensed inoculations to kick start your compost when first starting out. These can be used if you have just started composting a large load of organic matter or attempting to kick start your compost making bacteria after a long cold winter season.

Worms

Certain types of worms such as Red Wrigglers & European night crawlers can be added to your compost bin to accelerate the composting process. These worms tunnel through the compost creating air tunnels helping the bacteria at the same time ingesting the organic materials and mixing different parts of the heap and excreting highly fertile worm castings. These worm castings are known as ‘black gold’ in the horticultural world and are some of the richest composts in existence. Not only are the castings extremely high in nutrients the worms can break down materials three times faster than normal compost decomposition. Find out more about worm compost here.  

Wood ash

Since pre history ash has enriched our soils through the constant natural occurrences of forest fires and volcanic eruptions. Wood ash from open fires, barbecues, and bonfires can be added to your compost to raise its nutrient content. Wood ash adds high levels of Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sulphur to your compost.